The National Conference League (known as the Kingstone Press National Conference League for sponsorship reasons) is the top English amateur

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...

competition in the

Rugby Football League The Rugby Football League is the governing body for professional rugby league in England, and until 1995 for the whole British Isles. The name Rugby Football League previously also referred to the main league competition run by the organisati ...

pyramid, and as such is the leading amateur rugby league competition in England. Since 2012, the National Conference operates over a summer season in line with the professional game.

History

The league was founded as the BARLA National League for the 1986–87 season with 10 teams: Dudley Hill, Egremont Rangers, Heworth, Leigh Miners Welfare (now Leigh Miners Rangers), Milford Marlins, Millom, Pilkington Recs, West Hull, Wigan St Patrick's and Woolston Rovers. The original NCL concept was one team per town. The league added a second division in 1989, and expanded to three divisions (now named premier, first and second as opposed to first and second) along with a rebrand to the current name of National Conference League in 1993. Somewhat confusingly, in the late 1990s and 2000s another major amateur competition was also titled conference: the

Rugby League Conference The Rugby League Conference (RLC) (also known as the Co-operative Rugby League Conference as a result of sponsorship from The Co-operative Group), was a series of regionally based divisions of amateur rugby league teams spread throughout England, ...

(RLC), which operated a summer season as opposed to the traditional winter season retained by the NCL. The move to a summer season by the NCL in 2012 and a reorganisation by the RFL resulted in a merger of the leagues and the creation of a new NCL 3rd division out of the old RLC National Division, which was replaced by the

Conference League South The Southern Conference League is a British rugby league division in the Rugby Football League's tier 4. It is the highest level of amateur rugby league in the South of England and South Wales. It was one of the leagues that replaced Rugby Leag ...

in 2013.

Structure

The National Conference League consists of four divisions. Teams can be promoted and relegated through all four divisions, and teams can also be relegated from Division Three into the regional leagues. For the 2018 season, there are three divisions of 12 teams, whilst the bottom tier consists of 13 teams. Although it is considered the tier below League 1, teams are not promoted and relegated between the amateur NCL and the professional game, although NCL teams do play in the League 1 Cup and

Challenge Cup The Challenge Cup is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War I ...

Play-offs

The Premier Division play-offs follows a similar structure to that in the professional game. The Champions are decided in a top six play-off competition. In week 1 of the play-offs, the teams placed 3rd and 6th play each other as do the teams paced 4th and 5th, the winners qualify for the Elimination Semi-Final. In week 2 of the pay-offs, the teams that finished the regular season 1st and second play each other in the Qualifying Semi-Final and takes place on the same weekend. The winner of the Qualifying Semi-Final progresses to the Grand Final while the loser has another opportunity to get to the Grand Final by playing the winners of the Elimination Semi-Final in Week 3 of the play-offs. The Division One, Division Two and Division Three play-offs are contested by the teams that finished 3rd to 6th during the regular season. The top two teams are promoted automatically. These Play-offs are straightforward knock-out competitions composed of two Semi-Finals, between the teams finishing 3rd and 6th in one and those that finished 4th and 5th on the other, before the winners contest the Final a week later. The winner of the Final is promoted.

Clubs in 2022

Results

Winners

Sponsorship

The National Conference League (known as the Kingstone Press National Conference League for sponsorship reasons)

References

External links

Official website

BARLA official website

NCL Founder Member Millom RLFC

NCL Member Brighouse Rangers RLFC
{{British and Irish Rugby League links Rugby Football League BARLA competitions Rugby league in the United Kingdom Rugby league competitions in the United Kingdom