The North East Rugby League Premier Divisions is the top league in a 2 division structure in rugby league's tier 4. It is competed for by teams in the

North East of England North East England is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. The region has three current administrative levels below the region level in the region; combined authority, unitary authority ...

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. C ...

and

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

though in the past occasionally teams from

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

took part. Many of the teams also run age group teams in the North East Junior League.

History

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 ...

was founded in 1997 as the ''Southern Conference'', a 10-team pilot league for teams in the

South of England Southern England, or the South of England, also known as the South, is an area of England consisting of its southernmost part, with cultural, economic and political differences from the Midlands and the North. Officially, the area includes ...

and the

English Midlands The Midlands (also referred to as Central England) are a part of England that broadly correspond to the Kingdom of Mercia of the Early Middle Ages, bordered by Wales, Northern England and Southern England. The Midlands were important in the Ind ...

. The Conference began to include sides from the North of England from the 1999 season in a new Northern division though none of the teams were from the North East. The Northern Rugby League Summer Conference was founded in 2000 outside the Rugby League Conference structure for teams in the North East of England and various

British Amateur Rugby League Association The British Amateur Rugby League Association (BARLA) is an association for social and recreational rugby league. It works jointly with the Rugby Football League through the RFL Community Board. History BARLA was created in 1973 in Huddersfiel ...

leagues. The Rugby League Conference added a North East division for the 2001 season featuring many of the Northern Conference sides. The RLC Premier divisions were set up in 2005 and Jarrow Vikings, Peterlee Pumas and Sunderland City joined the North Premier with the rest of the sides coming from

. The Premier divisions saw a change in boundaries in 2006 leaving the North Premier division covering a larger area to give the English Midlands clubs their own premier division without having to face heartland teams, no North East teams would take part in this season's North Premier. Winlaton Vulcans were replaced by Gateshead Storm A. Jarrow Vikings, Peterlee Pumas and Sunderland Nissan took part in the newly North regional division against teams from Cumbria. The promotion of three teams to the RLC National Division left the already depleted Premier North unviable and an artificial North Premier was created out of two of the North East and North regional divisions. The North East division was scrapped and did not return until the 2009 season. In 2011 the league was split into 2 divisions (premier and regional). In 2012 it became a stand-alone league.

Rugby League Conference Pyramid

National Conference League The National Conference League (known as the Kingstone Press National Conference League for sponsorship reasons) is the top English amateur rugby league competition in the Rugby Football League pyramid, and as such is the leading amateur rugby l ...

* North East Rugby League Premier Division * North East Rugby League Regional Division

2012 Structure

In the Premier Division, teams play each other three times making fifteen rounds before the end of season play-offs. Teams play each other twice making 14 rounds in the regular season in the regional division.

Participating teams by season

Rugby League Conference North East Premier Division

* 2011: Gateshead Spartans, Gateshead Storm, Jarrow Vikings, Peterlee Pumas, Sunderland City, Wallsend Eagles

North East Rugby League Premier Division

* 2012: East Cumbria Crusaders, Gateshead Spartans, Gateshead Storm, Jarrow Vikings, Peterlee Pumas, Sunderland City, Wallsend Eagles * 2013: Catterick Crusaders, Cramlington Rockets, Gateshead Storm, Jarrow Vikings, Sunderland City, Wallsend Eagles (Teesside Bulls failed to start the season and Miners failed to complete the season) * 2015 Cramlington Rockets, Durham Demons, Jarrow Vikings, Peterlee Pumas, Wallsend Eagles (Darlington failed to complete the season)

Winners

North East Rugby League Premier Division

*2011 Peterlee Pumas ¹ *2012 Gateshead Storm *2013 Gateshead Storm *2014

Jarrow Vikings Jarrow Vikings are a rugby league team based in Jarrow, Tyne and Wear. They play in the North East Premier division of the Rugby League Conference. History A great deal of schools development had taken place in 2003-04 in primary schools in J ...

*2015 Wallsend Eagles ¹ (as Rugby League Conference North East Premier)

North East Cup

*2013 Gateshead Storm * 2014 Gateshead Storm * 2015 Wallsend Eagles

North East Plate

*2014 Cramlington Rockets *2015

External links

North East rugby league site
{{British_Rugby_League_links Rugby League Conference Sport in North East England Rugby league in North Yorkshire Sports leagues established in 2012 2012 establishments in England