The South West Rugby League (SWRL) also known as the ''South West Men's League'', is a

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 112 ...

competition for teams in the

South West of England South West England, or the South West of England, is one of nine official regions of England. It consists of the counties of Bristol, Cornwall (including the Isles of Scilly), Dorset, Devon, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire. Cities an ...

. It was formerly part of 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, ...

. The SWRL is a semi-autonomous league with a five-member committee under an

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 ...

(RFL) appointed chairman. The SWRL has five member clubs from Devon and Cornwall.

History

The

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 Gr ...

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 made the leap from 30 to 52 teams in 2003 and a South West Division appeared for the first time. It disappeared in 2004 as South West teams took part in the Western Division and Cardiff Demons joined the newly created Welsh Division. The Premier divisions saw a change in boundaries leaving the North Premier division covering a larger area to give the

clubs their own premier division without having to face heartland teams, this left the West Midlands division with too few teams to run, resulting in a merged West Midlands and South West Division. After a campaign by the RFL to form new clubs in the South West, a new South West division was created in 2007 for teams from the

West Country The West Country (occasionally Westcountry) is a loosely defined area of South West England, usually taken to include all, some, or parts of the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Bristol, and, less commonly, Wiltshire, Gloucesters ...

. By 2010, there were enough teams to have a South West conference split into two pools. For the 2011 season, there was a new RLC West of England alongside the RLC South West. The initial idea was that the two leagues would compete side by side with play-offs at the end of the season to decide an overall South West champion. In 2011, Gloucestershire Warriors defeated Somerset Vikings in the Championship play-off. In 2012, the intended play-off match was cancelled as the majority of the Devon Sharks team, the South West Champions, were unable to break off from the start of the rugby union season to fulfil the fixture. The South Western Rugby League was formed in February 2013 to organise and administer the South West Men's League following the switch of the majority of community clubs in England to a summer season and the ending of the Rugby League Conference in 2011.

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 ...

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 Leagu ...

* South West League This is officially the highest tier 4 league that South West clubs can play in.

2019 South West Men's League

South West Cup

The South West cup is a knock-out competition played for by members of the South West Division. It was originally known as the Devon Cup. *2006: East Devon Eagles (as Devon Cup) *2007: East Devon Eagles (as Devon Cup) *2008: Plymouth Titans (as Devon Cup) *2009: East Devon Eagles *2010: Devon Sharks *2011: Plymouth Titans *2012: Exeter Centurions *2013: Cornish Rebels *2014: Cornish Rebels *2015: Exeter Centurions

South West Nines

The South West Nines is a

rugby league nines Rugby league nines (or simply nines) is a version of rugby league football played with nine players on each side. The game is substantially the same as full rugby league, with some differences in rules and shorter games. Nines is usually played in ...

competition. It is competed for by RLC South West and RLC West of England teams and local student rugby league sides. *2007 Plymouth Titans *2008 Exeter University *2009 Exeter University *2010 Exeter University *2011 Exeter University *2012 Plymouth Titans *2013 Exeter University *2014 Cornish Rebels *2015 Cornish Rebels

County Challenge

In 2010, a ″one–off″ match was played between Devon and Cornwall with Devon winning 44–20. The match was featured on the BBC national news and was widely covered by the rugby league press. It is now competed for annually and known as the Martin Roddy MBE Trophy. *2010 Devon *2011 Devon *2012 Cornwall *2013 Cornwall *2015 Devon

South West County Championship Festival

The first South West County Championship took place on the May Bank Holiday weekend in 2011 at Aretians RFC in Bristol. The 2012 Event took place at Bridgwater RFC in Somerset. *2011 Hampshire *2012 Hampshire

Participating teams by season

South West League

*2003: Bristol Sonics, Cardiff Demons, Gloucestershire Warriors, Oxford Cavaliers, Somerset Vikings, Worcestershire Saints *2005: Bristol Sonics, Gloucestershire Warriors, Oxford Cavaliers, Plymouth, Somerset Vikings, Thames Valley *2007: Devon Sharks, East Devon Eagles, Exeter Centurions, Plymouth Titans, Somerset Vikings 'A' *2008: Devon Sharks, East Devon Eagles, Exeter Centurions, Plymouth Titans, Somerset Vikings *2009: Devon Sharks, East Devon Eagles, Exeter Centurions, Plymouth Titans, Somerset Vikings, South Dorset Giants *2010: Devon Sharks, East Devon Eagles, Exeter Centurions, North Devon Raiders, Plymouth Titans, Somerset Vikings, South Dorset Giants,

South Somerset Warriors South Somerset Warriors were a rugby league team based in Yeovil, Somerset. They played in the South West Division of the Rugby League Conference. History ''South Somerset Warriors'' were formed in 2010 and joined the South West Division of ...

*2011: Devon Sharks, East Devon Eagles, Exeter Centurions, North Devon Raiders, Plymouth Titans, Somerset Vikings, South Dorset Giants, (South Somerset Warriors withdrew mid-season) *2012: Devon Sharks, Exeter Centurions, Exmouth Saints (replacements for East Devon Eagles; failed to complete the season), North Devon Raiders, Plymouth Titans *2013: Cornish Rebels, Devon Sharks, Exeter Centurions, North Devon Raiders, Plymouth Titans, Somerset Vikings A *2014: Cornish Rebels, Devon Sharks, Exeter Centurions, North Devon Raiders, Plymouth Titans *2015: Cornish Rebels, Devon Sharks, Exeter Centurions, North Devon Raiders, Plymouth Titans

West of England League

*2011: Bristol Sonics 'A', Gloucestershire Warriors, Oxford Cavaliers, Swindon St George, Wiltshire Wyverns *2012: Bristol Sonics 'A', Gloucestershire Warriors 'A', Oxford Cavaliers, Somerset Vikings, Swindon St George (Wiltshire Wyverns failed to start the season) *2013: Bristol Sonics 'A', Cheltenham Old Patesians, Gloucestershire Warriors, Oxford Cavaliers, Somerset Vikings, Swindon St George *2014: Bristol Sonics 'A', Cheltenham Old Patesians, Gloucestershire Warriors, Oxford Cavaliers 'A', Somerset Vikings, Swindon St George (Oxford Cavaliers 'A' failed to complete the season)

Winners

South West League

*2003

Cardiff Demons The Cardiff Demons RLFC name has been used multiple times over the years. Firstly for a now-defunct men's rugby league side, and subsequently for a women's rugby league side who began in 2021. The men's sids played out of St. Peters RFC in the ...

*2005

Gloucestershire Warriors Gloucestershire Warriors RLFC are a rugby league team from the county of Gloucestershire in England. They play in the Conference League South and in 2006 made their debut in the Challenge Cup. History ''Cheltenham Warriors'' were formed in 19 ...

*2007

Plymouth Titans Plymouth Rugby League Football Club is a rugby league club based in Plymouth. The club is a member of the South West Rugby League, playing home matches at Horsham Fields, Plymouth. History History of rugby league in the South West The f ...

*2008

East Devon Eagles East Devon Eagles are a rugby league team based in Exmouth, Devon. They play in the South West Division of the Rugby League Conference. History After a campaign by the Rugby Football League to form new clubs in the South West a rugby league ga ...

*2009

Devon Sharks Devon Sharks are a rugby league team based in Bovey Tracey, Devon. The club were officially founded on Wednesday 3 May 2006 by Steve Hart, Darren West, Lee Kirkman and Christine Fairchild. History ''Devon Sharks'' were formed in 2006 out of New ...

*2010

*2011

Somerset Vikings Somerset Vikings RLFC are a rugby league team from the county of Somerset in England. They play in the West of England Rugby League. The team play at Hornets RFC Weston-super-Mare. On a full artificial pitch. In 2004/5 the Vikings became a clu ...

*2012

*2013

*2014 Cornish Rebels

West of England League

*2011

*2012

Oxford Cavaliers Oxford Cavaliers Rugby League Football Club is the first amateur rugby league club formed in Oxford in the summer era. Over 16 years the Cavaliers have coached and developed several players who have gone on to play the game both professionally a ...

*2013 Cheltenham Old Patesians *2014

*2015 Bath and Wiltshire Romans *2016 Portsmouth Seahawks *2017 Swindon St George

References

External links

South West rugby league site

South West Rugby League on facebook
{{British_Rugby_League_links Rugby League Conference Rugby league in Devon Rugby league in Somerset Rugby league in Cornwall Sports leagues established in 2003 2003 establishments in England