The Midlands Merit League, was a summer

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 ...

tournament in England held between 2006 and 2009. It was a feeder league to 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 ...

and had a season that ran from April to August. In its last season of 2009, it was also known as the RL Merit League. It was superseded by the

Midlands Rugby League The Midlands Rugby League Premier Division is the highest level of amateur rugby league in the English Midlands. It was previously the Midlands Premier Division of the Rugby League Conference. Many of the clubs run juniors in the Midlands Junio ...

, Yorkshire & Humber Merit League and

North West Merit League The North West Merit League is a rugby league competition for clubs in the North West of England. It is a feeder league for the Rugby League Conference. History The Midlands Merit League was founded in late 2005 to support the growth of rugby ...

History

The league was founded as the ''Midlands Merit League'' in late 2005 to support the growth of rugby league in non-heartland areas. Originally intended as a stand-alone league, support from 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 organisat ...

meant that it could be administered as part of the

set-up. Interest quickly gathered with 13 teams showing an interest in participating in the inaugural season – 8 eventually participated. The first ever game took place on 8 April 2006 at All Saints Sports College,

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire ...

, where the

Sheffield Forgers Sheffield Forgers RLFC is a rugby league club in Sheffield, England. It has an Open Age team that plays in the summer in thy Yorkshire Men's League. The genesis of the club dates back to summer 2004, when a group of Sheffield Eagles supporters d ...

beat the Chesterfield Spires by 58 points to 8. The first cross-league fixture was played in June 2007 when Nottingham Outlaws Academy visited

Northampton Casuals Northampton Demons is a rugby league club based in Duston, Northampton. They play in the RFL Midlands Rugby League Men's South Division. History Background - Nene Valley and Northampton Knights ''Nene Valley'' were set up in 1989 and they trai ...

of the London League. They also played a return fixture in July. The 2007 season saw the introduction of an informal under-15 league based on Merit League principles. In 2008 the junior competition featured under-14 and under-16 divisions. The league was renamed Rugby League Merit League (RLML) for the 2008 season due to its increased geographical spread with teams from the

North of England Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North Country, or simply the North, is the northern area of England. It broadly corresponds to the former borders of Angle Northumbria, the Anglo-Scandinavian Kingdom of Jorvik, and the ...

taking part. 2009 saw the largest ever entry, with over 30 teams split into two pools; "Yorkshire and Humber" and "North West" with the

becoming its own competition using merit league rules. In 2010 the Yorkshire & Humber Merit League and

became separate competitions.

Teams joining the Rugby League Conference

The league has also proved popular with clubs in the

(RLC) providing players or teams to the Midlands Merit League. *2007

South Humber Rabbitohs South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

*2008 East Riding and

*2009 Nottingham Outlaws A, Moorends-Thorne Marauders A (failed to start season), Parkside Hawks(called up after one game),

Wigan Riversiders Wigan Riversiders are a rugby league team based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The first team play in the North West Premier division of the Rugby League Conference; the second team play in the North West regional division under the n ...

*2010

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough ha ...

Chester Gladiators Chester Gladiators Rugby League Football Club is a rugby league club in Chester, England. They play in the North West Division of the Rugby League Conference, North West Counties and the North West Merit League. History Previous clubs in Ch ...

Crewe & Nantwich Steamers Crewe & Nantwich Steamers is a rugby league club in Nantwich, Cheshire. They play in the North West Division of the Rugby League Conference and run a second team in the North West Merit League. History Crewe Wolves entered the Northern Divi ...

Mancunians RL Mancunians is Manchester's rugby league and sports club fielding several rugby and handball teams across the city at various age groups. The club is a Sports Club Community Mutual (Co-operative) and carries out development work across the city ...

, Victoria Rangers, Wigan Riversiders Eels

Past winners

Championship

Shield

North West pool

Yorkshire and the Humber pool

External links

Midlands rugby league site

Google map of Merit League teams

Rugby League Conference official site
{{British_Rugby_League_links Rugby League Conference