The Rugby Football League Women's Super League South (known as the Betfred Women's Super League South due to sponsorship) was introduced as a top tier

women's rugby league Women's rugby league is the female-only version of rugby league. The sport has growing more popular in Australia, France, Great Britain, and New Zealand. These countries regularly compete in the Women's Rugby League World Cup which has been i ...

club competitions in Great Britain for teams

Southern England Southern England, also known as the South of England or the South, is a sub-national part of England. Officially, it is made up of the southern, south-western and part of the eastern parts of England, consisting of the statistical regions of ...

and

South Wales South Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the Historic counties of Wales, historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire ( ...

that ran parallel to the

RFL Women's Super League The Rugby Football League Women's Super League (known as the Betfred Women's Super League due to sponsorship) is the elite women's rugby league club competition in England. Originally competed between four teams in the 2017 season, the league ha ...

. Originally intended to start in 2020, but was delayed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. The inaugural season started in mid-June 2021 and ended on 29 August. In January 2024, it was announced that the Super League South would become the Women's Southern Championship; one of the three regional competitions in the restructured second tier of women's rugby in Great Britain.

History

On 30 April 2021, the

Rugby Football League The Rugby Football League (RFL) is the governing body for rugby league in England. Founded in 1895 as the Northern Rugby Football Union following 22 clubs resigning from the Rugby Football Union, it changed its name in 1922 to the Rugby Footb ...

(RFL) announced the establishment of a new "Super League South" competition, which runs in parallel to the existing

Women's Super League The Women's Super League (WSL), also known as the Barclays Women's Super League for sponsorship reasons, and formerly the FA WSL, is a professional association football league and the highest level of women's football in England. Currently oper ...

competition in the north of England, rather than directly expand it and is the top level of club competition in southern England and South Wales. The inaugural Super League south season started in June 2021, competed for by six teams, divided into two conferences of three teams each. On 31 January 2023, the RFL announced a new pyramid for the women's game, and in doing so confirmed that the 2023 season would be the Super League South's last as a top tier competition. It would become a second tier competition with opportunity for promotion to the

and it was intended that this would run parallel with North, Roses, and Midlands leagues. On 24 January, it was revealed that the Super League South would become the Southern Women's Championship and that in 2024 the second tier would have only three leagues: Midlands, Northern and Southern, from which only the winners of the Northern and Southern competitions would play-off for a chance to earn promotion.

Clubs

Structure

For the inaugural season in 2021, the three teams in each conference played each other twice home and away, for a total of six games each. At the conclusion of these matches, the semi-finals saw the winner of each conference playing the runner-up of the other. The winners of those two games thus played in the Grand Final, with the Cardiff Demons winning 30–26 over the

British Army Rugby League The British Army Rugby League team is the official rugby league team representing the British Army. The team was founded in 1994 when the Army first recognised rugby league as an official sport and lifted a ban on it. The new team was able to pla ...

side. From 2022, the format changed so that all teams competed in one league with the top four teams qualifying for the play-offs. The Army were granted a place in the 2022

Women's Challenge Cup The Women's Challenge Cup is a rugby league knockout competition organised by the Rugby Football League. The competition started in 2012. History 2012–2016: Foundations The Women's Challenge Cup was set up in 2012 to run alongside the men's ...

as a result of having reached the Grand Final in 2021. In 2023, both Super League South finalists from 2022 took part in the Challenge Cup. London and Cardiff both earned places in the 2024

Challenge Cup The Rugby Football League Challenge Cup, commonly known just as the Challenge Cup is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, it is the world's old ...

as a result of reaching the 2023 Grand Final.

Champions

Sponsorship

Bookmakers

Betfred Betfred Group Holdings Limited is a bookmaker based in the United Kingdom, founded by Fred Done.Pronounced to rhyme with "bone". It was first established as a single betting shop in Ordsall, Salford, in 1967. Its turnover in 2004 was reported ...

were announced in 2021 as being the inaugural sponsors of this new competition, as well as continuing their sponsorship of Women's Super League beyond 2021.

References

External links

* {{British Rugby League links Super League Women's Women's rugby league competitions in England 2017 establishments in England Sports leagues established in 2017

Rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

Professional sports leagues in the United Kingdom 2023 disestablishments in England Sports leagues disestablished in 2023