32-732: The Championship Grand Final (previously the National League One Grand Final) is the championship-deciding game of the Championship competition via the playoffs. In 2022 and 2023 the Grand Final was also used to determine promotion to Super League. In 2003 as the Second Division was rebranded National League One and promotion and relegation was reintroduced between the Super League and National League One. Rather than having
64-409: A club game at this level of competition was set in 2017 at KCOM Craven Park for the opening fixture of the season between Hull Kingston Rovers and Bradford Bulls with Rovers winning 54–24 in front of a crowd of 8,817. The crowd record for regular season attendance was also broken in 2008 with an average of 2,205 spectators at each game. In 2013, Super League clubs agreed to reduce the number of clubs in
96-663: A play-off series where they split into 3 divisions of 8 based upon league position: On 14 September 2018, an EGM was called to discuss the future of the sport and a change in structure, as the clubs were in favour of scrapping the Super 8s in favour of a more conventional structure. Two proposals were put forward: one by Super League and one by the Championship and League 1; Super League proposal: The Super League proposed staying with 12 teams who play each other home and away plus Magic Weekend and 6 loop fixtures (29 games). They also proposed
128-443: A result of sponsorship from The Co-operative Group ), was a series of regionally based divisions of amateur rugby league teams spread throughout England , Scotland , and Wales . The RLC was founded as the 10-team Southern Conference League in 1997, with teams from the southern midlands and the south east, but subsequently, rebranded and expanded both geographically and numerically to include around 90 teams stretched across almost
160-469: A return to a top-5 playoff and the 12th placed team being relegated. Championship & League 1 proposal: The alternative proposal was that Super League would expand to 14 clubs playing 29 games ending with a top-5 playoff. The team finishing 14th would be relegated and 13th would play 2nd, 3rd and 4th in the Championship in a relegation playoff. After a vote, the Super League proposal was voted through
192-496: A series of regional leagues. The Southern Conference League was founded as a 10-team competition in 1997. The following season it was rebranded as the Rugby League Conference due to its intentions to include teams from outside the traditional heartlands of Yorkshire, Lancashire and Cumbria. The league steadily expanded over the first few seasons right up to the fringes of the heartlands, before expanding into Wales for
224-457: A traditional one up one down system, the RFL decided to implement a top 6 playoff system that was being used in the Super League at the time to decide promotion. In 2007 it was announced licensing was to be introduced for the 2008 season, replacing promotion and relegation, but the Grand Final would be retained and the division would be rebranded the Championship . Salford and Celtic Crusaders were
256-531: A win, one for a draw and none for a loss. Teams are ranked by competition points, points difference (points scored less points conceded), points scored. The team finishing top after 26 games is awarded the League Leaders Shield while the two bottom teams are relegated to the League One The play-offs have had various formats. Currently once every club has played 26 games, the top six teams qualify for
288-460: Is intended to complement the existing player loan system. Dual registration refers to an arrangement between clubs whereby a player continues to be registered to his current Super League club and is also registered to play for a club in the Championship. The system is aimed at young Super League players who are thought to be not quite ready to make the step up to ‘week in, week out’ Super League first team duties but for whom first team match experience
320-579: Is likely to be beneficial for their development. All rugby league matches are governed by the laws set out by the RFL; these laws are enforced by match officials. Former Super League and International Referee Steve Ganson is the current Head of the Match Officials Department and Technical Director. Rugby League Conference The Rugby League Conference , also known as the Co-operative Rugby League Conference as
352-539: The professional structure as have Hemel Stags and Oxford although Hemel reverted to being a solely amateur club after selling its professional license to Cornwall and Oxford folded. With the top heartlands amateur league, the National Conference League voting to move to a summer season, the 2012 season saw a re-alignment of the amateur game and the Rugby League Conference was replaced with
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#1732854515346384-447: The 2009 season. Championship 1 was later rebranded to League 1 . During this period, a system of licensing was put in place which meant there was no automatic system of promotion and relegation between the Championship and Super League, although promotion and relegation continued between the Championship and League 1. Widnes Vikings were promoted to Super League from the Championship via the licensing system in 2011. The record crowd for
416-569: The Championship including The Summer Bash , Championship Shield and The Qualifiers in a seven-year deal. A two-year broadcast deal with Premier Sports for 2022 and 2023 was signed at the end of 2021. Premier show a live match every Monday as well as all seven matches from the Summer Bash. The deal also includes the broadcasting rights to play-off matches and the Million Pound Game. Premier Sports became part of Viaplay late in 2022 and
448-418: The bottom eight joined National League Two. They were joined by London Skolars from the Rugby League Conference , who entered National League Two, and York City Knights , who replaced the defunct York Wasps (who had folded mid-season in 2002) and also joined National League Two in 2003, creating two ten-team leagues which operated a system of promotion and relegation between themselves while also maintaining
480-477: The bottom three were relegated to the Championship, meanwhile teams finishing 4th and 5th would play each other in the Million Pound Game for the final Super League place. In the four years it was contested three Championship clubs competed in it with 2018 being the only time both teams in it were from the Championship. After scrapping the Super 8s in 2019 the RFL Championship Grand Final returned as
512-404: The case for all but the four seasons of the Super 8s era where the league leaders were declared Champions and promotion was determined by The Qualifiers . The Championship has been sponsored four times since its inception in 2003. Betfred are the current title sponsor. The title sponsor has been able to determine the league's sponsorship name. There have been seven different title sponsors since
544-425: The competition to 12 and return to an amended system of promotion and relegation with a 12-club Championship competition. These changes came into effect for the 2015 season . Under the amended structure, the 12 Super League and 12 Championship clubs play a regular season of 23 rounds, including a Magic Weekend for both divisions. Following the conclusion of their regular league seasons, the 24 clubs then compete in
576-567: The existing Second Division . It was rebranded as the Championship in 2009. The league consists of 14 teams, with the winner decided by a playoff and relegation to League One . The current champions are Wakefield Trinity , winners of the 2024 season after beating Toulouse Olympique in the Championship Grand Final . Second division rugby league competitions have been played at various times since 1902, and have been in place annually since 1973. When Super League began in 1996,
608-414: The first teams to be awarded Super League licenses and both teams reached the Grand Final which was reduced to being decided by a 5 team playoff, however it would return to six teams the following season. In 2013, the playoffs were expanded for the first time to eight teams as it had been seen to be a success in the Super League for a number of years before. The eight team playoff would be the last before it
640-487: The first teams to propose the return of the reserve league where players could move from the under 19s and play with professional players before playing in the 1st team. A reserve league was set up in 2016 with a mixture of Super League, Championship and League 1 teams. Clubs in both the Super League and the Championships benefit from the new dual registration system which was introduced for the 2013 season. The new system
672-476: The first time in 2001 with the addition of Cardiff Demons. The league expanded into the North East that same season. In 2003 National League Three was founded including some of the stronger Rugby League Conference clubs and some BARLA clubs. This same season saw massive expansion of the Rugby League Conference including an entire Welsh division. The league also pushed its borders further including more teams from
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#1732854515346704-448: The league's formation: The official rugby ball supplier is Steeden . Sky Sports and Premier Sports shared the TV rights to the Championship between 2008 and 2012. After Sky only showed the Championship and Championship 1 Grand Finals while games were broadcast on Premier Sports until 2013. There was no TV coverage on the Championship in 2014. In 2015 Sky Sports won the rights to show
736-402: The less rugby league playing areas of the counties considered the heartlands and went as far south west as Somerset. The league expanded further in 2004 by allowing entry to heartland clubs. For the 2005 season the competition was split into two tiers, with Premier divisions being created for above the existing regional divisions. The next major changes were in 2007 when National League Three (as
768-553: The playoffs. Round one sees 3rd v 6th and 4th v 5th. The winners then progress to the semi finals where the teams finishing 1st and 2nd enter. The two winners of the semi-finals meet in the Grand Final . The champions of the Championship are determined by a playoff series at the end of the regular season. The team at the top of the league table at the end of regular season is awarded the League Leaders’ Shield . This has been
800-539: The promotion and relegation between National League One and Super League. At the same time, National League Three was created with teams from the Rugby League Conference and from the British Amateur Rugby League Association amateur leagues. It was intended that there would be promotion and relegation between National League Two and National League Three when League Three became more established, however this never eventuated. In 2009 Super League
832-626: The promotion deciding game. Despite this, the "Million Pound Game" name was still kept for marking purposes until 2022 season. RFL Championship The Rugby Football League Championship , (known as the Betfred Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the second highest division of rugby league in Britain (with one team in the league also being based in France) after the Super League . Introduced in 2003 as National League One , it replaced
864-579: The second division continued to operate a system of promotion and relegation with the new competition. In 1999, the second-tier competition below the Super League was renamed the Northern Ford Premiership (NFP) when Northern Ford Dealers acquired the naming rights. In 2003, the NFP was re-organised into National Leagues One and Two. Teams that finished in the top ten league positions of the 2002 Northern Ford Premiership joined National League One and
896-587: The whole of Great Britain from Aberdeen in northern Scotland down to Plymouth on the south coast of England. The aim of the RLC was initially to provide regular fixtures for new clubs based outside the traditional 'heartland' of rugby league in the UK, although as the playing standards increased, it also accepted teams from the 'heartlands'. The hope was that some clubs would eventually progress to become semi-professional. To date, London Skolars and Coventry Bears both play in
928-531: Was announced the Championship Grand Final would be scrapped in 2014 due to a league restructure in 2015. In 2015 the Championship Grand Final was effectively replaced with the Million Pound Game . In the new league structure the top four Championship clubs would form a mini league with the bottom four Super League clubs. Teams finishing in the top three were promoted to Super League while teams in
960-486: Was expanded to 14 teams, with two additional teams being promoted from National League One. In turn, two additional teams were promoted from National League Two to National League One at the end of the 2008 season , reducing the number of teams in National League Two to 10. National Leagues One and Two were then rebranded as the Championship and Championship 1 respectively, with the change being implemented in time for
992-419: Was implemented for the 2019 season. The Championship clubs then voted for a top 5 playoff being used to decide which team will be promoted to Super League. There are 14 clubs in the Championship. During the course of the season (usually from February to September) each club plays the other twice, once at their home stadium and once at their opponents. Altogether clubs play 26 games. Teams receive two points for
Championship Grand Final - Misplaced Pages Continue
1024-529: Was marketed as Viaplay Sports for the 2023 season. Regional radio stations have coverage of the Championship clubs but mostly only cover Super League clubs in the same area and give updates of Championship scores and results. In 2014 and 2015 Super League clubs were unhappy with the Dual registration system and wanted to form an Under 23 reserve leagues between the Under 19s and 1st team. Wigan, Warrington and St Helens were
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