The Amateur Four Nations was a rugby league competition contested annually by England Amateurs , Ireland Amateurs , Scotland Amateurs , and Wales Amateurs . The teams from the Celtic nations would pick players from their domestic competitions, while England's squad would be picked from teams in the Rugby League Conference . Players would also come from university teams and the armed forces. The competition, sometimes referred to as the Four Nations Championship , had previously been sponsored by Cheltenham Regency and Parkhouse Recruitment and Skanska. In 2014 the tournament was renamed the Celtic Nations Cup following England's withdrawal
11-420: London League may refer to: London League (rugby league) , a contemporary rugby league competition London League (football) , a defunct association football league Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title London League . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change
22-496: 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
33-567: 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 , 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
44-539: 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
55-883: The National Division) and the Scottish League became integral parts of the Rugby League Conference structure. The Rugby League Conference celebrated passing the 100 club barrier in 2010. 2011 was the last season before the league was restructured. The Rugby League Amateur Four Nations was competition for national amateur sides from England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. As of 2010 Competed for by winners of each premier division. Competed for by winners of each regional division. Rugby League Amateur Four Nations Friendly matches between A sides were played between 1998 and 2001 with Scotland facing Wales twice and Ireland three times and Wales taking on England once. The success of these one-off friendly internationals saw
66-449: The advent of the first Home Nations Championship in 2002. Until the final match between Wales and England at Cheltenham , the tournament was low-key and had little publicity. But the England v Wales match received unprecedented national coverage with highlights on Sky Sports and resulted in a shock Wales win. Wales would continue to "shock" for the next four years as they continued to win
77-476: 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
88-402: 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
99-427: The link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=London_League&oldid=932968801 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages London League (rugby league) The Rugby League Conference , also known as
110-592: The title, only losing two matches in this period. It took the introduction of the Crusaders to weaken the Wales side and allow England to win the title for the first time in 2006. Even then Wales only lost by two penalties and travelled with a weakened injury-laden side. The tournament has been successful in introducing new players to international rugby league in particular with the Celtic nations where some players have progressed to
121-587: 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
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