Co-operative Championship
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Co-operative Championship | |
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| Sport | Rugby league |
| Instituted | 2003 |
| Number of teams | 11 |
| Country(ies) |  England France |
| Champions | Salford (NL1) (2008) |
| Website | cooperativechampionship.co.uk |
| Related competitions | Challenge Cup Northern Rail Cup |
The Rugby League Championship (sponsored by the Co-operative Group) was formerly the English National League One. With the inclusion of a French team in 2009 (Toulouse) it has taken a more European dimension and has changed its denomination. It acts as the second tier competition below the Super League Europe.
Championship teams are only allowed one quota player, other than Gateshead Thunder, to compensate for the lack of amateur clubs outside the heartlands to recruit from. As of 2009 the National League One will be known as the Championship, with the former National League Two becoming the Championship 1.
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[edit] Media
Some games are shown on Sky Sports and some of Toulouse Olympique's games are broadcast on Orange Sport TV in France.
[edit] History
Between 1999 and 2002 teams below the Super League took part in a single division known as the Northern Ford Premiership (NFP). In 2003, the NFP was completely re-organised into National Leagues 1 and 2. Teams that finished in the top ten of the NFP joined National League 1 and the bottom nine joined National League 2. They were joined by London Skolars from the Rugby League Conference who entered National League 2. York City Knights replaced the defunct York Wasps and joined National League 2 in 2003.
At the same time, National League Three was created with teams from the Rugby League Conference and from the BARLA amateur leagues. It was intended that there would be promotion and relegation between National League 2 and National League Three when League Three became more established.
At the end of the 2005 an extra team was relegated from Super League in order to accommodate French side Catalans Dragons. In turn an additional team was relegated from National League 1; thus the number of teams in this division remained at ten. In 2009, with the introduction of Toulouse into the competition, the title "National League" was no longer appropriate. From the 2009 season the competition will be known as the Championship, with The Co-operative continuing their sponsorship of the competition. This addition raised the number of teams in the competition to 11.
The record crowd for a club game at this level of competition was set in 2008 at the Stobart Stadium when Widnes defeated Salford 20-18 in front of 8,189. The crowd record for regular season attendance was also broken in 2008 with an average of 2,205 speactors at each game.
[edit] Structure
A play-off structure is used to determine the winners of the Championship, who used to be eligible for promotion to Super League, being replaced by the team being relegated from that competition. Two teams are relegated from the Championship, being replaced by the team finishing top of Championship 1 and the winner of a play-off structure involving the six teams finishing behind the league leaders in Championship 1. The Championship play-offs are a top-six format.
After 2009 there will be no automatic promotion or relegation from Super League and new teams will be admitted on a franchise basis. Reviews of franchises will take place every three years to ensure ambitious clubs lower down the leagues can still be successful.
A cup competition, the National League Cup, is played for by all clubs in the Championship and Championship 1; in 2005 four League Three clubs were also admitted, in 2006 five League Three were admitted. The teams are organised into regional conferences, with knock-out stages following from the group stage. In 2007 four Rugby League Conference teams are scheduled to be included.
From 2007 the competition used a new points system:
Win – three points; Draw – two points; Loss by 12 points or fewer - one point.[1]
[edit] Teams
| Championship | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | Stadium | City/Area | Current season | |
 Barrow Raiders |
Craven Park |  Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria |
Team and results 2009 | |
 Batley Bulldogs |
Mount Pleasant | Batley, West Yorkshire |
Team and results 2009 | |
 Doncaster RLFC |
Keepmoat Stadium | Doncaster, South Yorkshire |
Team and results 2009 | |
 Featherstone Rovers |
Post Office Road | Featherstone, West Yorkshire |
Team and results 2009 | |
 Gateshead Thunder |
Thunderdome | Gateshead, Tyne and Wear |
Team and results 2009 | |
 Halifax RLFC |
The Shay | Halifax, West Yorkshire |
Team and results 2009 | |
 Leigh Centurions |
Leigh Sports Village | Leigh, Greater Manchester |
Team and results 2009 | |
 Sheffield Eagles |
Don Valley Stadium | Sheffield, South Yorkshire |
Team and results 2009 | |
 Toulouse Olympique |
Stade des Minimes |  Toulouse, Midi-Pyrénées, France |
Team and results 2009 | |
 Whitehaven RLFC |
Recreation Ground | Whitehaven, Cumbria |
Team and results 2009 | |
 Widnes Vikings |
Stobart Stadium Halton | Widnes, Cheshire |
Team and results 2009 | |
[edit] Results
See Rugby League Championship Second Division and Rugby League Championship Third Division for full lists of lower league championship winners (1895-date). See Rugby League Conference National Division for winners of National League 3.
| Season | Relegated from Super League | League Champions | Promoted | Relegated | League Two Champions | Also promoted to League One |
| 2003 | Halifax RLFC | Salford City Reds | Salford City Reds | Dewsbury Rams | Keighley Cougars | none |
| 2004 | Castleford Tigers | Leigh Centurions | Leigh Centurions | Keighley Cougars | Barrow Raiders1 | none |
| 2005 | Widnes Vikings Leigh Centurions |
Castleford Tigers | Castleford Tigers | Barrow Raiders Featherstone Rovers |
York City Knights1 | none |
| 2006 | Castleford Tigers | Hull Kingston Rovers | Hull Kingston Rovers | Oldham Roughyeds York City Knights |
Dewsbury Rams1 | Sheffield Eagles |
| 2007 | Salford City Reds | Castleford Tigers | Castleford Tigers | Rochdale Hornets Doncaster Lakers |
Celtic Crusaders | Featherstone Rovers |
| 2008 | N/A 2 | Salford City Reds | Salford City Reds Celtic Crusaders2 |
Dewsbury Rams | Gateshead Thunder | Barrow Raiders Doncaster RLFC |
| 2009 | N/A 2 | - | N/A2 | - | - | - - |
[edit] Footnote
- Denotes that championship was not decided using a play-off; league position alone determined the title-holder.
- From 2008 to be promoted to Superleague you had to be a successful applicant for a license, the winner of the grand final was not automatically promoted. All existing Super League teams were given a licence and so there was no relegation.
[edit] Reserve Grade
The reserve grade for Championship and Championship 1 clubs is the Reserve Team First Division. Participation is optional but twelve clubs run a reserve team in it, plus London Skolars run a reserve team in the Rugby League Conference Premier South.
[edit] Juniors
While there is no Under 18s league for Championship clubs, Widnes Vikings run their Under 18s in the Super League Academy and Gateshead Thunder and Keighley Cougars run their Under 18s in the Gillette National Youth League.
[edit] See also
- British rugby league system
- Super League
- Rugby League Conference
- Northern Ford Premiership
- National League Cup
- Rugby League Reserve Team Championship
[edit] External links
- Official Championship website
- RFL Championship coverage
- Scores from Sky Sports
- RugbyLeague.org Championship Fans Forums
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