Championship 1

Championship 1
Current season or competition: 2011 Championship 1
Sport	Rugby league football
Inaugural season	2003
Number of teams	10
Countries	England  Wales
Champions	Swinton Lions (2011)
Website	cooperativechampionship.co.uk
Related competition	Co-operative Championship Challenge Cup Northern Rail Cup

Championship 1, known as The Co-operative Championship 1 due to sponsorship by The Co-operative Group, is a rugby league competition based in the United Kingdom. It acts as the country's third-tier competition behind the Championship, with which it has a system of promotion and relegation. It is currently contested by ten teams, eight from England and two from Wales. It is organized by the Rugby Football League, the governing body for the sport in the UK.

The current incarnation of third-tier British rugby league dates to 2003, when the Northern Ford Premiership was divided into National League One and National League Two. With the addition of the French team Toulouse Olympique in 2009, the names were changed to the Championship and Championship 1, respectively. The current champions are Swinton Lions, who were promoted to the Championship along with play-off winners Keighley Cougars

Championship 1 teams are only allowed one quota player, other than Gateshead Thunder and London Skolars, to compensate for the lack of amateur clubs outside the rugby league heartlands from which to recruit.

History

Third-division rugby league competitions in the United Kingdom have existed periodically since 1991. The current incarnation was created in 2003 when the existing second-division competition below the Super League, the Northern Ford Premiership, was split into National Leagues One and Two. Teams that finished in the top ten of the NFP joined National League One and the bottom nine joined National League Two. They were joined by London Skolars from the Rugby League Conference who entered National League Two. York City Knights replaced the defunct York Wasps and joined National League Two in 2003.

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.

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 One; thus the number of teams in this division remained at ten. Blackpool Panthers were elected to National League Two for the 2005 season to replace the defunct Chorley Lynx. In order to even up the numbers in National League Two, the Welsh team Celtic Crusaders were admitted to the competition in 2005, first playing in the 2006 season and increasing the division to twelve teams.

In 2007, National League Three was scrapped and rebranded as the Rugby League Conference National Division. With the addition of the French team Toulouse Olympique to National League One in 2009, National Leagues One and Two were renamed to the Championship and Championship 1, respectively. South Wales Scorpions were admitted to Championship 1 for the 2010 season.

Structure

Championship 1 has a system of promotion and relegation with the Championship. At the end of the season, the bottom two teams in the Championship are relegated to Championship 1. Two Championship 1 teams are promoted: the team finishing top of the competition, and the winner of a top six play-offs competition between the six teams finishing behind the league leaders.

There is no promotion or relegation between Championship 1 and the Rugby League Conference at the present; current RFL policy is to expand the top two leagues gradually over time. As yet no clubs have been admitted to Championship 1 from the Rugby League Conference since the London Skolars.

A cup competition, the National League Cup, is played for by all clubs in the Championship and Championship 1; in 2005 four National League Three clubs were also admitted, in 2006 five League Three teams 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]

Teams

Championship 1
Team	Stadium	Capacity	City/Area
Barrow Raiders	Craven Park	7,600	Barrow, Cumbria
Doncaster	Keepmoat Stadium	15,231	Doncaster, South Yorkshire
Gateshead Thunder	Thunderdome	11,800	Gateshead, Tyne and Wear
London Skolars	New River Stadium	5,000	Haringey, London
North Wales Crusaders	Racecourse Ground	15,500	Wrexham, Wales
Oldham Roughyeds	Whitebank Stadium	2,000 (Developing)	Oldham, Greater Manchester
Rochdale Hornets	Spotland Stadium	10,249	Rochdale, Greater Manchester
South Wales Scorpions	The Gnoll	5,000	Neath, West Glamorgan, Wales
Whitehaven	Recreation Ground	7,500	Whitehaven, Cumbria
Workington Town	Derwent Park	10,000	Workington, Cumbria

Expansion

The RFL plan to expand the game outside the heartlands from 2013 onwards. Sixteen clubs have expressed interest in joining the professional ranks, out of those the RFL have picked seven as potential inclusions; Medway Dragons, Hemel Stags, Bristol Sonics, Coventry Bears, Chester Gladiators and Oxford Cavaliers, who will be selected and announced one at a time over the next four months and will be given support from the RFL. There will also be no relegation from the Championship; instead clubs will be promoted from Championship 1 to make way for the new clubs. Minimum standards, such as a 3,000 stadium capacity, will apply in the 14-club Championship. The RFL have also announced Premier Sports have agreed to broadcast the Championships, taking over from Sky Sports.^[1]

Results

See Rugby Football League Championship Third Division for winners of the old Third Division.

Season	Champions	Also promoted	Relegated from Championship	Wooden Spoon
2003	Keighley Cougars	none	Dewsbury Rams
2004	Barrow Raiders1	none	Keighley Cougars
2005	York City Knights1	none	Barrow Raiders Featherstone Rovers
2006	Dewsbury Rams1	Sheffield Eagles	Oldham Roughyeds York City Knights	Blackpool Panthers
2007	Crusaders	Featherstone Rovers	Rochdale Hornets Doncaster Lakers	Blackpool Panthers
2008	Gateshead Thunder	Barrow Raiders Doncaster	Dewsbury Rams	Hunslet Hawks
2009	Dewsbury Rams	Keighley Cougars	Gateshead Thunder Doncaster	London Skolars
2010	Hunslet Hawks	York City Knights	Whitehaven Keighley Cougars	Gateshead Thunder
2011	Swinton Lions	Keighley Cougars	Toulouse Olympique2 Barrow Raiders	Gateshead Thunder

See also

• British rugby league system‎
• Super League
• Rugby League Conference
• Northern Ford Premiership
• National League Cup

References

1. ^ http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/18102011/63/rfl-unveil-championship-plans.html

External links

• Official Championship website
• RFL Championship coverage
• Scores from Sky Sports
• RugbyLeague.org Championship 1 Fans Forums