Rugby League National Leagues

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National Leagues 1 & 2

Founded
2003
Nations
England Wales
Number of Teams
10 & 12
Cups
Challenge Cup Northern Rail Cup
Current Champions
Castleford

The Rugby League National Leagues (now sponsored by the united Co-Operative Group) form the basis for rugby league competition in Great Britain below Super League.

There are currently two leagues with promotion and relegation between the two divisions.

National League teams are only allowed one quota player, other than London Skolars, Gateshead Thunder and Celtic Crusaders to compensate for the lack of amateur clubs outside the heartlands to recruit from.

1 History
- 1.1 National League Three
2 Structure
3 2008 structure
4 Results
- 4.1 Footnote
5 See also
6 External links

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 Northern Ford Premiership was completely re-organised into National Leagues One and Two. Teams that finished in the top ten of the Northern Ford Premiership joined League One and the bottom nine joined 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 League Two 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 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 a new team was admitted into the League Two, a Welsh team called Celtic Crusaders based on the old rugby union team Celtic Warriors, thus increasing this division to twelve teams.

In 2007, National League Three was scrapped and rebranded as the Rugby League Conference National Division.

National League Three ran between 2003 and 2006. It was intended that at some future point promotion and relegation would be allowed between National League Three and National League Two.

The remaining six founder members of National League three (Teesside Steelers, Manchester Knights, Coventry Bears, Hemel Stags, St Albans Centurions and South London Storm all came from the Rugby League Conference. Of the other League Three clubs three (Bradford Dudley Hill, Sheffield Hillsborough Hawks and Warrington Woolston Rovers (now Warrington Wizards)) came from the National Conference League and (Huddersfield Underbank Rangers) came from the Pennine League.

Season 2004 saw an expansion to fourteen teams with Birmingham Bulldogs, Carlisle Centurions and Essex Eels elected from the Rugby League Conference. Also one League Three club, Bramley Buffaloes, was admitted as a new club, though they can also be considered as a reincarnation of the previous Bramley club, which had long played in the professional leagues. Gateshead Storm also entered as late replacements for the defunct Teesside Steelers. The season was extended to twenty games starting a move towards a full season. Manchester Knights resigned from the league a few games before the end of the season.

Prior to the 2005 season South London Storm announced that they were joining the new Rugby League Conference Premier Division, along with Manchester Knights. Carlisle Centurions and Birmingham Bulldogs failed to complete the season, Coventry Bears and Essex Eels resigned after the season. Some felt the problems were a result of the change from a semi-regionalised structure to a full home and away set-up. All four of these found their way back into the Rugby League Conference.

Dewsbury Celtic moved up from the Rugby League Conference Premier North and Featherstone Lions, just a month after failing to finish the season in the National Conference League, were accepted to National League Three to give it ten members for the 2006 season.

A few weeks into the 2006 season Sheffield Hillsborough Hawks withdrew, and Bradford Dudley Hill returned to the National Conference League after the season. St Albans Centurions also decided to join the Rugby League Conference Premier Division South, which left Hemel Stags as the only southern team in the league.

In 2007 the National League Three teams was absorbed into the Rugby League Conference, rebranded as the Rugby League Conference National Division with the addition of three new teams from the Rugby League Conference Premier North. It is thought the rebranding was due to the number of teams withdrawing and the number of forfeited fixtures harming the image of the National Leagues as a whole, which was an issue while looking for a new sponsor.

A play-off structure is used to determine the winners of League One, who are then eligible for promotion to Super League, being replaced by the team being relegated from that competition. Two teams are relegated from League One, being replaced by the team finishing top of League Two and the winner of a play-off structure involving the six teams finishing behind the league leaders in League Two. The play-offs in each National League division 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. 3 yearly reviews of franchises will take place to ensure ambitious clubs lower down the leagues can still be successful.

There is no promotion or relegation between League Two 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 the National Leagues from the Rugby League Conference since the London Skolars.

A cup competition, the National League Cup, is played for by all clubs in Leagues One and Two; 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 will use a new points system

Win – three points; Draw – two points; Loss by 12 points or fewer - one point.[1]

There are ten teams in league one and twelve in league two.

National League One
Team	Stadium	City/Area
Batley Bulldogs	Mount Pleasant	Batley, West Yorkshire
Celtic Crusaders	Brewery Field	Bridgend, Wales
Dewsbury Rams	The Tetley's Stadium	Dewsbury, West Yorkshire
Featherstone Rovers	Chris Moyles Stadium	Featherstone, West Yorkshire
Halifax RLFC	The Shay	Halifax, West Yorkshire
Leigh Centurions	Hilton Park	Leigh, Greater Manchester
Salford City Reds	The Willows	Salford, Greater Manchester
Sheffield Eagles	Don Valley Stadium	Sheffield, South Yorkshire
Whitehaven RLFC	Recreation Ground	Whitehaven, Cumbria
Widnes Vikings	The Stobart Stadium	Widnes, Cheshire

National League Two
Team	Stadium	City/Area
Barrow Raiders	Craven Park	Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria
Blackpool Panthers	Woodlands Memorial Ground	Lytham St Annes, Lancashire
Doncaster RLFC	Keepmoat Stadium	Doncaster, South Yorkshire
Gateshead Thunder	Thunderdome	Gateshead, Tyne and Wear
Hunslet Hawks	South Leeds Stadium	Leeds, West Yorkshire
Keighley Cougars	Cougar Park	Keighley, West Yorkshire
London Skolars	New River Stadium	Haringey, London
Oldham Roughyeds	Boundary Park	Oldham, Greater Manchester
Rochdale Hornets	Spotland Stadium	Rochdale, Greater Manchester
Swinton Lions	Park Lane	Swinton, Greater Manchester
Workington Town	Derwent Park	Workington, Cumbria
York City Knights	Huntington Stadium	York, North Yorkshire

See Rugby League Championship Second Division and Rugby League Championship Third Division for full lists of lower league championship winners (1895-date).

Season	League One Champions	Relegated from League One	League Two Champions	Also promoted to League One	League Three Champions
2003	Salford City Reds	Dewsbury Rams	Keighley Cougars	none	Warrington Woolston Rovers
2004	Leigh Centurions	Keighley Cougars	Barrow Raiders¹	none	Coventry Bears
2005	Castleford Tigers	Barrow Raiders, Featherstone Rovers	York City Knights¹	none	Bradford Dudley Hill
2006	Hull Kingston Rovers	Oldham Roughyeds, York City Knights	Dewsbury Rams¹	Sheffield Eagles	Bramley Buffaloes
2007	Castleford Tigers	Rochdale Hornets, Doncaster Lakers	Celtic Crusaders	Featherstone Rovers	Featherstone Lions

Denotes that championship was not decided using a play-off; league position alone determined the title-holder.

v • d • e Rugby league in Britain and Ireland
Competitions	Super League · National League · Challenge Cup · National League Cup · National Conference League · CMS Yorkshire league · North West Counties · Pennine League · Cumberland League · Hull & District League · Barrow & District League · Rugby League Conference · Midlands Merit League · London League
National teams	Great Britain · England · Ireland · Scotland · Wales
Federations	RFL · BARLA · Rugby League Ireland · Wales Rugby League · Scotland Rugby League
Former competitions	Championship · Premiership · Lancs/Yorks Cups · Lancs/Yorks League Regal Trophy · Charity Shield · BBC2 Floodlit Trophy

v • d • e Rugby League National Leagues - National League One
Batley Bulldogs \| Celtic Crusaders \| Dewsbury Rams \| Featherstone Rovers \| Halifax RLFC \| Leigh Centurions \| Salford City Reds \| Sheffield Eagles \| Whitehaven RLFC \| Widnes Vikings
See also: Rugby League Championship Second Division

v • d • e Rugby League National Leagues - National League Two
Barrow Raiders \| Blackpool Panthers \| Doncaster RLFC \| Gateshead Thunder \| Hunslet Hawks \| Keighley Cougars \| London Skolars \| Oldham Roughyeds \| Rochdale Hornets \| Swinton Lions \| Workington Town \| York City Knights
See also: Rugby League Championship Third Division