National_Division_One
RFU Championship
Second level of English rugby union
The RFU Championship is an English rugby union competition comprising eleven clubs. It is the second level of men's English rugby and is played by both professional and semi-professional players.[1][2] The competition has existed since 1987, when English clubs were first organised into leagues.[3]
Current season, competition or edition: 2023–24 RFU Championship | |
| Sport | Rugby union |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1987; 37 years ago (1987) |
| Administrator | RFU |
| No. of teams | 11 |
| Countries |  England |
| Most recent champion(s) | Jersey Reds (1st title) (2022–23) |
| Most titles | Bristol Bears (4 titles) |
| Level on pyramid | Level 2 |
| Promotion to | No promotion |
| Relegation to | National League 1 |
| Domestic cup(s) | Premiership Rugby Cup |
| Official website | championshiprugby.co.uk |
The Championship is governed by the Rugby Football Union (RFU).[4] The current competition format is a double round-robin tournament, where teams play each other home and away. The 2022–23 season had no playoff phase, and no team was promoted to the Premiership as Jersey Reds did not meet the minimum standards criteria.[5]
| |||||||||||||||||
| Club | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Points for | Points against | Points diff | Try bonus | Losing bonus | Points | |||||||
| 1 | Ealing Trailfinders | 17 | 14 | 0 | 3 | 695 | 371 | 324 | 14 | 2 | 72 | ||||||
| 2 | Coventry | 18 | 13 | 0 | 5 | 659 | 392 | 267 | 14 | 2 | 68 | ||||||
| 3 | Cornish Pirates | 17 | 12 | 1 | 4 | 501 | 361 | 140 | 10 | 1 | 61 | ||||||
| 3 | Bedford Blues | 17 | 10 | 0 | 7 | 512 | 444 | 68 | 11 | 4 | 55 | ||||||
| 5 | Doncaster Knights | 17 | 10 | 1 | 6 | 446 | 442 | 4 | 8 | 1 | 51 | ||||||
| 6 | Ampthill | 17 | 9 | 0 | 8 | 486 | 478 | 8 | 12 | 2 | 50 | ||||||
| 7 | Hartpury University | 17 | 8 | 0 | 9 | 483 | 465 | 18 | 8 | 4 | 44 | ||||||
| 8 | Nottingham | 18 | 7 | 0 | 11 | 452 | 578 | -126 | 12 | 2 | 42 | ||||||
| 9 | London Scottish | 17 | 4 | 1 | 12 | 437 | 516 | -79 | 8 | 6 | 32 | ||||||
| 10 | Caldy | 17 | 4 | 1 | 12 | 340 | 562 | -222 | 6 | 1 | 25 | ||||||
| 11 | Cambridge | 18 | 2 | 0 | 16 | 326 | 728 | -402 | 5 | 4 | 17 | ||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
| Green background Champions (qualify for Promotion play-off if eligible). Updated: 21 April 2024 Source: "The Championship". England Rugby. | |||||||||||||||||
| Club | Stadium | Capacity | Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ampthill | Dillingham Park | 3,000 | Ampthill, Bedfordshire |
| Bedford Blues | Goldington Road | 5,000 (1,700 seats) | Bedford, Bedfordshire |
| Caldy | Paton Field | 4,000 | Thurstaston, Wirral, Merseyside |
| Cambridge | Grantchester Road | 2,200 (200 seats) | Cambridge, Cambridgeshire |
| Cornish Pirates | Mennaye Field | 4,000 (2,200 Seats) | Penzance, Cornwall |
| Coventry | Butts Park Arena | 5,200 (3,000 seats) | Coventry, West Midlands |
| Doncaster Knights | Castle Park | 5,000 (1,650 seats) | Doncaster, South Yorkshire |
| Ealing Trailfinders | Trailfinders Sports Ground | 4,000 (2,200 Seats) | West Ealing, London |
| Hartpury University | Alpas Arena | 2,000 | Hartpury, Gloucestershire |
| London Scottish | Athletic Ground | 4,500 (1,000 seats) | Richmond, London |
| Nottingham | Lady Bay Sports Ground | 3,500 | Nottingham, Nottinghamshire |
Precursor competitions (1987–2009)
The governing body for rugby union in England, the RFU, first allowed league hierarchies in 1987. This came nearly a century after leagues were first established in football and cricket, England's other two principal team sports.[6][7]
The RFU's reluctance to allow leagues was based on a perceived threat to the sport's amateurism regulations: competitive leagues were seen as making clubs more likely to use incentives to attract and retain the best players.[8]
When formalised leagues were finally permitted in the 1987–88 season, the second level was known as 'Courage League National Division Two'. The league has since had several different names before becoming the RFU Championship in the 2009–10 season.
Origins (2008)
In November 2008, the Rugby Football Union (RFU) published a plan for a new professional tier below the Premiership. The 12-team Championship replaced the 16-team National Division One.
| Level of men's rugby | Name of competition in 2008–09 | Name of competition in 2009–10 | Number of teams in 2008–09 | Number of teams in 2009–10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | Guinness Premiership | Guinness Premiership | 12 | 12 |
| Level 2 | National Division One | RFU Championship | 16 | 12 |
| Level 3 | National Division 2 | National League 1 | 14 | 16 |
To enable Level 2 to transition from 16 teams to 12, the RFU proposal called for five teams to be relegated at the end of the 2008–09 season. The relegated teams would play in the third level of rugby, known as 'National Division 2' in 2008–09 and to be known as 'National League 1' in 2009–10.
Additionally, one team would be relegated from the Premiership (Level 1 to Level 2), one team would be promoted to the Premiership (Level 2 to Level 1), and one team would be promoted from National Division 2 (Level 3 to Level 2).
The RFU Council voted overwhelmingly in favour of the new proposal, and the first Championship season started the following year, in 2009.
RFU Championship (2009–present)
Promotion to the Premiership
Automatic promotion to the Premiership has not been a consistent feature of the RFU Championship. A playoff tournament was used to decide promotion between the 2009–10 and 2016–17 seasons, as well as in the 2020–21 season.
In seasons without a promotion playoff (2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20), the team at the top of the league was automatically promoted to the Premiership.[9]
| Season | Number of playoff teams |
|---|---|
| 2009–10 | 8 |
| 2010–11 | |
| 2011–12 | |
| 2012–13 | 4 |
| 2013–14 | |
| 2014–15 | |
| 2015–16 | |
| 2016–17 | |
| 2017–18 | No play-offs |
| 2018–19 | |
| 2019–20 | |
| 2020–21 | 2 |
| 2021–22 | No play-offs |
| 2022–23 | |
The RFU plans to reintroduce possible promotion at the end of the 2023–24 season, by means of a play-off between the top placed team in the Championship and the bottom placed side in the Premiership.[10]
COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic caused the 2019–20 season to be prematurely ended. Final standings were based on a "best playing record formula" and promotion and relegation remained for the 1st and 12th placed clubs respectively.[11]
The 2020–21 season was impacted by the aforementioned pandemic and as a consequence, a shorter season kicked off in spring 2021. The reduced season saw each team play each other once only with the top two teams entering a two-legged promotion playoff. There was no relegation due to cancellation of National League 1.[12]
In February 2021, a moratorium on relegation from the Premiership into the Championship was approved and it was confirmed that the RFU were working on a review of the minimum standards criteria for promotion and the league structure from 2021–22.[13] The moratorium was extended for a further two years in June 2021 and also could include promotion from the Championship at the end of the 2022–23 season if there was promotion in the previous season. There was also no relegation from the Championship in 2021–22.
Competition funding
The RFU Championship clubs were in dispute with the RFU over funding for the competition and claimed that each club was owed £77,000 for the past three seasons, and will be owed a further £120,000 over the next four seasons. The clubs believed they should have received £295,000 in 2009–10, rising to £400,000 by 2015–16 and further believe there was a breach of contract on the part of the RFU. The RFU stated that the original funding was an estimate and by 2015–16 the figure will be £359,400.[14] When the RFU announced the hiatus of promotion play-offs, it also announced funding increases from both itself and the Premiership, including a new system which ties some of the new funding to each Championship side's performance in the league season.[9] The extra funding provided prior to 2016–17 was removed prior to the 2020–21 season.[15][16]
Sponsorship
For sponsorship reasons, the competition was officially known as the Greene King IPA Championship between the 2013–14 and 2020–21 seasons.[17]
Courage League National Division Two (1987–1997)
1980s
| Season | Matches | Champions | Runners–up | Relegated teams | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1987–88 | 11 | Rosslyn Park | Liverpool St Helens | No relegation | ||||||||||
| 1988–89 | 11 | Saracens | Bedford | London Scottish and London Welsh | ||||||||||
| 1989–90 | 11 | Northampton | Liverpool St Helens | No relegation[a 1] | ||||||||||
| Green background are promotion places. | ||||||||||||||
1990s
| Season | Matches | Champions | Runners–up | Relegated teams | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990–91 | 12 | Rugby | London Irish | Richmond and Headingley | ||||||||||
| 1991–92 | 12 | London Scottish | West Hartlepool | Plymouth Albion, Liverpool St Helens | ||||||||||
| 1992–93 | 12 | Newcastle Gosforth | Waterloo | Bedford, Rosslyn Park, Richmond, Blackheath, Coventry, Fylde, Morley | ||||||||||
| 1993–94 | 18 | Sale | West Hartlepool | Rugby, Otley | ||||||||||
| 1994–95 | 18 | Saracens | Wakefield | Fylde, Coventry | ||||||||||
| 1995–96 | 18 | Northampton | London Irish | No relegation[a 2] | ||||||||||
| 1996–97 | 22 | Richmond | Newcastle | Rugby, Nottingham | ||||||||||
| Green background are promotion places. | ||||||||||||||
Allied Dunbar Premiership Two (1997–2000)
1990s
| Season | Matches | Champions | Runners–up | Relegated teams | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997–98 | 22 | Bedford | West Hartlepool[a 3] | No relegation[a 4] | ||||||||||
| 1998–99 | 26 | Bristol | Rotherham | Blackheath and Fylde | ||||||||||
| 1999–00 | 26 | Rotherham | Leeds Tykes | Rugby and West Hartlepool | ||||||||||
| Green background are promotion places. | ||||||||||||||
National Division One (2000–2009)
2000s
| Season | Matches | Champions | Runners–up | Relegated teams | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000–01 | 26 | Leeds Tykes | Worcester | Orrell and Waterloo | ||||||||||
| 2001–02 | 26 | Rotherham | Worcester | Henley and Bracknell | ||||||||||
| 2002–03 | 26 | Rotherham | Worcester | Moseley, Rugby Lions | ||||||||||
| 2003–04 | 26 | Worcester | Orrell | Wakefield, Manchester | ||||||||||
| 2004–05 | 26 | Bristol | Exeter | Orrell, Henley | ||||||||||
| 2005–06 | 26 | Harlequins | Bedford Blues | No relegation[a 5] | ||||||||||
| 2006–07 | 30 | Leeds Tykes | Earth Titans | Otley, Waterloo | ||||||||||
| 2007–08 | 30 | Northampton Saints | Exeter Chiefs | Pertemp Bees, Launceston | ||||||||||
| 2008–09 | 30 | Leeds Tykes | Exeter Chiefs | Esher, Sedgley Park, Newbury, Otley, Manchester | ||||||||||
| Green background are promotion places. | ||||||||||||||
RFU Championship (2009–)
2000s
| Season | Matches | Champions | Runners–up | Relegated teams | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009–10 | 22 | Exeter Chiefs | Bristol | Coventry | ||||||||||
| Green background are promotion places. | ||||||||||||||
2010s
| Season | Matches | Champions | Runners–up | Relegated teams | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010–11 | 22 | Worcester Warriors | Bedford Blues | Doncaster Knights | ||||||||||
| 2011–12 | 22 | London Welsh | Bristol | Ealing Trailfinders | ||||||||||
| 2012–13 | 22 | Newcastle Falcons | Bristol | Plymouth Albion | ||||||||||
| 2013–14 | 23 | London Welsh | Doncaster Knights | Moseley | ||||||||||
| 2014–15 | 22 | Worcester Warriors | Yorkshire Carnegie | No relegation | ||||||||||
| 2015–16 | 22 | Bristol | Ealing Trailfinders | Rotherham Titans | ||||||||||
| 2016–17 | 22 | London Irish | Ealing Trailfinders | Richmond | ||||||||||
| 2017–18 | 22 | Bristol | Ealing Trailfinders | Yorkshire Carnegie | ||||||||||
| 2018–19 | 22 | London Irish | Ealing Trailfinders | No relegation | ||||||||||
| 2019–20 | 15* | Newcastle Falcons | Ealing Trailfinders | No relegation | ||||||||||
| Green background are promotion places. * 2019–20 season ended early because of the COVID-19 pandemic. | ||||||||||||||
2020s
| Season | Matches | Champions | Runners–up | Relegated teams | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020–21 | 10** | Saracens | Ealing Trailfinders | No relegation | ||||||||||
| 2021–22 | 20 | Ealing Trailfinders | Doncaster Knights | No relegation | ||||||||||
| 2022–23 | 22 | Jersey Reds | Ealing Trailfinders | Richmond | ||||||||||
| 2023–24 | 20 | |||||||||||||
| Green background are promotion places. **2020–21 season started late due to the pandemic. | ||||||||||||||
- 3rd place London Scottish were also promoted.
- "What next for rugby's Championship?". BBC Sport.
- Williams, Peter (2012). "Any given Saturday: Competitive balance in elite English rugby union". Managing Leisure. 17 (2–3): 88–105. doi:10.1080/13606719.2012.674388. S2CID 154035466.
- "Regulation 2013" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 April 2020.
- Williams, P. J. (2000). Professionalism and Change in English Rugby Union: An Inside View - ProQuest. University of Manchester. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
- "Annual Meeting of County Secretaries – the programme for 1890". Cricket: A Weekly Record of the Game. ACS. 1889. pp. 478–479. Archived from the original on 8 September 2017. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
- Williams, P. (December 2002). "Battle Lines on Three Fronts: The RFU and the Lost War Against Professionalism". The International Journal of the History of Sport. 19 (4): 114–136. doi:10.1080/714001793. S2CID 145705183. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
- "Play-off system removed from Greene King IPA Championship from next season" (Press release). Premiership Rugby Limited. 3 March 2017. Retrieved 4 March 2017.
- "RFU Council Vote in Favour of Covid Recovery Plan and Temporary Pause on Relegation". Premiership Rugby. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
- "Greene King IPA Championship Fixtures Confirmed". www.championshiprugby.co.uk. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
- "RFU Council Votes in Favour of No Relegation". www.englandrugby.com. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
- Straughan, Dick (5 July 2012). "Falcons relegated as Welsh win RFU promotion appleal". The Cornishman. p. 80.
- "Update on RFU Funding of Greene King IPA Championship". Rugby Football Union. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
- "Update on RFU Funding of Greene King IPA Championship". Rugby Football Union. Retrieved 23 February 2020.
- "Greene King IPA to sponsor RFU Championship" (Press release). Rugby Football Union. 26 June 2013. Archived from the original on 1 July 2013. Retrieved 27 June 2013.
- Tony Williams and Bill Mitchell, ed. (1990). Courage Official Rugby Union Club Directory 1990–91. Windsor: Burlington Publishing Co Ltd.
- Mick Cleary and John Griffiths, ed. (1996). Rothmans Rugby Union Yearbook 1996–97. London: Headline Book Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7472-7771-2.
- "Leagues 1997/98". Moseley Rugby Club. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
- "RFU council approves expansion of National League One". ESPN. 17 March 2006.
- Official website
- RFU Championship table at BBC Sport
