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RFU Championship

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Championship Rugby
Current season, competition or edition:
Current sports event 2021–22 RFU Championship
SportRugby union
Founded1987; 37 years ago (1987)
AdministratorRFU
No. of teams11
Countries England
 Jersey
Most recent
champion(s)		Saracens (3rd title)
(2020–21)
Most titlesBristol Bears (4 titles)
Level on pyramid2
Promotion toPremiership Rugby
Relegation toNational League 1[a]
Domestic cup(s)Championship Cup
Official websiteChampionship Rugby

The RFU Championship is an English rugby union competition comprising 12 clubs. It is the second level of men’s English rugby and is played by both professional and semi-professional players. The competition has existed since 1987, when English clubs were first organised into leagues.

History

Precursor competitions (1987-2009)

The second level of men’s English rugby had three different names before it became the RFU Championship in the 2009-10 season.

Name of second level competition First season Last season
Courage League National Division Two 1987-88 1996-97
Allied Dunbar Premiership Two 1997-98 1999-2000
National Division One 2000-01 2008-09


Origins (2008)

In November 2008, the Rugby Football Union (RFU) published a plan for a new professional tier below the Premiership. The proposed 12-team Championship would replace the existing 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)

Sponsorship

For sponsorship reasons, the competition was officially known as the Greene King IPA Championship between the 2013–14 and 2020–21 seasons.[1]


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. [2]

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 playoffs
2018-19
2019-20
2020-21 2

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.[3]


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.[4]

The 2020–21 season was impacted by the above mentioned 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.[5]

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.[6] The moratorium was extended for a further two years in June 2021 and also includes promotion from the Championship at the end of the 2022–23 season. There will also be 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.[7] 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.[2] The extra funding provided prior to 2016–17 was removed prior to the 2020–21 season.[8][9]


2021–22 season

Main article: 2021–22 RFU Championship
  1. ^ There has been a moratorium on relegation since the 2020–21 season.
  2. ^ Goldington Road's capacity down from 6,000 to 5,000.

Current standings

Template:2021–22 RFU Championship Table

League results

National One

List of National One Winners
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]
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
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
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

List of RFU Championship Winners 2010–2012 (Champions decided over three stages)
Season Champions Finalists No of matches First stage winners Runners-up Relegated team
2009–10 Exeter Chiefs Bristol 22 Bristol Exeter Chiefs Coventry
2010–11 Worcester Warriors Cornish Pirates 22 Worcester Warriors Bedford Blues Birmingham & Solihull
2011–12 London Welsh Cornish Pirates 22 Bristol Bedford Blues Esher
Green background are promotion places. Teams in bold are the winners of the first stage.
List of RFU Championship Winners 2013–2021 (Champions decided by league position)
Season Matches Champions Final Runners–up Relegated team
2012–13 22 Newcastle Falcons 49–33 (agg) Bedford Blues Doncaster Knights
2013–14 23 London Welsh 48–28 (agg) Bristol Ealing Trailfinders
2014–15 22 Worcester Warriors 59–58 (agg) Bristol Plymouth Albion
2015–16 22 Bristol 60–47 (agg) Doncaster Knights Moseley
2016–17 22 London Irish 84–66 (agg) Yorkshire Carnegie No relegation[a 6]
2017–18 22 Bristol N/A Ealing Trailfinders Rotherham Titans
2018–19 22 London Irish Ealing Trailfinders Richmond
2019–20 15* Newcastle Falcons Ealing Trailfinders Yorkshire Carnegie
2020–21 10** Saracens 117–15 (agg) Ealing Trailfinders No relegation[a 7]
2021–22 No relegation[a 8]
Green background are promotion places. Teams in bold topped the table.
* 2019-2020 Season ended early because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
** 2020–21 season started late due to the pandemic.

Summary of winners and runners-up

Teams Champions Years titles won Runners-up Years runners-up Top of league standings Number of promotions
Bristol 4 1999, 2005, 2016, 2018 3 2010, 2014, 2015 7 4
Newcastle Falcons 3 1993, 2013, 2020 1 1997 3 4
Northampton Saints 3 1990, 1996, 2008 3 3
Rotherham Titans 3 2000, 2002, 2003 2 1999, 2007 3 2
Yorkshire Carnegie 3 2001, 2007, 2009 2 2000, 2017 3 3
Worcester Warriors 3 2004, 2011, 2015 3 2001, 2002, 2003 2 3
London Irish 2 2017, 2019 2 1991, 1996 2 4
Saracens 3 1989, 1995, 2021 2 3
London Welsh 2 2012, 2014 0 2
Bedford Blues 1 1998 3 1989, 2006, 2013 1 2
Exeter Chiefs 1 2010 3 2005, 2008, 2009 0 1
Harlequins 1 2006 1 1
London Scottish 1 1992 1 2
Richmond 1 1997 1 1
Rosslyn Park 1 1988 1 1
Rugby Lions 1 1991 1 1
Sale Sharks 1 1994 1 1
Ealing Trailfinders 4 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021
West Hartlepool 3 1992, 1994, 1998 3
Cornish Pirates 2 2011, 2012
Liverpool St Helens 2 1988, 1990 2
Orrell 1 2004
Wakefield 1 1994 1
Waterloo 1 1993

Original teams

These are the 12 teams which made up the original league when league rugby began in 1987:

Records

Note that most records are from 1996–97 season onwards (aside from league champions, promotion and relegation data) as this is widely held as the dawn of professionalism across the English club game except in a few areas. It also offers a better comparison between seasons as the division team numbers are roughly equal (for example when league rugby union first started in 1987–88 the Courage League National Division Two had 12 teams playing 11 games each, compared to 12 teams in 1996–97 playing 24 games (home & away), going up to 16 teams in 2009–10 playing 30 games, back to 12 teams playing 24 games with additional playoff games). Attendance records are from 2000 onwards unless otherwise specified. All records are up to date up till the end of the 2017–18 season.

League records

  • Most titles: 4
Bristol (1998–99, 2004–05, 2015–16, 2017–18)
  • Most times promoted from division: 4
Bristol (1998–99, 2004–05, 2015–16, 2017–18)
London Irish (1990–91, 1995–96, 2016–17, 2018–19)
Newcastle Falcons (1992–93, 1996–97, 2012–13, 2019–20)
  • Most times relegated from division: 4
Rugby Lions (1993–94, 1996–97, 1999–00, 2002–03)
  • Most league points in a season: 143
Northampton Saints (2007–08)
  • Least league points in a season: −9
Pertemps Bees (2009–10)[a 9]
  • Most points scored in a season: 1,321
Northampton Saints (2007–08)
  • Least points scored in a season: 216
West Hartlepool (1999–00)
  • Most points conceded in a season: 1,298
Otley (2008–09)
  • Least points conceded in a season: 252
Newcastle Falcons (2012–13)[a 10]
  • Best points difference (For/Against): 978
Northampton Saints (2007–08)
  • Worst points difference (For/Against): –898
West Hartlepool (1999–00)
  • Most games won in a season: 30
Northampton Saints (2007–08)
  • Most games lost in a season: 28
Manchester (2008–09)
  • Most games drawn in a season: 5
Birmingham & Solihull (2000–01)
  • Most bonus points in a season: 24
Rotherham Titans (2001–02, 2006–07), Northampton Saints (2007–08)

Match records

  • Largest home win: 156 – 5
Newcastle Falcons at home to Rugby Lions on 5 October 1996 (1996–97)
  • Largest away win: 104 – 0
Leeds Carnegie away to Manchester on 8 April 2009 (2008–09)
  • Most points scored in a match: 156
Newcastle Falcons at home to Rugby Lions on 5 October 1996 (1996–97)
  • Most tries scored in a match: 24
Newcastle Falcons at home to Rugby Lions on 5 October 1996 (1996–97)
  • Most conversions scored in a match: 18
Newcastle Falcons at home to Rugby Lions on 5 October 1996 (1996–97)
  • Most penalties scored in a match: 9
Manchester at home to Wakefield on 15 December 2001 (2001–02)
Coventry at home to Otley on 13 November 2004 (2004–05)
  • Most drop kicks scored in a match: 3
Exeter Chiefs away to Rotherham on 10 November 2001 (2001–02)
Exeter Chiefs away to Plymouth Albion on 8 September 2007 (2007–08)
Cornish Pirates at home to Plymouth Albion on 12 April 2009 (2008–09)
Worcester Warriors away to Bedford Blues on 16 October 2010 (2010–11)
Leeds Carnegie at home to Rotherham Titans on 25 November 2011 (2011–12)

Attendance records

  • Highest attendance: 16,048
Bristol at home to Doncaster Knights on 25 May 2016 (2015–16)
Bracknell at home to Exeter Chiefs on 2 March 2002 (2001–02)
Moseley at home to Rugby Lions on 23 March 2002 (2001–02)
  • Highest average attendance (club): 11,494
Northampton Saints (2007–08)
  • Lowest average attendance (club): 322
Birmingham & Solihull (2000–01)[a 12]

Player records

Championship top point scorers

As of the end of the games of 25 May 2016. Stats taken from 1996–97 season onwards and includes both regular league/play-off games the RFU Championship only (no cup games). Points scored includes tries, drop kicks, penalties and conversions.[18]
Rank Nat Name Years Club(s) Points Apps Ratio
1 Canada James Pritchard 2001–03, 2006–16
2004-05		 Bedford Blues
Plymouth Albion		 2,673 251 10.6
2 England Tony Yapp 1997–98
1999–02
2002–09		 Bedford Blues
Worcester Warriors
Exeter Chiefs		 1,913 207 9.2
3 England Simon Binns 1996–98, 1999–01
2001–07		 Rotherham
Otley		 1,792 188 9.5
4 England Leigh Hinton 1998–99
2000–02
2002–03
2003–04
2004–05
2006–07, 2008–09		 Worcester
Moseley
Birmingham & Solihull
Orrell
Bedford Blues
Leeds Carnegie		 1,397 160 8.7
5 England Phil Jones 2001–03
2005–11		 Orrell
Sedgley Park		 1,194 197 6.1
6 England Oliver Thomas 2002–03, 2006–07, 2008–09, 2010–15
2007–08		 Moseley
Cornish Pirates		 1,070 175 6.1
7 England Tristan Roberts 2008–10
2010–11
2011–14
2015–16		 Moseley
Doncaster Knights
Bristol
Ealing Trailfinders		 1,063 127 8.4
8 Ireland Gareth Steenson 2006–07
2007–08
2008–10		 Earth Titans
Cornish Pirates
Exeter Chiefs		 1,059 116 9.1
9 Ireland Kieran Hallett 2004–07
2008–11
2011–12
2012–		 Bedford Blues
Plymouth Albion
Nottingham
Cornish Pirates		 1,033 170 6.0
10 England Tom Barlow 1998–99
2002–04
2004–06
2006–08
2008–09		 Fylde
Plymouth Albion
Cornish Pirates
Nottingham
Rotherham Titans		 922 142 6.5

(Bold denotes players still playing in the RFU Championship.)

Championship top try scorers

As of the end of the games of 25 May 2016. Stats taken from 1996–97 season onwards and includes both regular league/playoff games the RFU Championship only (no cup games).[19]
Rank Nat Name Years Club(s) Tries Apps Ratio
1 England Kurt Johnson 1998-99
1999-10		 Orrell
Coventry		 108 239 0.5
2 England Richard Baxter 1997-10 Exeter Chiefs 105 315 0.3
3 England Jon Feeley 1998-00
2000-04
2004-06
2006-10		 Leeds Tykes
Wakefield
Sedgley Park
Rotherham Titans		 101 222 0.5
4 England Nick Baxter 1997-01
2001-06		 Worcester
Pertemps Bees		 98 190 0.5
5 Canada James Pritchard 2001-03, 2006-16
2004-05		 Bedford Blues
Plymouth Albion		 94 251 0.4
6 England Wes Davies 2001-03
2003-04
2004-06, 2009-13
2006-09		 Orrell
Worcester Warriors
Cornish Pirates
Doncaster Knights		 89 234 0.4
7 England Duncan Roke 1999-01
2001-04
2005-07		 Henley Hawks
Worcester Warriors
Cornish Pirates		 77 146 0.5
8 England Richard Welding 1999-01, 2002-04
2004-05
2005-06
2006-07, 2008-09
2010-11		 Orrell
Sedgley Park
Cornish Pirates
Leeds Carnegie
Rotherham Titans		 72 186 0.4
9 England Matt Jess 2003-06
2007-08
2008-10		 Cornish Pirates
Launceston
Exeter Chiefs		 71 152 0.5
10 England Leigh Hinton 1998-99
2000-02
2002-03
2003-04
2004-05
2006-07, 2008-09		 Worcester
Moseley
Birmingham & Solihull
Orrell
Bedford Blues
Leeds Carnegie		 71 160 0.4

(Bold denotes players still playing in the RFU Championship.)

Other player records

  • Most times top points scorer: 2
England Leigh Hinton for Orrell (2004-05, 2006-07)
Ireland Gareth Steenson for Cornish Pirates (2007-08) and Exeter Chiefs (2009-10)
  • Most times top try scorer: 2
England Dean Lax for Rotherham (1998-99, 1999-00)
  • Most points in a season: 396
Tonga Sateki Tuipulotu for Worcester (2000-01)
  • Most tries in a season: 39
England Chris Ashton for Northampton Saints (2007-08)
  • Most points in a match: 42
England Jez Harris for Coventry at home to Nottingham on 5 October 1996 (1996-97)
  • Most tries in a match: 6
England Chris Ashton for Northampton Saints at home to Launceston on 26 April 2008 (2007-08)
  • Most conversions in a match: 18
England Rob Andrew for Newcastle Falcons at home to Rugby Lions on 5 October 1996 (1996-97)
  • Most penalties in a match: 9
England Marcus Barrow for Manchester at home to Wakefield on 15 December 2001 (2001-02)
England Matthew Leek for Coventry at home to Otley on 13 November 2004 (2004-05)
  • Most drop kicks in a match: 3
Australia Chris Malone for Exeter Chiefs away to Rotherham on 10 November 2001 (2001-02)
England Danny Gray for Exeter Chiefs away to Plymouth Albion on 8 September 2007 (2007-08)
Wales Rhys Jones for Cornish Pirates at home to Plymouth Albion on 12 April 2009 (2008-09)
England Andy Goode for Exeter Chiefs away to Bristol on 26 May 2010 (2010-11)
England Joe Ford for Leeds Carnegie at home to Rotherham Titans on 25 November 2011 (2011-12)

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Due to the expansion of the Courage National Leagues for the following season there was no relegation from the 1989–90 Courage League National Division Two.[10]
  2. ^ Due to the expansion of the division from 10 to 12 teams for the following season there was no relegation from the 1995-96 Courage League National Division Two.[11]
  3. ^ 3rd place London Scottish were also promoted.
  4. ^ Due to the expansion of the top two divisions for the following season there was no relegation from the 1997-98 Dunbar Premiership Two.[12]
  5. ^ Due to the RFU expanding the league from 14 to 16 teams for the following season there was no relegation from the 2005-06 National Division One.[13]
  6. ^ Due to London Welsh going into liquidation and being expelled from the league in January 2017 there was no relegation from the 2016-17 RFU Championship.[14]
  7. ^ Due to cancellation of the National Leagues in 2020–21 there will be no relegation from the 2020–21 RFU Championship.[15]
  8. ^ There will be no relegation from the 2021–22 RFU Championship.[16]
  9. ^ This figure is taken from the regular 2009–10 RFU Championship season and does not include the relegation group games. The minus figure came about because Pertemps Bees were deducted 15 points by the RFU for going into voluntary liquidation but were allowed to continue playing as they were granted a temporary licence. Without the points deduction the Bees would have got 6 points during the first stage of the season.[17]
  10. ^ Figure is for regular season only and does not include playoffs.
  11. ^ Note that there is very little attendance data prior to the 2000-01 season so it is possible there could have been lower attendances than the ones listed.
  12. ^ Note that there is very little attendance data prior to the 2000-01 season so it is possible there could have been lower average club attendances than the one listed. Also, Birmingham & Solihull were missing 2 attendance figures from this season which means their average is not 100% accurate and could be slightly lower or higher with these games accounted for.
  13. ^ Note that there is very little attendance data prior to the 2000-01 season so it is possible that previous seasons had lower average attendances.

References

  1. ^ "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.
  2. ^ a b "Play-off system removed from Greene King IPA Championship from next season" (Press release). Premiership Rugby Limited. 3 March 2017. Retrieved 4 March 2017.
  3. ^ "RFU Council Vote in Favour of Covid Recovery Plan and Temporary Pause on Relegation". Premiership Rugby. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  4. ^ "RFU". www.englandrugby.com. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  5. ^ "Greene King IPA Championship Fixtures Confirmed". www.championshiprugby.co.uk. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  6. ^ "RFU Council Votes in Favour of No Relegation". www.englandrugby.com. Retrieved 16 February 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  7. ^ Straughan, Dick (5 July 2012). "Falcons relegated as Welsh win RFU promotion appleal". The Cornishman. p. 80.
  8. ^ "Update on RFU Funding of Greene King IPA Championship". Rugby Football Union. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  9. ^ "Update on RFU Funding of Greene King IPA Championship". Rugby Football Union. Retrieved 23 February 2020.
  10. ^ Tony Williams and Bill Mitchell, ed. (1990). Courage Official Rugby Union Club Directory 1990–91. Windsor: Burlington Publishing Co Ltd.
  11. ^ Mick Cleary and John Griffiths, ed. (1996). Rothmans Rugby Union Yearbook 1996–97. London: Headline Book Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7472-7771-2.
  12. ^ "Leagues 1997/98". Moseley Rugby Club. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
  13. ^ "RFU council approves expansion of National League One". ESPN. 17 March 2006.
  14. ^ "London Welsh: RFU refuses permission for Exiles to stay in Championship". BBC Sport. 24 January 2017.
  15. ^ "RFU". www.championshiprugby.co.uk. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
  16. ^ "RFU Council Votes in Favour of No Relegation". www.englandrugby.com. Retrieved 16 February 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  17. ^ "Birmingham & Solihull - Wednesday". rolling-maul.com. 28 October 2009.
  18. ^ "RFU Championship All time leading top scorers". Rugby Statbunker. 26 February 2016.
  19. ^ "RFU Championship All time try scorers". Rugby Statbunker. 26 February 2016.

External links

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