West of England Rugby League
| Founded | 2011 |
|---|---|
| Country |  England |
| Number of clubs | 5 |
| Level on pyramid | 5 |
| Promotion to | Conference League South |
| Domestic cup(s) | Challenge Cup |
| Current champions | Bath & Wiltshire Romans |
The West of England Rugby League also known as the West of England Men's League is a rugby league competition for teams in Somerset up through Bristol and Gloucester to Wiltshire and Oxfordshire. It was formerly part of the Rugby League Conference. It is the 5th tier in the Rugby League pyramid
History
The Rugby League Conference was founded in 1997 as the Southern Conference, a 10-team pilot league for teams in the South of England and the English Midlands.
The conference made the leap from 30 to 52 teams in 2003 and a South West Division appeared for the first time. It disappeared in 2004 as South West teams took part in the Western Division and Cardiff Demons joined the newly created Welsh Division.
The Premier divisions saw a change in boundaries leaving the North Premier division covering a larger area to give the English Midlands clubs their own premier division without having to face heartland teams, this left the West Midlands division with too few teams to run, resulting in a merged West Midlands and South West Division.
After a campaign by the RFL to form new clubs in the South West, a new South West division was created in 2007 for teams from the West Country. By 2010, there were enough teams to have a South West conference split into two pools.
For the 2011 season, there was a new RLC West of England alongside the RLC South West. The initial idea was that the two leagues would compete side by side with play-offs at the end of the season to decide an overall South West champion but that never happened.
Rugby League Conference Pyramid
- National Conference League
- Conference League South
- West of England Rugby League
Competing teams
The initial line-up for the 2014 season is:-
| Club | Founded | Location | RLC Honours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bristol Sonics 'A' | 2002 | Bristol | |
| Cheltenham Old Patesians | 1913 or 2013 | Cheltenham, Gloucestershire | |
| Gloucestershire Warriors | 1997 | Gloucester | RLC Western: 1999 RLC South West: 2005
RLC West Midlands and South West: 2006 RLC West of England: 2011 |
| Oxford Cavaliers 'A' | 1995 | Oxford | West of England: 2012 |
| Somerset Vikings | 2003 | North Petherton, Somerset | RLC Western: 2004 RLC South West: 2011 |
| Swindon St George | 2007 | Swindon, Wiltshire |
- NB: Oxford Cavaliers 'A' failed to complete the season
South West County Championship Festival
The first South West County Championship took place on the May Bank Holiday weekend in 2011 at Aretians RFC in Bristol.
- 2011 Hampshire
Participating teams by season
- 2011: Bristol Sonics 'A', Gloucestershire Warriors, Oxford Cavaliers, Swindon St George, Wiltshire Wyverns
- 2012: Bristol Sonics 'A', Gloucestershire Warriors 'A', Oxford Cavaliers, Somerset Vikings, Swindon St George (Wiltshire Wyverns failed to start the season)
- 2013: Bristol Sonics 'A', Cheltenham Old Patesians, Gloucestershire Warriors, Oxford Cavaliers, Somerset Vikings, Swindon St George
- 2014: Bristol Sonics 'A', Cheltenham Old Patesians, Gloucestershire Warriors, Oxford Cavaliers 'A', Somerset Vikings, Swindon St George (Oxford Cavaliers 'A' failed to complete the season)
Winners
- 2011 Gloucestershire Warriors
- 2012 Oxford Cavaliers
- 2013 Cheltenham Old Patesians