RFU Championship

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RFU Championship
Country  England
Other club(s) from  Jersey
Founded 1987; 37 years ago (1987)
Number of teams 12
Level on pyramid 2
Promotion to Premiership
Relegation to National League 1
Domestic cup(s) British and Irish Cup
Current champions Bristol (3rd title)
(2015-16)
Most championships Worcester Warriors
Rotherham Titans
Yorkshire Carnegie
Northampton Saints
Bristol(3 titles)
Website rfu.com
2015–16 RFU Championship

The RFU Championship, known for sponsorship reasons as the Greene King IPA Championship from 2013–14,[1] is the second tier of the English rugby union league system and was founded in September 1987. The league was previously known as National Division One and in 2009 changed from a league consisting of semi-professional clubs to one that is now fully professional. The current champions are Bristol, who won promotion to the English Premiership after beating the Doncaster Knights in a two legged play-off having finished first in the league during the regular season

History

See also History of the English rugby union system

On 10 November 2008 it was proposed by the Rugby Football Union that the second tier of the English rugby union system should be a fully professional twelve club Championship. The proposal was criticised by the then National League One chairman Geoff Irvine, representing the clubs, who described it as "financial suicide", although, six League One clubs subsequently supported the proposal. The proposals required five clubs to be relegated to National Division Two, with only one club being promoted from that division and one club joining the league from the Premiership.[2] On 15 November 2008 the RFU Council voted overwhelmingly in favour of the new proposal, which began in September 2009.[3] Under the proposal the RFU paid £2.3 million a year to help fund the change, with future rises due through television rights.[2] For the 2009–10 season and beyond, the team which wins the Championship league will not be automatically promoted to the Premiership, there will be a play-off competition to decide which team is promoted. For the first three seasons, the top eight clubs qualified for the play-offs and from 2012–13 the play-offs were between the top four clubs. In the event that the winner of the play-off competition does not meet the minimum standards criteria for entry to the Premiership, there will be no promotion or relegation between the two divisions for that season. There is the possibility that neither team in the play-off final meet the minimum standards criteria, in which case the game would be meaningless in terms of promotion or relegation. The RFU have clarified that they will not consider promoting lower-placed sides, even if they finished top of the league phase of the competition. The play-off format of the Championship has been heavily criticised by the media, players and fans alike.[4][5]

There was also a play-off between the four lowest placed clubs in the Championship to determine who was relegated to the third-tier.

2009–10 season

The 2009–10 RFU Championship season was the first in which the league was fully professional. Silversmiths Thomas Lyte created a new trophy for the launch.[6]

Format

The winner of the Championship league was not automatically promoted to the Premiership. Instead, a play-off competition between the top eight clubs was held to determine the promoted club. The first, fourth, fifth and eighth placed clubs entered Group A; the second, third, sixth and seventh placed clubs entered Group B. Each side played the other sides in their division home and away. The two highest placed sides in each division went through to a single-leg semi-final, and the semi-final winners played a two-legged final. The two legs of the final were played at the two competing clubs' home grounds, rather than at Twickenham.

In the event that the winner of the play-off competition does not meet the minimum standards criteria for entry to the Premiership, there will be no promotion or relegation between the Championship and Premiership for that season. This did not apply in 2009–10, as the RFU announced before the second leg of the Championship final that both participants, Bristol and Exeter, met the criteria for promotion.

There was also a play-off between the four lowest placed clubs in the Championship to determine who was relegated to National League 1.

Criticism and changes for 2010–11

The formats of both the promotion and relegation play-offs were criticised after the season. In both phases, all teams began equal, regardless of their performance during the home and away season. Moseley, who had been in serious relegation danger after a poor start to the play-offs, were particularly angry about the format because they started the relegation phase equal to the other three teams involved; despite having won ten matches during the season to Birmingham's none. It was also felt that starting all teams equal in the promotion phase gave teams little incentive to win the regular season because there was no reward for a high finish within the top eight.[7]

As a result, the following changes were made to the promotion and relegation phases:[7]

  • In the promotion phase:
    • The top two clubs at the end of the regular season started the play-off on 3 points.
    • The third- and fourth-placed clubs started on 2 points.
    • The fifth- and sixth-place clubs started on 1 point.
    • The remaining two clubs started on 0 points.
    • The semi-finals changed from one-off to two-legged matches.
  • In the relegation phase, clubs carried over 1 point for each win in the regular season.

Further changes for 2012–13

The play-off format had been developed to increase club revenues, as each club had been assured of at least two home fixtures after the home and away season. However, criticism remained, especially from the best performing clubs, as they had to navigate ten additional fixtures in order to earn promotion. Bristol had particular reason to feel aggrieved; in two seasons under the revamped format, they finished first in the table, but lost in the 2010 play-off final to Exeter and in the 2012 semi-finals to Cornish Pirates (in 2011, the final was contested between Worcester Warriors who won the league and Cornish Pirates).[8]

As a result, the RFU eliminated pool play for both promotion and relegation. Starting with the 2012–13 season, the top four clubs at the end of the regular season will enter promotion play-offs. The format is the same as the 2011 and 2012 knockout stages, with two-legged semi-finals followed by a two-legged final. This system is identical to that of the Premiership, except that it uses two-legged matches instead of the Premiership's one-off matches. Relegation play-offs were eliminated; the bottom side is now automatically relegated (also mirroring the Premiership). Bristol's chairman Chris Booy welcomed the changes, telling the BBC,[8]

"We had a mad 10 minutes in Penzance and our whole (2011–12) season fell apart. We've got the system changed and I was one of the main lobbyists for that. I think it will prepare us better because we can manage our squad to be in peak condition for the semis' and the final. A number of teams will be fighting to get into the top four, where as before they were resting to get in to the top eight."

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 receive £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.[9]

On 26 June 2013, the RFU and Greene King Brewery announced the Championship's first-ever name sponsorship deal. The competition will officially be known as the Greene King IPA Championship through to 2016–17.[1]

2015–16 season

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Participating teams and locations

Club Stadium Capacity Area Captain DOR/Head Coach
Bedford Blues Goldington Road 6,000 Bedford, Bedfordshire South Africa Nick Fenton-Wells Wales Mike Rayer
Bristol Ashton Gate Stadium 16,500 Bristol Wales Dwayne Peel England Andy Robinson
Cornish Pirates The Mennaye 4,000 (2,200 Seats) Penzance, Cornwall England Chris Morgan Wales Ian Davies
Doncaster Knights Castle Park rugby stadium 5,000 Doncaster, South Yorkshire England Michael Hills Wales Clive Griffiths
Ealing Trailfinders Trailfinders Sports Ground 3,020 (1,020 seats) West Ealing, London
Jersey St. Peter 5,000 Saint Peter, Jersey England Alex Rae South Africa Harvey Biljon
London Scottish Athletic Ground, Richmond 4,500 Richmond, London England Mark Bright England Mike Friday
London Welsh Old Deer Park 5,850 (1,000 seats) Richmond, London
Moseley Billesley Common 3,000+ Birmingham, West Midlands Wales Mike Powell Ireland Kevin Maggs
Nottingham Rugby Lady Bay Sports Ground 2,000 (est) Nottingham, Nottinghamshire New Zealand Brent Wilson England Martin Haag
Rotherham Titans Clifton Lane 2,500 Rotherham, South Yorkshire England Tom Holmes England Lee Blackett
Yorkshire Carnegie Headingley Carnegie Stadium 21,062 Leeds, West Yorkshire England Ryan Burrows Scotland Ian McGeechan

Current standings

2015–16 RFU Championship Table watch · edit · discuss
Club Played Won Drawn Lost Points for Points against Points diff Try bonus Loss bonus Points
1 Bristol Rugby (CH) 22 20 0 2 718 397 321 14 1 95
2 Doncaster Knights (RU) 22 15 2 5 588 470 118 10 5 79
3 Yorkshire Carnegie (SF) 22 14 0 8 655 466 189 15 7 78
4 Bedford Blues (SF) 22 12 0 10 623 599 24 10 6 64
5 London Welsh 22 11 1 10 442 528 –86 9 3 58
6 Jersey 22 11 1 10 465 466 –1 5 6 57
7 Nottingham Rugby 22 10 0 12 494 483 11 9 7 56
8 London Scottish 22 10 0 12 463 453 10 2 7 49
9 Cornish Pirates 22 8 1 13 530 570 –40 8 7 49
10 Rotherham Titans 22 8 0 14 454 621 –167 3 3 38
11 Ealing Trailfinders 22 6 1 15 523 605 –82 5 6 37
12 Moseley (R) 22 4 0 18 416 715 –-299 6 4 26
  • If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:
  1. Number of matches won
  2. Difference between points for and against
  3. Total number of points for
  4. Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams
  5. Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled
Green background are promotion play-off places. Pink background is the relegation place.
Updated: 13 May 2016
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List of champions

National One

List of National One Winners
Season Matches Champions Runners–up Relegated teams
1987–88 11 Rosslyn Park Liverpool St Helens none
1988–89 11 Saracens Bedford London Scottish and London Welsh
1989–90 11 Northampton Liverpool St Helens none
1990–91 12 Rugby London Irish Richmond and Headingley
1991–92 12 London Scottish West Hartlepool Plymouth Albion and Liverpool St Helens
1992–93 12 Newcastle Gosforth Waterloo Bedford, Rosslyn Park, Richmond, Blackheath, Coventry, Fylde and Morley
1993–94 18 Sale West Hartlepool Rugby and Otley
1994–95 18 Saracens Wakefield Fylde and Coventry
1995–96 18 Northampton London Irish none
1996–97 22 Richmond Newcastle Rugby and Nottingham
1997–98 22 Bedford West Hartlepool, London Scottish (3rd - also promoted) No relegation
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 and Rugby Lions
2003–04 26 Worcester Orrell Wakefield and Manchester
2004–05 26 Bristol Exeter Orrell and Henley
2005–06 26 Harlequins Bedford Blues none
2006–07 30 Leeds Tykes Earth Titans Otley and Waterloo
2007–08 30 Northampton Saints Exeter Chiefs Pertemp Bees and 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 (Champions decided by a play-off)
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
2012–13 Newcastle Falcons Bedford Blues 22 Newcastle Falcons Nottingham Doncaster Knights
2013–14 London Welsh Bristol 23 Bristol London Welsh Ealing Trailfinders
2014–15 Worcester Warriors Bristol 22 Bristol Worcester Warriors Plymouth Albion
2015–16 Bristol Doncaster Knights 22 Bristol Doncaster Knights Moseley
Green background are promotion places. Teams in bold are the winners of the 22 match first stage.

Summary of winners and runners-up

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

Original teams

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

League results

League Information Start of Season End of Season
Season Name Teams Relegated to League Promoted to League Promoted from League Relegated from League
1996–97 Courage Championship Division One 12 None
1997–98 Allied Dunbar Premiership Two 12 None
1998–99 Allied Dunbar Premiership Two 14 Bristol Bristol
1999–00 Allied Dunbar Premership Two 14 West Hartlepool Rotherham
2000–01 National Division One 14 Bedford Blues Leeds Tykes
2001–02 National Division One 14 Rotherham Titans None
2002–03 National Division One 14 None Rotherham Titans
2003–04 National Division One 14 Bristol Shoguns Worcester Warriors Manchester
2004–05 National Division One 14 Rotherham Titans Bristol
2005–06 National Division One 14 Harlequins Harlequins None
2006–07 National Division One 16 Leeds Tykes Leeds Tykes
2007–08 National Division One 16 Northampton Saints Northampton Saints
2008–09 National Division One 16 Leeds Carnegie Leeds Carnegie
2009–10 RFU Championship 12 Bristol Birmingham and Solihull Exeter Chiefs Coventry
2010–11 RFU Championship 12 Worcester Warriors Esher Worcester Warriors Birmingham and Solihull
2011–12 RFU Championship 12 Leeds Carnegie London Scottish London Welsh Esher
2012–13 RFU Championship 12 Newcastle Falcons Jersey Newcastle Falcons Doncaster Knights
2013–14 Greene King IPA Championship 12 London Welsh Ealing Trailfinders London Welsh Ealing Trailfinders
2014–15 Greene King IPA Championship 12 Worcester Warriors Doncaster Knights Worcester Warriors Plymouth Albion
2015–16 Greene King IPA Championship 12 London Welsh Ealing Trailfinders Bristol Moseley

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 2014-15 season.

League records

  1. 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.[10]
  2. This figure is the lowest, excluding points deductions, taken from the professional era - Liverpool St Helens had 0 points for the 1991-92 season but only played 12 games.
  3. Figure is for regular season only and does not include playoffs.

Match records

Player records

Attendance records

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.

RFU Championship top 10 point scorers, all time

As of the end of the games of May 25, 2016. Stats taken from 1996-97 season onwards and includes both regular league/playoff games the RFU Championship only (no cup games). Points scored includes tries, drop kicks, penalties and conversions.[51]
Rank Nat Name Years Club(s) Points Apps Ratio
1 Canada James Pritchard 2001-03, 2006-
2004-05
Bedford Blues
Plymouth Albion
2,561 239 10.7
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 Ireland Kieran Hallett 2004-07
2008-11
2011-12
2012-
Bedford Blues
Plymouth Albion
Nottingham
Cornish Pirates
1,014 159 6.4
7 Ireland Gareth Steenson 2006-07
2007-08
2008-10
Earth Titans
Cornish Pirates
Exeter Chiefs
981 110 8.9
8 England Oliver Thomas 2002-03, 2006-07, 2008-09, 2010-15
2007-08
Moseley
Cornish Pirates
931 163 5.7
9 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
10 England Tristan Roberts 2008-10
2010-11
2011-14
2015-
Moseley
Doncaster Knights
Bristol
Ealing Trailfinders
921 115 8.0

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

RFU Championship top 10 try scorers, all time

As of the end of the games of May 25, 2016. Stats taken from 1996-97 season onwards and includes both regular league/playoff games the RFU Championship only (no cup games).[52]
Rank Nat Name Years Club(s) Tries Apps Ratio
1 England Kurt Johnson 1998-99
1999-10
Orrell
Coventry
108 235 0.5
2 England Richard Baxter 1997-10 Exeter Chiefs 104 307 0.3
3 England Jon Feeley 1998-00
2000-04
2004-06
2006-10
Leeds Tykes
Wakefield
Sedgley Park
Rotherham Titans
99 216 0.5
4 England Nick Baxter 1997-01
2001-06
Worcester
Pertemps Bees
98 190 0.5
5 Canada James Pritchard 2001-03, 2006-
2004-05
Bedford Blues
Plymouth Albion
90 239 0.4
6 England Wes Davies 2001-03
2003-04
2004-06, 2009-13
2006-09
Orrell
Worcester Warriors
Cornish Pirates
Doncaster Knights
86 227 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
72 183 0.4
9 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
10 England Matt Jess 2003-06
2007-08
2008-10
Cornish Pirates
Launceston
Exeter Chiefs
69 143 0.5

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

See also

References

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  6. RFU Championship building to gripping finale
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External links