Rugby Football League Championship First Division

RFL Championship
Sport	Rugby league
Inaugural season	1895–96
Ceased	1996
Most titles	Wigan (22 titles)
Relegation to	RFL Second Division

The Rugby Football League Championship First Division was the top division of rugby league in England between 1895 and 1996, when it was replaced by the Super League.

History

1895–1904: Foundations

The first season of rugby league (1895–96) saw all the breakaway clubs play in a single league competition. The addition of new teams and the problems of travelling led to the league being split in two for the following season; into the Yorkshire League and the Lancashire League. This arrangement lasted until the 1901–02 season, when the top clubs from each league resigned and formed a single new competition. The following season the remaining clubs in the Yorkshire and Lancashire Leagues were re-organised to form a second division.

1905–1970: Restructure

In 1905–06 the two divisions were re-combined into a single competition. Clubs played all the teams in their own county on a home-and-away basis, results counting towards the re-formed Yorkshire and Lancashire Leagues. They also organised inter-county fixtures on an individual basis; all results were collated into a single table for the Championship. In order to even up the competition a top-four play-off series was used to determine the Championship.

Apart from the interventions of the two world wars, this system was retained until the 1962–63 season, when the league briefly returned to a two divisional system. This lasted only two years, and in the 1964–65 season they returned to one large division subdivided into county leagues. The play-offs were expanded to the top 16 teams and the Harry Sunderland Trophy was introduced as the man-of-the-match award for the decider.

1970–1995: Premiership and reintroducing Second Division

In the 1973–74 season they once again went back to two divisions. The play-off and the Yorkshire and Lancashire League were abandoned, and a new play-off type competition, the Premiership, was introduced however the team finishing top of the Championship were crowned champions. During this period in the late 1980s and early 1990s Wigan dominated both the Championship and Challenge Cup.

1996–present: Super League

In 1996 the championship was replaced by the Super League. The remaining clubs later went on to form the Rugby League Championships.

Champions

Season
Season	Champions	Score	Runners-up
1895–96	Manningham	N/A	Halifax
1896–97	County Leagues
1897–98	County Leagues
1898–99	County Leagues
1899–00	County Leagues
1900–01	County Leagues
1901–02	Broughton Rangers	N/A	Salford
1902–03	Halifax		Salford
1903–04	Bradford F.C.		Salford
1904–05	Oldham		Bradford F.C.
1905–06	Leigh		Hunslet
1906–07	Halifax	18–3	Oldham
1907–08	Hunslet	12–7	Oldham
1908–09	Wigan	7–3	Oldham
1909–10	Oldham	13–7	Wigan
1910–11	Oldham	20–7	Wigan
1911–12	Huddersfield	13–5	Wigan
1912–13	Huddersfield	29–2	Wigan
1913–14	Salford	5–3	Huddersfield
1914–15	Huddersfield	35–2	Leeds
1918–19	County Leagues
1919–20	Hull F.C.	3–2	Huddersfield
1920–21	Hull F.C.	16–14	Hull Kingston Rovers
1921–22	Wigan	13–2	Oldham
1922–23	Hull Kingston Rovers	15–5	Huddersfield
1923–24	Batley	13–7	Wigan
1924–25	Hull Kingston Rovers	9–5	Swinton
1925–26	Wigan	22–10	Warrington
1926–27	Swinton	13–8	St Helens Recs
1927–28	Swinton	11–0	Featherstone Rovers
1928–29	Huddersfield	2–0	Leeds
1929–30	Huddersfield	10–0	Leeds
1930–31	Swinton	14–7	Leeds
1931–32	St. Helens	9–5	Huddersfield
1932–33	Salford	15–5	Swinton
1933–34	Wigan	15–3	Salford
1934–35	Swinton	14–3	Warrington
1935–36	Hull F.C.	21–2	Widnes
1936–37	Salford	13–11	Warrington
1937–38	Hunslet	8–2	Leeds
1938–39	Salford	8–6	Castleford
1939–40	County Leagues
1940–41	County Leagues
1941–42	Wartime Emergency League
1942–43	Wartime Emergency League
1943–44	Wartime Emergency League
1944–45	Wartime Emergency League
1945–46	Wigan	N/A	Huddersfield
1946–47	Wigan	N/A	Dewsbury
1947–48	Warrington	15–5	Bradford Northern
1948–49	Huddersfield	13–12	Warrington
1949–50	Wigan	20–2	Huddersfield
1950–51	Workington Town	26–11	Warrington
1951–52	Wigan	13–6	Bradford Northern
1952–53	St. Helens	24–14	Halifax
1953–54	Warrington	8–7	Halifax
1954–55	Warrington	7–3	Oldham
1955–56	Hull F.C.	10–9	Halifax
1956–57	Oldham	15–14	Hull F.C.
1957–58	Hull F.C.	20–3	Workington Town
1958–59	St. Helens	44–22	Hunslet
1959–60	Wigan	27–3	Wakefield Trinity
1960–61	Leeds	25–10	Warrington
1961–62	Huddersfield	14–5	Wakefield Trinity
1962–63	Swinton	N/A	St. Helens
1963–64	Swinton	N/A	Wigan
1964–65	Halifax	15–7	St. Helens
1965–66	St. Helens	35–12	Halifax
1966–67	Wakefield Trinity	21-9	St. Helens
1967–68	Wakefield Trinity	17–10	Hull Kingston Rovers
1968–69	Leeds	16–14	Castleford
1969–70	St. Helens	24–12	Leeds
1970–71	St. Helens	16–12	Wigan
1971–72	Leeds	9–5	St. Helens
1972–73	Dewsbury	22–13	Leeds
1973–74	Salford	N/A	St. Helens
1974–75	St. Helens		Wigan
1975–76	Salford		Featherstone Rovers
1976–77	Featherstone Rovers		St. Helens
1977–78	Widnes		Bradford Northern
1978–79	Hull Kingston Rovers		Warrington
1979–80	Bradford Northern		Widnes
1980–81	Bradford Northern		Warrington
1981–82	Leigh		Hull F.C.
1982–83	Hull		Hull Kingston Rovers
1983–84	Hull Kingston Rovers		Hull F.C.
1984–85	Hull Kingston Rovers		St. Helens
1985–86	Halifax		Wigan
1986–87	Wigan		St. Helens
1987–88	Widnes		St. Helens
1988–89	Widnes		Wigan
1989–90	Wigan		Leeds
1990–91	Wigan		Widnes
1991–92	Wigan		St. Helens
1992–93	Wigan		St. Helens
1993–94	Wigan		Bradford Northern
1994–95	Wigan		Leeds
1995–96	Wigan		Leeds
1996	St. Helens		Wigan
1997	Bradford		London
1998	Wigan	10–4	Leeds
1999	St. Helens	8–6	Bradford
2000	St. Helens	29–16	Wigan
2001	Bradford	37–6	Wigan
2002	St. Helens	19–18	Bradford
2003	Bradford	25–12	Wigan
2004	Leeds	16–8	Bradford
2005	Bradford	15–6	Leeds
2006	St. Helens	26–4	Hull F.C.
2007	Leeds	33–6	St. Helens
2008	Leeds	24–16	St. Helens
2009	Leeds	18–10	St. Helens
2010	Wigan	22–10	St. Helens
2011	Leeds	32–16	St. Helens
2012	Leeds	26–18	Warrington
2013	Wigan	30–16	Warrington
2014	St. Helens	14–6	Wigan
2015	Leeds	22–20	Wigan
2016	Wigan	12–6	Warrington
2017	Leeds	24–6	Castleford

Winning records by club

	Club	Winners	Runners-up	Winning seasons
1	Wigan	22	16	1908/09, 1921/22, 1925/26, 1933/34, 1945/46, 1946/47, 1949/50, 1951/52, 1959/60, 1986/87, 1989/90, 1990/91, 1991/92, 1992/93, 1993/94, 1994/95, 1995/96, 1998, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2018
2	St. Helens	13	16	1931/32, 1952/53, 1958/59, 1965/66, 1969/70, 1970/71, 1974/75, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2006, 2014
3	Leeds	11	11	1960/61, 1968/69, 1971/72, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017
4	Huddersfield	7	6	1911/12, 1912/13, 1914/15, 1928/29, 1929/30, 1948/49, 1961/62
5	Bradford	6	7	1979/80, 1980/81, 1997, 2001, 2003, 2005
6	Hull F.C.	6	4	1919/20, 1920/21, 1935/36, 1955/56, 1957/58, 1982/83
6	Salford	6	4	1913/14, 1932/33, 1936/37, 1938/39, 1973/74, 1975/76
8	Swinton	6	2	1926/27, 1927/28, 1930/31, 1934/35, 1962/63, 1963/64
9	Hull Kingston Rovers	5	3	1922/23, 1924/25, 1978/79, 1983/84, 1984/85
10	Oldham	4	5	1904/05, 1909/10, 1910/11, 1956/57
10	Halifax	4	5	1902/03, 1906/07, 1964/65, 1985/86
12	Warrington	3	11	1947/48, 1953/54, 1954/55
13	Widnes	3	4	1977/78, 1987/88, 1988/89
14	Hunslet §	2	2	1907/08, 1937/38
14	Wakefield Trinity	2	2	1966/67, 1967/68
16	Leigh	2	0	1905/06, 1981/82
17	Featherstone Rovers	1	2	1976/77
18	Bradford F.C. §	1	1	1903/04
18	Workington Town	1	1	1950/51
18	Dewsbury	1	1	1972/73
21	Manningham §	1	0	1895/96
21	Broughton Rangers	1	0	1901/02
21	Batley	1	0	1923/24
24	Castleford	0	3
25	St Helens Recs §	0	1
25	London	0	1

§ Denotes club now defunct

Teams relegated

Year	Club
1902-03	St Helens Brighouse Rangers
1903-04	Keighley Huddersfield
1904-1962 No Second Division
1961-62	Leigh Barrow Keighley York Salford Whitehaven Blackpool Rochdale Hornets Hunslet Batley Dewsbury Doncaster Liverpool City Bradford
1962-63	Oldham Bramley
1964-1973 No Second Division
1972-73	York Halifax Batley Keighley Swinton Workington Town Bradford Huddersfield Hull F.C. Doncaster Hunslet Blackpool Liverpool City
1973-74	Oldham Hull Kingston Rovers Leigh Whitehaven
1974-75	York Bramley Rochdale Halifax
1975-76	Dewsbury Keighley Huddersfield Swinton
1976-77	Rochdale Leigh Barrow Oldham
1977-78	Hull F.C. Hunslet Bramley Dewsbury

Titles won by region

Region	Number of titles	Clubs
Yorkshire	48	Leeds (11), Huddersfield (7), Bradford (6), Hull (6), Hull Kingston Rovers (5), Halifax (4), Hunslet (2), Wakefield Trinity (2), Bradford F.C. (1), Batley (1), Dewsbury (1), Featherstone Rovers (1), Manningham F.C. (1)
Lancashire *	34	Wigan (9), St Helens (6), Salford (4), Swinton (6), Oldham (4), Warrington (3), Leigh (1), Broughton Rangers (1)
Greater Manchester *	15	Wigan (12), Salford (2), Leigh (1)
Merseyside *	3	St Helens (7)
Cheshire *	6	Widnes (3), Warrington (3)
Cumbria	1	Workington Town (1)

Note - Due to The English Counties and District Reformation in 1974, Lancashire, which previously housed all North West clubs, saw its' administrative borders changed and therefore towns were attached to new counties. Wigan, Leigh, Salford, Swinton, and Oldham are now part of Greater Manchester; Warrington and Widnes are a part of Cheshire; whilst St Helens is a part of Merseyside. As of 2017 there are no professional or semi professional clubs in the current county of Lancashire (the last club to play in Lancashire, Blackpool Panthers bisbanded in 2010).

The above list shows clubs in counties as and when honours were won (pre/ post 1974).

Titles won by town/ city

City/ town	Number of titles	Clubs
Batley	1	Batley Bulldogs (1)
Bradford	8	Bradford Bulls (6), Bradford F.C. (1), Manningham F.C. (1)
Dewsbury	1	Dewsbury Rams (1)
Halifax	4	Halifax (4)
Huddersfield	7	Huddersfield Giants (7)
Kingston upon Hull	11	Hull F.C. (6), Hull Kingston Rovers (5)
Leeds	13	Leeds Rhinos (11), Hunslet (2)
Oldham	4	Oldham (4)
Salford	13	Salford Red Devils (6), Swinton Lions (6), Broughton Rangers (1)
St Helens	13	St Helens (13)
Wakefield	3	Wakefield Trinity (2), Featherstone Rovers (1)
Warrington	3	Warrington Wolves (3)
Widnes	3	Widnes Vikings (3)
Wigan	23	Wigan Warriors (21), Leigh Centurions (2)
Workington	1	Workington Town (1)

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