Rugby Football League Championship Second Division

RFL Championship Second Division

Founded	1902-1995 (as Second Division) 1996-1998 (as Division One) 1999-2002 (as Northern Premiership) 2003-2007 (as National League One) 2008-present (as Championship)
Country	England
Number of teams	12
Level on pyramid	2
Promotion to	First Division
Relegation to	Third Division
Domestic cup(s)	Challenge Cup
Current champions	Toronto Wolfpack (1st Tiltle)
Most championships	Leigh Centurions (7 Titles)
TV partners	Sky Sports
Website	Rugby League Kingstone Press Leagues

The Rugby Football League Championship Second Division was founded in 1902 and is the second tier of professional rugby league in the UK.

During the 1990s a third division was established and there is automatic promotion between the second and third division.

History

The Second Division was formed in 1902 by splitting the RFL Championship into two divisions of 18. After three seasons the Second Division was abolished and not resurrected until 1962. Two seasons later in 1964 the Second Division was scrapped for the second time.

The division was resurrected again in 1973 and has been played every season since. During the 1991-92 season, a third division was established and, for the first time, two teams were relegated. There was no regular relegation from the Second Division until 2003.

In 1995, in anticipation for the Super League starting in 1996, six teams were relegated from the RFL Championship, five were relegated to the Second Division and one was relegated to form the Third Division. Controversy was caused as London Broncos, who finished 4th in the Second Division, were elected to the Championship ahead of Keighley, Batley and Huddersfield.

In 2003, the divisions under Super League were reorganised into the National Leagues with Second and Third Divisions becoming National League One and National League Two. In 2009 the National League were renamed the Championships with both divisions becoming the Championship and Championship 1 (later to become League 1).

In 2008 automatic promotion and relegation between the Second Division and Super League was abolished and teams would have to apply for a licence every four years if they wanted to try and gain entry to Super League. This lasted until 2014 when the league structure was changed again.

Results

Year	Champions[1]	Promoted	Relegated
1902-03	Keighley	Keighley Leeds	No Relegation
1903-04	Wakefield Trinity	Wakefield Trinity St. Helens
1904-05	Dewsbury	Dewsbury Barrow
1905-1962: No Second Division
1962-63	Hunslet	Hunslet Keighley	No Relegation
1963-64	Oldham	Oldham Leigh
1964-1973: No Second Division
1973-74	Bradford	Bradford York Keighley Salford	No Relegation
1974-75	Huddersfield	Huddersfield Hull Kingston Rovers Oldham Swinton
1975-76	Barrow	Barrow Rochdale Hornets Workington Leigh
1976-77	Hull	Hull Dewsbury Bramley Hunslet
1977-78	Leigh	Leigh Barrow Rochdale Hornets Huddersfield
1978-79	Hull	Hull Hunslet York Blackpool
1979-80	Featherstone Rovers	Featherstone Rovers Halifax Oldham Barrow
1980-81	York	York Wigan Fulham Whitehaven
1981-82	Oldham	Oldham Carlisle Workington Halifax
1982-83	Fulham	Fulham Wakefield Trinity Salford Whitehaven
1983-84	Barrow	Barrow Workington Hunslet Halifax
1984-85	Swinton	Swinton Salford York Dewsbury
1985-86	Leigh	Leigh Barrow Wakefield Trinity
1986-87	Hunslet	Hunslet Swinton
1987-88	Oldham	Oldham Featherstone Rovers Wakefield Trinity
1988-89	Leigh	Leigh Barrow Sheffield
1989-90	Hull Kingston Rovers	Hull Kingston Rovers Rochdale Hornets Oldham
1990-91	Salford	Salford Halifax Swinton
1991-92	Sheffield	Sheffield Leigh	Ryedale-York Workington
1992-93	Featherstone Rovers	Featherstone Rovers Oldham	No Relegation
1993-94	Workington	Workington Doncaster
1994-95	Keighley	London Broncos	Hull Kingston Rovers York Hunslet Leigh Swinton Bramley Carlisle Barrow Liverpool Stanley
1995-96	Salford	No Promotion	No Relegation
1996	Salford	Salford	Rochdale Hornets Batley
1997	Hull	Hull Huddersfield	Widnes Workington
1998	Wakefield Trinity	Wakefield Trinity	No Relegation
1999	Hunslet	No Promotion
2000	Dewsbury
2001	Widnes	Widnes
2002	Huddersfield	Huddresfield
2003	Salford	Salford	Dewsbury
2004	Leigh	Leigh	Keighley
2005	Castleford	Castleford	Barrow Featherstone Rovers
2006	Hull Kingston Rovers	Hull Kingston Rovers	Oldham York City Knights
2007	Castleford	Castleford	Rochdale Hornets Doncaster
2008	Salford	Salford Crusaders	Dewsbury
2009	Barrow	No Promotion	Doncaster Newcastle
2010	Halifax		Keighley Whitehaven
2011	Featherstone Rovers	Widnes	Barrow Toulouse
2012	Sheffield	No Promotion	No Relegation
2013	Sheffield		York City Knights Hunslet
2014	Leigh		Barrow Swinton Rochdale Hornets North Wales Keighley
2015	Leigh	None	Doncaster Hunslet
2016	Leigh	Leigh	Workington Whitehaven
2017	Hull Kingston Rovers	Hull Kingston Rovers	Oldham Bradford
2018	Toronto	London Broncos

Winners

	Club	Wins	Winning Year
1	Leigh Centurions	7	1976-77, 1985–86, 1988–89, 2004, 2014, 2015, 2016
2	Salford Red Devils	5	1990-91, 1995–96, 1996, 2003, 2008
3	Hunslet	3	1962-63, 1986–87, 1999
4	Oldham	3	1963-64, 1981–82, 1987–88
5	Barrow Raiders	3	1975-76, 1983–84, 2009
6	Featherstone Rovers	3	1979-80, 1992–93, 2011
7	Hull Kingston Rovers	3	1989-90, 2006, 2017
8	Sheffield Eagles	3	1991-92, 2012, 2013
9	Keighley Cougars	2	1902-03, 1994–95
10	Dewsbury Rams	2	1904-05, 2000
11	Wakefield Trinity	2	1903-04, 1998
12	Huddersfield Giants	2	1974-75, 2002
13	Hull F.C.	2	1976-77, 1978–79
14	Castleford Tigers	2	2005, 2007
15	Bradford Bulls	1	1973-74
16	York City Knights	1	1980-81
17	London Broncos	1	1982-83
18	Swinton Lions	1	1984-85
19	Workington Town	1	1993-94
20	Widnes Vikings	1	2001
21	Halifax	1	2010
22	Toronto Wolfpack	1	2018

• § Denotes club now defunct

See also

• Rugby Football League Championship
• Rugby Football League Championship Third Division
• Rugby League National Leagues

References

External links