2013 Championship 1

The 2013 Championship 1, known as the Kingstone Press Championship 1 for sponsorship reasons, was a semi-professional rugby league football competition played in England and Wales, the third tier of the sport in the country. The 2013 season will see three new teams enter the division alongside the six remaining teams that were not promoted during the 2012 season. Coventry, who had been considered for entry into the division for 2013, will enter the division in 2014. This means that the 2013 Championship 1 season will consist of 9 teams.[2]

2013 Championship 1
LeagueChampionship 1
Duration16 matches (over 18 rounds)
Teams9
Highest attendance1,562 North Wales Crusaders v South Wales Scorpions (1 September 2013)
Lowest attendance103 Gloucestershire All Golds v London Skolars (28 July 2013)
Average attendance477
Attendance33,374
Broadcast partnersPremier Sports
2013 Season
Champions North Wales Crusaders
Playoff Winner Rochdale Hornets
Top point-scorer(s) Dylan Skee (176)[1]
Top try-scorer(s) Rob Massam (18)[1]

The promotion/relegation positions and the play-off format also revert to the normal formats, following the change for the 2012 season to allow the top four teams to be promoted to the Rugby Football League Championship and the champions of the division to be decided by a six-team play-off.[3] This will mean two teams relegated from the 2013 RFL Championship and two teams promoted from Championship 1, which will be the team who finishes top of the league and winner of the play-offs. There is no relegation from this league as it is the lowest tier of professional rugby league.

All of the teams will competed in the 2013 Challenge Cup and the 2013 National League Cup.

2013 structure

The competition features the six teams that did not win promotion in 2012. They are Gateshead Thunder, London Skolars, North Wales Crusaders, Oldham, Rochdale Hornets and South Wales Scorpions. The four teams who were promoted, Barrow Raiders, Doncaster, Whitehaven and Workington Town are replaced by three new teams, which are Hemel Stags,[4] Oxford RLFC[5] and University of Gloucestershire All Golds.[6]

A fourth team had been originally planned for entry for the 2013 to be the tenth team of the division. Northampton Rebels had been the original first team chosen in December 2011 to enter the division for 2013[7] but withdrew on 26 August 2012, due to Northampton Town FC (who were setting up and running the team) not wanting to launch a team that they thought had no chance of success.[8] Coventry Bears, who was part of the application process for entry to Championship 1, was chosen to be the tenth team in September 2012,[2] however the club will enter in 2014, to be given more time to prepare for entry to a semi-professional competition.

Championship 1
Team & current season 2012 Position Stadium Capacity Location
Gateshead Thunder 10th Thunderdome 11,800 Gateshead, Tyne and Wear
Gloucestershire All Golds N/A Prince of Wales Stadium 480 Cheltenham, Gloucestershire
Hemel Stags N/A Pennine Way 2,000 Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire
London Skolars 7th New River Stadium 5,000 Haringey, London
North Wales Crusaders 8th Racecourse Ground 10,500 (15,500 with The Kop open) Wrexham, Wales
Oldham 6th Whitebank Stadium 1,500 (temporary capacity) Limeside, Oldham, Greater Manchester
Oxford RLFC N/A Iffley Road 500 Oxford, Oxfordshire
Rochdale Hornets 5th Spotland 10,249 Rochdale, Greater Manchester
South Wales Scorpions 9th The Gnoll 6,000 Neath, West Glamorgan, Wales

Season table
Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Bns Pts
1 North Wales Crusaders (P) 161402568212+356143
2 Oldham 161213508289+219341
3 Rochdale Hornets 161006538375+163232
4 London Skolars 161006489468+21332
5 Hemel Stags 16808381365+16428
6 Oxford RLFC 16529326436-110423
7 Gateshead Thunder 164111356542-186620
8 South Wales Scorpions 165011368504-136419
9 Gloucestershire All Golds 162113286629-343412
  Teams qualifying for promotion
  Teams qualifying for play-offs


This table is correct as of 1 September 2013. Source: rugbyleaguechampionships.co.uk and BBC Sport.

Classification: 1st on competition points; 2nd on match points difference.

Competition points: For win = 3; For draw = 2; For loss by 12 points or fewer = 1[9].
(P) - Promoted, (Pl) - Qualified for Playoffs

Season results
Main article: 2013 Championship 1 season results

The regular league season sees the 9 teams play each other twice (one home, one away) over 16 matches, which will be played over 18 rounds, with each team getting two rounds off.[10] The team that finishes first will be promoted to the Championship, while the teams who finish second to sixth at the end of the regular season goes through to the play-offs to determine the second promotion place.

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References
  1. "Stats Centre". Love Rugby League. Retrieved 2 September 2012.
  2. "Coventry Bears: Midlands amateur side targeted as semi-pro club". BBC Sport. 21 September 2012. Retrieved 22 September 2012.
  3. "Championship 1 agree promotion criteria for 2012". Gateshead Thunder. Archived from the original on 18 February 2012. Retrieved 4 June 2012.
  4. "Hemel Join Rugby League Championship 1". RFL. Archived from the original on 2 April 2012. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
  5. "Oxford to be admitted to Championship One". BBC Sport. 18 September 2012. Retrieved 19 September 2012.
  6. "All Golds to join Championship One". RFL. Archived from the original on 19 June 2012. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
  7. "Northampton Town FC to run rugby league team from 2013". BBC Sport. 1 December 2011. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
  8. "Northampton Rebels team withdraw from Championship One". BBC Sport. 25 August 2012. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
  9. "Points System". Rugby League Championships. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
  10. "Competition Structure". Rugby League Championships. Archived from the original on 4 February 2013. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
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