Open Age Competitions
- See also: British rugby league system
Super League is the top league for the game in Europe; thirteen of the fourteen teams (as of the upcoming 2012 season) are based in England. It is the only full-time professional rugby league competition operating in the northern hemisphere. The French team Paris Saint-Germain competed in the first Super League but folded in 1999. French presence was re-established in 2006 when Catalans Dragons were admitted to Super League. In 2009, Super League added Celtic Crusaders from Wales, which renamed themselves Crusaders Rugby League after that season; that team effectively folded after the 2011 season. The winner of the league is awarded the League Leader's Shield whilst the overall winner of Super League is determined by play-offs and a grand final.
The winner of the Super League plays the winner of the Australian NRL competition in the World Club Challenge.
Below Super League, there are the Championship and Championship 1. The Championship has 14 clubs and Championship 1 has 9. There is automatic promotion between Championship and Championship 1, but since 2009 promotion between the Championship and Super League has been on a licensed, or franchised, basis. The Championship Cup (historically the National League Cup) is a competition with groups and a knock-out phase for clubs in Championship and Championship 1.
Wales became represented in the Championships starting in 2010 with the entry of South Wales Scorpions into Championship 1 and North Wales Crusaders in 2012; Toulouse Olympique of France have also played in the Championship in the past. All other clubs in both divisions are based in England, and of these, only Gateshead Thunder, London Skolars, Gloucestershire All-Golds, Hemel Stags and Oxford RLFC of Championship 1 are based outside the heartlands. Coventry Bears will join in 2014.
The Rugby League Challenge Cup remains as a knock-out competition, though entry has now been expanded to make it a pan-European tournament bringing in teams from France, Russia and the rest of the UK. Amateur teams also have the chance to participate in the Challenge Cup and have been victorious over several Championship sides.
BARLA administer different amateur competitions which traditionally ran throughout the winter in the heartlands but have mostly switched over to a summer season. The leading competition is the National Conference League which consists of four divisions (Premier Division, Division One, Division Two and Division Three) of up to 14 teams each. Other major amateur leagues include the Yorkshire Men's League, North West Men's League, Pennine League, Cumberland League, Barrow & District League and the Hull & District League. Teams from these regional leagues can apply for election to the National Conference League if they meet minimum criteria.
The Rugby League Conference, which ran until 2011, was mostly composed of teams outside the heartlands. It has subsequently been replaced by a series of regional leagues across England, Scotland and Wales. Successor leagues in England include: Conference League South, Midlands Rugby League, North East Rugby League, South West Rugby League, East Men's League, South Premier, London & South East Men's League.
Read more about this topic: Rugby League In England
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