2013 RFL Championship

The 2013 Rugby Football League Championship, which will be known as Kingstone Press Championship due to sponsorship by Kingstone Press Cider, is a semi-professional rugby league football competition played in the UK, one tier below the first tier Super League. The 2013 season is the first season to consist of a 14-team division. This was achieved by scrapping relegation for the 2012 season and having four teams promoted from the Championship 1.[2]

Kinstone Press Championship 2013
LeagueChampionship
Duration26 Rounds (Followed by 4 round playoffs)
Teams14
Highest attendance3,890 Featherstone Rovers v Sheffield Eagles (28 August 2013)
Lowest attendance375 Hunslet Hawks v Whitehaven (10 March 2013)
Average attendance1,199
Attendance187,103
Broadcast partnersUnited Kingdom Premier Sports
2013 Season
Grand Final winners Sheffield Eagles
League Leaders Shield Featherstone Rovers
Runners-up Sheffield Eagles
Top point-scorer(s) Liam Finn (308)[1]
Top try-scorer(s) Menzie Yere (30)[1]
Promotion and relegation
Relegated to Championship 1 Hunslet Hawks
York City Knights

Relegation to Championship 1 is restored for the 2013 but as in previous years, there is no automatic promotion from this league to Super League, which uses a licensing system renewed every three years. Qualifying for the Grand Final or winning the Northern Rail Cup is a prerequisite for Championship clubs to be able to apply for a licence in the next round of applications for the 2015–17 seasons.

All of the teams in the 2013 Co-operative Championship will also compete in the 2013 Challenge Cup where they will enter in the third round. All of the teams will also compete in the 2013 National League Cup which starts before the Co-operative Championship with the finals held mid season.

Teams

This year's competition features the same 10 teams as it did in 2012 plus the top four teams from the 2012 Championship 1 season, which are Barrow Raiders, Doncaster, Whitehaven and Workington Town.

Legend
  Reigning champions
  Defending Northern Rail Cup Champions
  Promoted
Team & Current Season Stadium Capacity Location
Barrow Raiders Craven Park 7,600 Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria
Batley Bulldogs loverugbyleague.com Stadium 6,000 Batley, West Yorkshire
Dewsbury Rams Tetley's Stadium 3,500 Dewsbury, West Yorkshire
Doncaster Keepmoat Stadium 15,231 Doncaster, South Yorkshire
Featherstone Rovers Bigfellas Stadium 6,750 Featherstone, West Yorkshire
Halifax The Shay Stadium 6,561 Halifax, West Yorkshire
Hunslet Hawks South Leeds Stadium 4,000 Leeds, West Yorkshire
Keighley Cougars Cougar Park 7,800 Keighley, West Yorkshire
Leigh Centurions Leigh Sports Village 12,700 Leigh, Greater Manchester
Sheffield Eagles Bramall Lane 32,702 Sheffield, South Yorkshire
Swinton Lions Leigh Sports Village 12,700 Leigh, Greater Manchester
Whitehaven Recreation Ground 7,500 Whitehaven, Cumbria
Workington Town Derwent Park 10,000 Workington, Cumbria
York City Knights Huntington Stadium 3,428 York, North Yorkshire

Season standings
2013 RFL Championship
# Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Bns Pts
1 Featherstone Rovers 262204940362+578470
2 Sheffield Eagles 262204806474+332167
3 Halifax 261925817476+341162
4 Leigh Centurions 261808752495+257458
5 Batley Bulldogs 261619670394+276757
6 Doncaster 2612113593594-1643
7 Dewsbury Rams 2612014492620-128642
8 Workington Town 2611015483681-198639
9 Whitehaven 2611015485774-289437
10 Swinton Lions 269017516738-222734
11 Keighley Cougars 268018492719-227933
12 Barrow Raiders 268018482792-310933
13 Hunslet Hawks (R) 266020529704-1751230
14 York City Knights (R) 266020493727-234826
  Teams qualifying for the Play-offs
  Teams in relegation position
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.[3]

Season results
Main article: 2013 RFL Championship season results

The regular league season sees the 14 teams play each other twice (one home, one away) over 26 matches. The top eight teams at the end of the regular season goes through to the play-offs to determine the winners of the Championship.

See also

References
  1. "Stats Centre". Love Rugby League. Retrieved 2 September 2012.
  2. "Relegation is scrapped from Championship this campaign". Keighley News. 16 February 2012. Retrieved 4 June 2012.
  3. "Points System". Rugby League Championships. Archived from the original on February 8, 2013. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
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