2019 RFL Championship

The 2019 Rugby Football League Championship was a rugby league football competition played primarily in England but including teams from Canada and France. It is the second tier of the three tiers of professional rugby league in England, below Super League and above League 1. Following rule changes agreed at the end of the 2018 season, the Super 8's format has been abandoned and the Championship will feature a play-off system leading to promotion to Super League for one club while results during the regular season will lead to relegation to League 1 for two teams.

Betfred Championship 2019
LeagueChampionship
Duration27 rounds + play-offs
Teams14
Highest attendance9,974
Toronto Wolfpack v Featherstone Rovers (5 October 2019)
Lowest attendance337
Rochdale Hornets v Toulouse Olympique (13 July 2019)
Average attendance2,645
Attendance428,570; as of round 26 (1 September 2019)
Broadcast partnersSky Sports
2019 season
Champions Toronto Wolfpack
League Leaders' Shield Toronto Wolfpack
Runners-up Featherstone Rovers
Biggest home win Toronto Wolfpack 70–8 Dewsbury Rams (15 June 2019)
Biggest away win Rochdale Hornets 0–82 Bradford Bulls (8 September 2019)
Promotion and relegation
Promoted from RFL Championship
Toronto Wolfpack
Relegated to League 1 Barrow Raiders
Rochdale Hornets

The 2019 Championship comprised 14 teams, which all played one another twice in the regular season, once at home and once away, totalling 26 games. The 2019 season also featured the "Summer Bash Weekend" for a fifth time so the regular season comprised 27 games for each team.[1]

The Championship Grand Final was won by Toronto Wolfpack, who by beating Featherstone Rovers 24–6 also won promotion to Super League for the first time in the club's history, ahead of 2020 season. Toronto also won the RFL Championship Leaders' Shield, after finishing top of the league and completing a 100% home record, and only losing 1 game all season.

Betfred remain the sponsors of the Championship. The season started on 3 February 2019.[2]

Teams

The Championship is made up of 14 teams, 11 of whom featured in the 2018 Championship; one, Widnes Vikings, who were relegated from Super League; and two, Bradford Bulls and York City Knights, who won promotion from League 1 in 2018.

Locations of the 2019 RFL Championship teams
Locations of 2019 RFL Championship teams
Locations of 2019 RFL Championship teams
Locations of the 2019 RFL Championship teams in West Yorkshire
Team Stadium Capacity Location
Barrow Raiders The JF Hornby Stadium 7,600 Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria
Batley Bulldogs Fox's Biscuits Stadium 7,500 Batley, West Yorkshire
Bradford Bulls Odsal Stadium 27,500 Bradford, West Yorkshire
Dewsbury Rams Tetley's Stadium 5,800 Dewsbury, West Yorkshire
Featherstone Rovers LD Nutrition Stadium 8,000 Featherstone, West Yorkshire
Halifax The MBi Shay 14,000 Halifax, West Yorkshire
Leigh Centurions Leigh Sports Village 12,000 Leigh, Greater Manchester
Rochdale Hornets Crown Oil Arena 10,249 Rochdale, Greater Manchester
Sheffield Eagles Sheffield Olympic Legacy Stadium 2,500 Sheffield, South Yorkshire
Swinton Lions Heywood Road 3,387 Sale, Greater Manchester
Toronto Wolfpack Lamport Stadium 9,600 Toronto, Canada
Toulouse Olympique Stade Ernest-Argelès 4,000 Toulouse, France
Widnes Vikings Halton Stadium 13,350 Widnes, Cheshire
York City Knights Bootham Crescent 8,256 York, North Yorkshire

Regular-season results
Main article: 2019 RFL Championship season results

Final standings

Final standings at the end of regular season on 8 September 2019

Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
1 Toronto Wolfpack 27 26 0 1 1010 356 +654 52 Play-off semi-final
2 Toulouse Olympique 27 20 0 7 877 446 +431 40 Play-off qualifying final
3 York City Knights 27 19 1 7 612 529 +83 39
4 Leigh Centurions 27 18 0 9 792 558 +234 36 Play-off elimination final
5 Featherstone Rovers 27 17 0 10 837 471 +366 34
6 Bradford Bulls 27 16 1 10 717 522 +195 33
7 Sheffield Eagles 27 15 0 12 748 694 +54 30
8 Halifax 27 10 1 16 602 685 −83 21
9 Swinton Lions 27 10 1 16 619 803 −184 21
10 Batley Bulldogs 27 8 1 18 462 756 −294 17
11 Widnes Vikings 27 14 0 13 646 586 +60 16[lower-alpha 1]
12 Dewsbury Rams 27 6 2 19 513 721 −208 14
13 Barrow Raiders 27 5 1 21 479 861 −382 11 Relegated to League 1
14 Rochdale Hornets 27 1 0 26 342 1268 −926 2
Source:
Notes:
  1. Widnes deducted 12 points for going into administration.[3]

Play-offs

At the end of the 27 game regular season, the top five teams enter a four-round play-off. The winners of the play-off final will earn promotion to Super League for 2020.

End-of-season awards

The end of season awards ceremony was held on 24 September 2019 when the following awards were made:[4]

References
  1. "2019 structure explained". Rugby Football League. 14 September 2018. Retrieved 23 December 2018.
  2. "2019 Championship fixtures revealed". Love Rugby League. 25 November 2019. Retrieved 23 December 2018.
  3. "Widnes Vikings: RFL accepts new takeover deal but still imposes 12-point penalty". BBC Sport. 1 March 2019. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
  4. "2019 Championship and League 1 award winners revealed". Love Rugby League. 25 September 2019. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
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