2020 RFL Championship

The 2020 Rugby Football League Championship is a rugby league football competition played primarily in England but including a team from 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 was abandoned and the Championship was to have featured a play-off system leading to promotion to Super League for one club while results during the regular season would have led to relegation to League 1 for two teams.

Betfred Championship 2020
LeagueChampionship
DurationPlanned: 27 rounds + play-offs
Actual: 5 rounds
Teams14
Broadcast partnersSky Sports
2020 season

The 2020 Championship comprised 14 teams, which all played one another twice in the regular season, once at home and once away, totalling 26 games. The 2020 season would also have featured the "Summer Bash Weekend" for a sixth time so the regular season totals 27 games for each team.

On 16 March the structure and timing of the competition were placed in doubt as all rugby league games were suspended until 3 April at least as part of the United Kingdom's response to the coronavirus pandemic.[1] The suspension of the season was extended to indefinite.[2]

A discussion between the RFL and club officials in May saw a majority of the Championship clubs reject a suggestion that the season could recommence with games being played behind closed doors.[3] The RFL board met on 20 July and having consulted with the clubs decided to abandon the 2020 season as the majority of clubs did not support playing behind closed doors.[4] The RFL also confirmed that there would be no promotion or relegation between the Championship and Super League in 2020 and the season was declared null and void.[5][4]

Teams

The Championship is made up of 14 teams, 11 of whom featured in the 2019 Championship; one, London Broncos, who were relegated from Super League; and two, Whitehaven and Oldham, who won promotion from League 1 in 2019. At the end of the 2019 season Bradford Bulls moved out of their Odsal ground and for 2020 agreed a ground share deal with Dewsbury Rams at the Rams' Tetley's Stadium.

Locations of the 2020 RFL Championship teams
Locations of 2020 RFL Championship teams
Locations of the 2019 RFL Championship teams in West Yorkshire
Team Stadium Capacity Location
Batley Bulldogs Fox's Biscuits Stadium 7,500 Batley, West Yorkshire
Bradford Bulls Tetley's Stadium 5,800 Dewsbury, 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
London Broncos Trailfinders Sports Ground 4,000 Ealing, London
Oldham Bower Fold[6] 6,500 Stalybridge, Greater Manchester
Sheffield Eagles Sheffield Olympic Legacy Stadium 2,500 Sheffield, South Yorkshire
Swinton Lions Heywood Road 3,387 Sale, Greater Manchester
Toulouse Olympique Stade Ernest-Wallon 19,500 Toulouse, France
Whitehaven Recreation Ground 7,500 Whitehaven, Cumbria
Widnes Vikings Halton Stadium 13,350 Widnes, Cheshire
York City Knights Bootham Crescent 8,256 York, North Yorkshire

Regular season results

Round 1
Home Score Away Match Information
Date and Time (GMT) Venue Referee Attendance
Dewsbury Rams 10–36 Leigh Centurions 31 January 2020, 19:30 Tetley's Stadium Cameron Worsley 1,723
Toulouse Olympique 22–10 York City Knights 1 February 2020, 18:00 Stade Ernest-Argeles Marcus Griffiths 3,151
Batley Bulldogs 18–38 Featherstone Rovers 2 February 2020, 15:00 The Fox's Biscuit Stadium Tom Grant 1,795
Bradford Bulls 14–18 London Broncos Tetley's Stadium Aaron Moore 2,697
Halifax 18–17 Sheffield Eagles The MBI Shay Billy Pearson 1,525
Oldham Roughyeds 6–36 Widnes Vikings Bower Fold Jack Smith 1,726
Whitehaven RLFC 0–14 Swinton Lions Recreation Ground Gareth Hewer 803
Source:[7][8][9][10]

Round 2
Home Score Away Match Information
Date and Time (GMT) Venue Referee Attendance
Leigh Centurions 58–10 Sheffield Eagles 8 February 2020, 15:00 Leigh Sports Village Michael Mannifield 3,104
Toulouse Olympique 58–6 Oldham Roughyeds 8 February 2020, 18:00 Stade Ernest-Wallon Aaron Moore 2,318
London Broncos 36–20 Whitehaven RLFC 9 February 2020, 15:00 Trailfinders Sports Ground Matthew Rossleigh 735
Widnes Vikings 32–12 Batley Bulldogs Select Security Stadium Tom Grant 3,577
Featherstone Rovers Halifax RLFC TBC[lower-alpha 1]
Swinton Lions Dewsbury Rams TBC[lower-alpha 1]
York City Knights Bradford Bulls TBC[lower-alpha 1]
Source:
  1. Match postponed on original date due to poor weather conditions caused by Storm Ciara

Round 3
Home Score Away Match Information
Date and Time (GMT) Venue Referee Attendance
Batley Bulldogs 20–10 Swinton Lions 16 February 2020, 15:00 The Fox's Biscuit Stadium Billy Pearson 746
Bradford Bulls 22–30 Featherstone Rovers Tetley's Stadium Matthew Rossleigh 3,640
Leigh Centurions 34–0 York City Knights Leigh Sports Village Scott Mikalauskua 2,942
Sheffield Eagles 14–26 Toulouse Olympique Castle Park Aaron Moore 618
Widnes Vikings 12–38 London Broncos Select Security Stadium Jack Smith 3,680
Whitehaven RLFC 14–16 Oldham Roughyeds 16 February 2020, 18:15 Recreation Ground Michael Mannifield 532
Dewsbury Rams 18–16 Swinton Lions 18 February 2020, 19:45 The MBI Shay Cameron Worsley 1,151
Source:

Round 4
Home Score Away Match Information
Date and Time (GMT) Venue Referee Attendance
Batley Bulldogs 18–19[lower-alpha 1] Sheffield Eagles 1 March 2020, 15:00 The Fox's Biscuit Stadium
Halifax RLFC 28–4 York City Knights The MBI Shay
London Broncos 10–34 Featherstone Rovers Trailfinders Sports Ground
Oldham Roughyeds 12–26 Bradford Bulls Bower Fold
Whitehaven RLFC 4–40 Toulouse Olympique Recreation Ground
Dewsbury Rams 20–8 Widnes Vikings 1 March 2020, 18:15 Tetley's Stadium
Swinton Lions Leigh Centurions TBC [lower-alpha 2]
Source:
  1. after golden-point extra time
  2. original match on 1 March, postponed due to a water-logged pitch

Round 5
Home Score Away Match Information
Date and Time (GMT) Venue Referee Attendance
Toulouse Olympique 34–14 Batley Bulldogs 7 March 2020, 18:00 Stade Ernest-Wallon
Featherstone Rovers 35–24 Swinton Lions 8 March 2020, 15:00 LD Nutrition Stadium
Leigh Centurions 34–20 Halifax RLFC Leigh Sports Village
Oldham Roughyeds 6–24 Dewsbury Rams Bower Fold
Widnes Vikings 40–16 Whitehaven RLFC Select Security Stadium
York City Knights 12–18 London Broncos Bootham Crescent 1,364
Bradford Bulls 28–0 Sheffield Eagles 8 March 2020, 18:15
Source:

Standings at time of abandonment
Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD BP Pts
1 Toulouse Olympique 5 5 0 0 180 48 +132 0 10
2 Leigh Centurions 4 4 0 0 162 40 +122 0 8
3 Featherstone Rovers 4 4 0 0 137 74 +63 0 8
4 London Broncos 5 4 0 1 120 92 +28 0 8
5 Widnes Vikings 5 3 0 2 128 92 +36 0 6
6 Dewsbury Rams 4 3 0 1 72 66 +6 0 6
7 Bradford Bulls 4 2 0 2 90 60 +30 0 4
8 Halifax 4 2 0 2 82 73 +9 0 4
9 Batley Bulldogs 5 1 0 4 82 133 −51 1 3
10 Swinton Lions 3 1 0 2 48 55 −7 0 2
11 Sheffield Eagles 5 1 0 4 60 148 −88 0 2
12 Oldham 5 1 0 4 46 158 −112 0 2
13 York City Knights 4 0 0 4 26 102 −76 0 0
14 Whitehaven 5 0 0 5 54 146 −92 0 0
Updated to match(es) played on 8 March 2020. Season abandoned on 20 July 2020.. Source:

References
  1. "Coronavirus: Rugby Football League suspends season until 3 April". BBC Sport. 16 March 2020.
  2. "Rugby League to stand down staff and players". Rugby Leaguer & League Express. No. 3, 219. 30 March 2020. p. 3.
  3. "Championship on the brink of closing for the season". Rugby Leaguer & League Express. No. 3, 226. 18 May 2020. p. 3.
  4. "No relegation from Super League in 2020". BBC Sport. 20 July 2020. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  5. "Championship and League One null and void". Serious About Rugby League. 20 July 2020. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  6. Gordon, James (5 November 2019). "Oldham confirm return to Bower Fold". Love Rugby League.
  7. "Leigh triumph in Betfred Championship opener". www.rugby-league.com. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  8. "Toulouse fight back to beat York". www.rugby-league.com. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  9. "London make winning start back in Championship". www.rugby-league.com. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  10. "BULLDOGS 18-38 ROVERS". 2 February 2020. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
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