2013 Championship 1

2013 Championship 1
League	Championship 1
Duration	16 matches (over 18 rounds)
Teams	9
Highest attendance	1,562 North Wales Crusaders v South Wales Scorpions (1 September 2013)
Lowest attendance	103 Gloucestershire All Golds v London Skolars (28 July 2013)
Average attendance	477
Attendance	33,374
Broadcast partners	Premier 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]
← 2012 2014 →

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]

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 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

2013 Championship 1 v t e
Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Bns	Pts
1	North Wales Crusaders (P)	16	14	0	2	568	212	+356	1	43
2	Oldham	16	12	1	3	508	289	+219	3	41
3	Rochdale Hornets	16	10	0	6	538	375	+163	2	32
4	London Skolars	16	10	0	6	489	468	+21	3	32
5	Hemel Stags	16	8	0	8	381	365	+16	4	28
6	Oxford RLFC	16	5	2	9	326	436	-110	4	23
7	Gateshead Thunder	16	4	1	11	356	542	-186	6	20
8	South Wales Scorpions	16	5	0	11	368	504	-136	4	19
9	Gloucestershire All Golds	16	2	1	13	286	629	-343	4	12

	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.

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.

External links

• Official Championship 1 website
• RFL Championship coverage
• Scores from Sky Sports
• RugbyLeague.org Championship 1 Fans Forums ^{[ permanent dead link ]}