2018 League 1 | |
---|---|
League | League 1 |
Duration | 26 matches |
Teams | 14 |
Highest attendance | 6,441 Bradford Bulls vs York City Knights (22 July) |
Lowest attendance | 108 Hemel Stags vs Doncaster (1 July) |
2018 Season | |
Champions | York City Knights |
Runners-up | Bradford Bulls |
Biggest home win | 144–0 York City Knights v West Wales Raiders (29 April) [1] |
Biggest away win | 0–130 West Wales Raiders v York City Knights (11 August) [2] |
Top point-scorer(s) | Connor Robinson (York City Knights) 388 points (14 tries, 166 goals) [3] |
Top try-scorer(s) | Ethan Ryan (Bradford Bulls) 34 tries [3] |
The 2018 RFL League 1 was a professional rugby league football competition played in England and Wales and is the third tier of the sport for Rugby Football League (RFL) affiliated clubs.
Even before the end of the 2017 season there were news stories that two of the clubs in the league, Gloucestershire All Golds and Oxford were considering a merger and relocating to Bristol. [4] Uncertainty around this move meant that the structure of League 1 for 2018 was undecided until October 2017 when the merger was confirmed by the RFL who also announced that the new Bristol side would not play in the league in 2018 and the league for 2018 will comprise only 14 clubs. [5]
The format of the season was very different from the 2017 season. There was no Super 8s and the season was of 26 games with each of the 14 teams playing each other home and away. The team finishing top would win automatic promotion to the 2019 Championship and be named league champions for 2018. The teams finishing second to fifth would meet in two play-off semi-finals with the semi-final winners meeting in the League 1 Promotional Final. The winner of the Promotional Final will play in the Championship on 2019. Following a special general meeting of the Rugby Football League on 14 September 2018, the promotion criteria were changed to allow the expansion of the 2019 Championship from 12 clubs to 14 clubs. Two teams would be promoted as previously agreed however the loser of the Promotion Final would have a further chance at promotion in a single-leg play-off against the team finishing bottom of the Championship with the winner playing in the Championship for 2019. [6]
Oldham and Bradford Bulls were relegated from the Championship in 2017. During the close season South Wales Ironmen re-branded as West Wales Raiders following the purchase of the club and a move from Merthyr Tydfil to Llanelli in 2017. [7]
New sponsors for the league were announced in January 2018 and the league was known as the Betfred League 1, a name that will remain until the end of 2019 as the bookmakers, Betfred, extended their sponsorship of rugby league to include the Championship and League 1 as well as Super League. [8]
York City Knights won automatic promotion to the 2019 Championship by beating Whitehaven on the last day of the season and ending the season two points ahead of nearest rivals, Bradford Bulls. [9] Bradford were also promoted after beating Workington Town 27–8 in the promotion final on 7 October 2018. Defeat for Workington gave them a further shot at promotion in a promotion play-off final on 14 October against Swinton Lions, who finished last in the Championship Shield. Swinton had home advantage in the play-off final following a coin toss between the two clubs and retained their Championship status with a 33–20 victory consigning Workington to another season in League 1.
Post season West Wales Raiders were deducted four points for having fielded an ineligible player during two games; with the team having lost all of their fixtures during the season it meant that they ended the season on minus four points. [10]
Colours | Club | City | Stadium | Capacity* |
---|---|---|---|---|
Bradford Bulls | Bradford, West Yorkshire | Odsal Stadium | 27,500 | |
Coventry Bears | Coventry, West Midlands | Butts Park Arena | 4,000 | |
Doncaster | Doncaster, South Yorkshire | Keepmoat Stadium | 15,231 | |
Hemel Stags | Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire | Pennine Way | 2,000 | |
Hunslet | Leeds, West Yorkshire | South Leeds Stadium | 4,000 | |
Keighley Cougars | Keighley, West Yorkshire | Cougar Park | 7,800 | |
London Skolars | Haringey, London | New River Stadium | 2,000 | |
Newcastle Thunder | Newcastle, Tyne and Wear | Kingston Park | 10,200 | |
North Wales Crusaders | Wrexham, Wales | Queensway Stadium | 2,000 | |
Oldham | Oldham, Greater Manchester | Whitebank Stadium | 1,500 | |
West Wales Raiders | Llanelli, Wales | Stebonheath Park | 3,700 | |
Whitehaven | Whitehaven, Cumbria | Recreation Ground | 7,500 | |
Workington Town | Workington, Cumbria | Zebra Claims Stadium | 10,000 | |
York City Knights | York, North Yorkshire | Bootham Crescent | 8,256 |
*capacity for rugby league games may differ from official stadium capacity.
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | York City Knights | 26 | 24 | 0 | 2 | 1130 | 308 | +822 | 48 | Champions |
2 | Bradford Bulls | 26 | 23 | 0 | 3 | 1197 | 282 | +915 | 46 | Play-off semi-finals |
3 | Doncaster | 26 | 19 | 0 | 7 | 956 | 495 | +461 | 38 | |
4 | Workington Town | 26 | 17 | 0 | 9 | 833 | 517 | +316 | 34 | |
5 | Oldham | 26 | 16 | 0 | 10 | 902 | 325 | +577 | 32 | |
6 | Whitehaven | 26 | 16 | 0 | 10 | 702 | 529 | +173 | 32 | |
7 | Hunslet | 26 | 15 | 0 | 11 | 735 | 596 | +139 | 30 | |
8 | Newcastle Thunder | 26 | 14 | 0 | 12 | 841 | 520 | +321 | 28 | |
9 | Keighley Cougars | 26 | 13 | 0 | 13 | 839 | 657 | +182 | 26 | |
10 | North Wales Crusaders | 26 | 9 | 1 | 16 | 589 | 660 | −71 | 19 | |
11 | Coventry Bears | 26 | 7 | 0 | 19 | 406 | 1058 | −652 | 14 | |
12 | London Skolars | 26 | 6 | 1 | 19 | 626 | 887 | −261 | 13 | |
13 | Hemel Stags | 26 | 2 | 0 | 24 | 314 | 1286 | −972 | 4 | |
14 | West Wales Raiders | 26 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 176 | 2106 | −1930 | −4 [lower-alpha 1] |
Whitehaven 2010 R.L.F.C. is a professional rugby league club playing in Whitehaven in west Cumbria. They play in Betfred Championship after winning Betfred League 1 in 2019. Their stadium is called the Ortus REC.
Barrow Raiders are a semi-professional rugby league team in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England. The club play home games at Craven Park and compete in the Championship, the second tier of British rugby league.
Dale Ferguson is head coach for Dewsbury Rams in the Betfred Championship.
Dane Chisholm is a French-Australian international rugby league footballer who plays as a scrum-half for the Featherstone Rovers in the Betfred Championship.
Dalton Grant is a Welsh professional rugby league footballer who plays as a centre for the London Broncos in the Betfred Super League and Wales at international level.
Ben Hellewell is a Scotland international rugby league footballer who plays as a second-row forward for Salford Red Devils in the Betfred Super League.
Ryan Shaw is an English professional rugby league footballer who plays wing, centre or fullback for the Barrow Raiders in Betfred Championship.
Oscar Thomas is a Scotland international rugby league footballer who plays as a stand-off, scrum-half or fullback for Keighley Cougars in the Betfred Championship.
Joseph Keyes is an Ireland international rugby league footballer who plays as a scrum-half and stand-off for the Halifax Panthers in the Betfred Championship.
Ed Chamberlain is an Ireland international rugby league footballer who plays as a centre and winger for the Leigh Leopards in the Betfred Super League.
The 2017 League 1, known as the Kingstone Press League 1 for sponsorship reasons, was a professional rugby league football competition played in England, Wales and Canada, the third tier of the sport for RFL affiliated clubs.
The West Wales Raiders were a semi-professional rugby league club based in Llanelli, Wales. They competed in League 1, the third tier of the British rugby league system, from 2018 until 2022.
The Rugby Football League Women's Super League is the elite women's rugby league club competition in England. Originally competed between four teams in the 2017 season, the league has developed with the 2023 season being contested by 12 teams playing home and away against each other in two groups with subsequent play-offs and Grand Final. In January 2023 it was announced that the league would be reduced to eight teams in the 2024 season.
The 2019 RFL League 1 was a professional rugby league football competition played in England and Wales and is the third tier of the sport for Rugby Football League (RFL) affiliated clubs. The sponsors for the league are the bookmakers, Betfred and the league will continue to be known as the Betfred League 1.
The 2019 RFL 1895 Cup, known as the 2019 AB Sundecks 1895 Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the inaugural tournament for the RFL 1895 Cup, a rugby league football competition for clubs in the United Kingdom. The tournament was played between League 1 and Championship teams between May and August 2019. The format of the tournament was confirmed in December 2018, and consisted of five rounds. In round 1 eight League 1 teams played in a knock out round. Round 2 introduced the 12 English teams from the Championship who with the winners from round 1 will play eight ties. The quarter-finals and semi-finals followed in June and July, with the final played at Wembley Stadium on 24 August, with the Challenge Cup final also being played on this day.
The 2018 London Skolars season was the 24th in the club's history, and sixteenth as a professional rugby league outfit. Competing in Betfred League 1, the third tier of British Rugby League and playing at the New River Stadium, London N22, the team was coached by Jermaine Coleman for the fourth consecutive season.
The 2021 RFL League 1 is a professional rugby league football competition played in the United Kingdom and is the third tier of the sport for Rugby Football League (RFL) affiliated clubs. The sponsors for the league are the bookmakers, Betfred and the league will continue to be known as the Betfred League 1.
The 2022 Rugby Football League Championship is a rugby league football competition played in England. It is the second tier of the three tiers of professional rugby league in England, below Super League, and above League 1. The sponsors for the league are the bookmakers, Betfred and the league will continue to be known as the Betfred Championship.
The 2023 RFL Championship,, was a professional rugby league club competition. Fourteen clubs – thirteen from England and one from France – competed to gain promotion to the 2024 Super League, while avoiding relegation to the 2024 League One season.
The 2023 RFL League One was a professional rugby league football competition played in the United Kingdom and the third tier of the sport for Rugby Football League (RFL) affiliated clubs. The sponsors for the league were the bookmakers, Betfred and the league continued to be known as the Betfred League One.