2019 RFL Championship

Last updated

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

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.

Contents

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.

Northern England location map.PNG
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West Yorkshire
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Locations of the 2019 RFL Championship teams
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Locations of 2019 RFL Championship teams
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Locations of 2019 RFL Championship teams
West Yorkshire UK location map.svg
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Locations of the 2019 RFL Championship teams in West Yorkshire
TeamStadiumCapacityLocation
Barrowcolours.svg Barrow Raiders The JF Hornby Stadium 7,600 Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria
Batley colours.svg Batley Bulldogs Fox's Biscuits Stadium 7,500 Batley, West Yorkshire
Bullscolours.svg Bradford Bulls Odsal Stadium 27,500 Bradford, West Yorkshire
Ramscolours.svg Dewsbury Rams Tetley's Stadium 5,800 Dewsbury, West Yorkshire
Fevcolours.svg Featherstone Rovers LD Nutrition Stadium 8,000 Featherstone, West Yorkshire
Faxcolours.svg Halifax The MBi Shay 14,000 Halifax, West Yorkshire
Leigh colours.svg Leigh Centurions Leigh Sports Village 12,000 Leigh, Greater Manchester
Rochdale colours.svg Rochdale Hornets Crown Oil Arena 10,249 Rochdale, Greater Manchester
Sheffeagles colours.svg Sheffield Eagles Sheffield Olympic Legacy Stadium 2,500 Sheffield, South Yorkshire
Swintoncolours.svg Swinton Lions Heywood Road 3,387 Sale, Greater Manchester
New Zealand Kiwis colours.svg Toronto Wolfpack Lamport Stadium 9,600 Toronto, Canada
ToulouseRLcolours.png Toulouse Olympique Stade Ernest-Argelès 4,000 Toulouse, France
Widnes colours.svg Widnes Vikings Halton Stadium 13,350 Widnes, Cheshire
YorkRLFCcolours.png York City Knights Bootham Crescent 8,256 York, North Yorkshire

Regular-season results

Final standings

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

PosTeam
PldWDLPFPAPDPtsQualification
1 New Zealand Kiwis colours.svg Toronto Wolfpack 2726011010356+65452Play-off semi-final
2 ToulouseRLcolours.png Toulouse Olympique 272007877446+43140Play-off qualifying final
3 YorkRLFCcolours.png York City Knights 271917612529+8339
4 Leigh colours.svg Leigh Centurions 271809792558+23436Play-off elimination final
5 Fevcolours.svg Featherstone Rovers 2717010837471+36634
6 Bullscolours.svg Bradford Bulls 2716110717522+19533
7 Sheffeagles colours.svg Sheffield Eagles 2715012748694+5430
8 Faxcolours.svg Halifax 2710116602685−8321
9 Swintoncolours.svg Swinton Lions 2710116619803−18421
10 Batley colours.svg Batley Bulldogs 278118462756−29417
11 Widnes colours.svg Widnes Vikings 2714013646586+6016 [lower-alpha 1]
12 Ramscolours.svg Dewsbury Rams 276219513721−20814
13 Barrowcolours.svg Barrow Raiders 275121479861−38211Relegated to League 1
14 Rochdale colours.svg Rochdale Hornets 2710263421268−9262
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.

Qualifying play-offQualifying semi-finalPreliminary finalPlay-off final
1 New Zealand Kiwis colours.svg Toronto Wolfpack 40 New Zealand Kiwis colours.svg Toronto Wolfpack 24
ToulouseRLcolours.png Toulouse Olympique 24 Fevcolours.svg Featherstone Rovers 6
2 ToulouseRLcolours.png Toulouse Olympique 44 ToulouseRLcolours.png Toulouse Olympique 12
3 YorkRLFCcolours.png York City Knights 6Elimination semi-final Fevcolours.svg Featherstone Rovers 36
YorkRLFCcolours.png York City Knights 4
4 Leigh colours.svg Leigh Centurions 18 Fevcolours.svg Featherstone Rovers 30
5 Fevcolours.svg Featherstone Rovers 34

End-of-season awards

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

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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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