The Coupe de France Lord Derby, or just Coupe Lord Derby, is the premier knockout competition for the sport of rugby league football in France, as well as the name of its championship trophy. The tournament was first contested in 1934–35, which also marked the inaugural season of the French Rugby League Championship.
Toulouse Olympique or TO XIII is a professional rugby league club in Toulouse, south-west France. Founded in 1937, two years after the French Rugby League Federation, the club is a six-time winner of the French Rugby League Championship.
Football Club de Lézignan are a semi-professional rugby league football club based in Lézignan-Corbières in the department of Aude in the south of France. They play in the Super XIII. They have won seven French Championship titles and six Lord Derby Cups.
XIII Limouxin, also known as Limoux Grizzlies, are a semi-professional rugby league club from the town of Limoux in the Aude area in southern France. They play in the Super XIII. The club was formed in 1951. They have won the French rugby league championship four times and Lord Derby Cup on two occasions. The Stade de l'Aiguille is their home stadium.
The 2007/08 season was the fifth year of the Elite One Championship, the top level rugby league competition in France. The season commenced on 6 October 2007 and like the previous season, there were 11 teams with one team missing a round each week. A total of 22 rounds were played, with the last finishing on 12 April 2008 before the play-offs, that determined who played in the Grand Final. RC Albi were the league's new club having been promoted from the Elite Two Championship. Pia XIII were the defending champions having beaten Lézignan Sangliers in the 2006/2007 season Grand Final. The top 8 clubs qualified for the end of season play-offs. In the first week of the play-offs, Saint-Gaudens Bears and UTC both easily beat Toulouse Olympique and RC Albi respectively. However both teams were then beaten, Saint-Gaudens Bears by third placed AS Carcassonne, and UTC by Limoux Grizzlies in Week 2. Pia XIII beat AS Carcassonne in the first semi-final and a day later Lézignan Sangliers, the league leaders, squeezed past Limoux Grizzlies. In the Grand Final held at the Stade de la Mediterranee in Béziers, Lézignan Sangliers did what they had failed to do the previous season and beat Pia XIII 26-16, and thus winning the title for the first time. Despite finishing 8th and reaching the Lord Derby cup final RC Albi were relegated and Toulouse Olympique left the league and joined the English Rugby League system. SO Avignon were promoted from the 2nd tier. The Lord Derby Cup was won by Limoux Grizzlies.
The 2006/07 season was the fourth year of the Elite One Championship, the top-level rugby league French Championship. The season commenced on 6 October 2006. Like the previous season, there were 11 teams with one team missing a round each week. A total of 22 rounds were played, with the last finishing on 18 April 2007, before the top four Pia XIII, Toulouse Olympique, Lézignan Sangliers and Saint-Gaudens Bears progressed to the play-offs. Pia XIII beat Lézignan Sangliers in the Grand Final 20-16 which was played at Colomiers. That win completed a double for Pia XIII as they had already lifted the Lord Derby Cup beating AS Carcassonne 30-14. Lyon Villeurbanne XIII finished bottom, finishing with 23 points but it was Villefranche XIII Aveyron who'd finished 9th who were relegated to the Elite Two Championship, replaced by RC Albi.
Super XIII is the top level rugby league competition in France, sanctioned by the French Rugby League Federation. The season runs from September to April, which is in contrast to the majority of other major domestic rugby league competitions worldwide. The clubs play each other home and away then they enter into a play-off series culminating with a Grand Final. The competition was founded in 2002, as the Elite One Championship and renamed as Super XIII at the start of the 2024–2025 season. The competition is the continuation of the French Rugby League Championship, which began in 1934.
The Elite One Championship V Grand Final was the last match to complete the Elite One Championship V season and to crown the 2008 champions. The final was contested by Lézignan Sangliers, who had finished first in the league table and had beaten Limoux Grizzlies to reach the final, and Pia Donkeys who had finished second in the league table and had beaten Carcassonne to reach the final. The final was held at the Stade de la Méditerranée in Béziers on 17 May 2008.
Marseille XIII Avenir are a French Rugby league club based in Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. The club plays in the French National Division 2. The club was founded in 1946 and then re-founded in 2007. It plays its matches at the Stade Roger Couderc. In addition to the open age team, the club also has a women's team and a thriving junior section.
Abraham Papali'i is a professional rugby player from New Zealand. He has played both rugby union and rugby league professionally. Papali'i currently plays rugby union for CA Brive Corrèze Limousin in France as back row. He last played league professionally with French side Lézignan Sangliers in the Elite One Championship, where he covered second-row, lock and centre.
In 2016–2017 ten clubs competed for the title. The season ran from October 2016 to June 2017. The first round of matches took place at the Stade Gilbert Brutus in Perpignan where the ten clubs played over the weekend called "Magic Weekend 1" this was followed by 18 rounds home and away matches before a second Magic Weekend as the last round of games. The top six clubs then progressed into the end of season play-offs to determine the champions. The league saw the return of Saint-Gaudens Bears following their promotion.
The 2009/10 season of the Elite One Championship saw the league reduced to 9 teams with each team playing home and away with the top 5 going on to contest the play-offs. The season ran from October to May with Lézignan Sangliers eventually coming out on top after beating Pia XIII in the final which was played in Montpellier. This victory completed a league and cup double coming just a month after they had beaten Limoux Grizzlies in the Lord Derby Cup final 18-14 in Avignon.
Nabil Djalout is a French international rugby league footballer who plays for Palau Broncos in the Elite One Championship as a second row.
Season 2010–2011 in the French Elite One Championship the top level league competition saw Lézignan Sangliers retain their title after they finished top of the table and then went on to beat Limoux Grizzlies in the Grand Final in Narbonne 17-12. The season ran from October to May and after 20 rounds of home and away matches the top five entered the play-offs. At the end of the season both RC Carpentras XIII and Saint-Gaudens Bears were relegated. The Lord Derby Cup was also won by Lezignan Sagliers to complete a second successive league and cup double, they beat Pia XIII in the final 27-18 in Carcassonne.
Season 2011/12 in the French Elite One Championship, the top level rugby league competition in France saw 10 teams play home and away matches before the top six progressed to the play-offs. The season ran from September to May. There were two new clubs, Toulouse Olympique returned to the competition after they had participated in the British rugby league second tier RFL Championship and RC Lescure-Arthes XIII who had won promotion from the French second tier Elite Two Championship. Pia XIII finished top after the regular season and went on to reach the grand final, but they were beaten by AS Carcassonne in that final at Narbonne 26-20. The same two teams had already met in the Lord Derby Cup final with AS Carcassonne enjoying a league and cup double after winning 14-12. At the other end of the table Montpellier Red Devils opted for relegation thus saving new boys RC Lescure-Arthes XIII who had finished bottom.
The 2018–19 Elite One Championship was the 84th season of France's domestic rugby league competition and 17th known as the Elite One Championship. Ten teams competed in the regular season playing 19 matches each from November 2018 to June 2019, with the top six teams playing a three-week finals series throughout June 2019.
The 2021–22 Elite One Championship will be the 87th season of France's domestic rugby league competition and the 21st season known as the Elite One championship. There will be nine teams in the league. Each team will play 16 matches in the regular season. The top six teams will progress to a three-week final series played throughout May 2022.
The 2022–23 Elite One Championship was the 88th season of France's domestic rugby league competition and the 22nd season known as the Elite 1 championship. The competition expanded back to ten teams following the promotion of Baroudeurs de Pia XIII from Elite 2 after winning the title in 2021–22.
The 2023–24 Coupe de France Lord Derby was the 83rd edition of the Coupe de France Lord Derby, the premier rugby league knockout competition in France. It began over the weekend of 16–17 December 2023 and ended with the final at the Stade Gilbert Brutus on 27 April 2024.
The 2023–24 Elite One Championship was the 89th season of France's domestic rugby league competition and the 23rd season known as the Elite 1 championship.
