| Sport | Rugby league |
|---|---|
| Inaugural season | 1986–87 |
| Ceased | 1997 |
| Replaced by | Championship Grand Final |
| Country |  England |
| Last winners | Huddersfield Giants (1997) |
| Most titles | Oldham (2 titles) Sheffield Eagles (2 titles) Salford (2 titles) |
The Rugby League Divisional Premiership (sometimes called the Second Division Premiership) was a competition for British rugby league clubs in the Second Division of the Rugby Football League, which operated between 1986 and 1997.
The Second Division Premiership was introduced during the 1986–87 season. The format was the same as the Premiership competition used for First Division clubs, with the teams finishing in the top eight in the league competing in an end-of-season knockout tournament. The final was staged at Old Trafford as a curtain raiser for the First Division Premiership final, with the man of the match being awarded the Tom Bergin Trophy.
When a Third Division was introduced in the 1991–92 season, the competition was renamed the Divisional Premiership, and was expanded to include both Second and Third Division teams. The competition returned to the previous format when the league reverted to two divisions in the 1993–94 season.
Following the switch to summer rugby, a shortened four-team format was used for the 1996 competition. In 1998, the competition was replaced by a play-off system which would determine promotion to the Super League. The Tom Bergin Trophy continued to be used as the Grand Final's man of the match award.
The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be either a single game, a series of games, or a tournament, and may use a single-elimination system or one of several other different playoff formats. Playoff, in regard to international fixtures, is to qualify or progress to the next round of a competition or tournament.
The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership between the Australian Rugby League (ARL) and media giant News Corporation-controlled Super League, in the aftermath of the 1990s Super League war, in which both ran parallel to each other in 1997. The partnership was dissolved in 2012, with control of the NRL going to the re-constituted ARL, which was re-structured with an independent board of directors and renamed the Australian Rugby League Commission.
Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition, consisting of 11 clubs, and is the top division of the English rugby union system.
The National Provincial Championship, often simply called the NPC, is an annual round-robin rugby union competition in men's domestic New Zealand rugby. First played during the 2006 season, it is the second highest level of competition in New Zealand alongside the Ranfurly Shield. It is organised by New Zealand Rugby (NZR) and since 2021, it has been known as the Bunnings NPC after its headline sponsor. A concurrent women's tournament is also held, the Farah Palmer Cup.
The Rugby League Premiership was a competition for British rugby league clubs, which operated between 1973 and 1995. As the Super League Premiership the competition continued to operate until 1997.
The Leeds Rhinos are a professional rugby league club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The club was formed in 1870 as Leeds St John's and play in the Super League, the top tier of English rugby league. They have played home matches at Headingley Stadium since 1890.
The Queensland Cup, currently known as the Hostplus Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-level regional rugby league football competition in Queensland, Australia. It is run by the Queensland Rugby League (QRL) and is contested by fifteen teams, thirteen of which are based in Queensland, with one based in New South Wales and one in Central Province, Papua New Guinea.
Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final is a game that decides a sports league's premiership winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals series. Synonymous with a championship game in North American sports, grand finals have become a significant part of Australian culture. The earliest leagues to feature a grand final were in Australian rules football, followed soon after by rugby league. Currently the largest grand finals are in the Australian Football League (AFL) and National Rugby League (NRL). Their popularity influenced other competitions such as soccer's A-League Men and A-League Women, the National Basketball League, Suncorp Super Netball and European rugby league's Super League to adopt grand finals as well. Most grand finals involve a prestigious award for the player voted best on field.
In the Australian Football League (AFL), previously the Victorian Football League (VFL), the pre-season competition, known during its history by a variety of sponsored names and most recently as the NAB Cup, was an annual Australian rules football tournament held amongst clubs prior to the premiership season between 1988 and 2013. The pre-season competition culminated annually in a grand final and pre-season premier.
The Shute Shield, known as the Charter Hall Shute Shield, is a semi-professional rugby union competition in Sydney, Australia. It is the premier club competition in New South Wales. The Shute Shield is awarded to the winning team from the Sydney premiership grand final held at the end of the club rugby season.
The St Albans Centurions are a rugby league club based in St Albans, Hertfordshire. The club plays their home games at Toulmin Drive, St Albans and their clubhouse is in High Oaks, St Albans.
The Super League Grand Final is the championship-deciding game of rugby league's Super League competition. It is played between two teams who have qualified via the Super League Play-Off series. The winning team receives the Super League Trophy and goes on to play the NRL champions in the World Club Challenge. The Harry Sunderland Trophy is awarded to the man of the match. The match is normally played at Old Trafford in Greater Manchester.
The British rugby league system is based on a five-tier structure administered by the Rugby Football League.
RFL League One is a British based professional rugby league competition. It is the third-tier competition organised by the Rugby Football League.
The Super League is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of which eleven are from Northern England, reflecting the sport's geographic heartland within the UK, and one from southern France.
The 1998 New Zealand rugby league season was the 91st season of rugby league that had been played in New Zealand. The main feature of the year was the National Provincial competition that was run by the New Zealand Rugby League. Auckland won the National Provincial Competition by defeating Canterbury 44-8 while Waikato ended the season holding the Rugby League Cup.
The European Rugby Champions Cup is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a predominantly European league. Clubs qualify for the Champions Cup via their final positions in their respective national/regional leagues or via winning the second-tier Challenge Cup; those that do not qualify are instead eligible to compete in the second-tier Challenge Cup.
The 1998 Division One Championship season was the second tier of British rugby league during the 1998 season. The competition featured eleven teams, with Wakefield Trinity winning the league and the inaugural Grand Final.
The Tom Bergin Trophy is an award given to the man-of-the-match in the annual Championship Grand Final. The award is named after Tom Bergin, a former president of the Rugby League Writers' Association and former editor for the Salford City Reporter. The trophy was first awarded in the Second Division Premiership Final of the 1986–87 season.
The NSWRL President Cup is a semi-professional, open-aged rugby league football competition played in New South Wales. The competition is administered by the New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL). The competition includes teams from domestic rugby league clubs, Ron Massey Cup, Sydney Shield and Canterbury Cup clubs.
