| Teams | 2 |
|---|---|
| First meeting | 2003 |
| Latest meeting | 2023 |
| Next meeting | 2024 |
| Broadcasters | Sky Sports |
| Statistics | |
| Meetings total | 15 |
| Most wins |  Leigh Leopards (3 titles) |
The Championship Grand Final (previously the National League One Grand Final) is the championship-deciding game of the Championship competition via the playoffs. Since 2022 the Grand Final has also been used to determine promotion to Super League.
In 2003 as the Second Division was rebranded National League One and promotion and relegation was reintroduced between the Super League and National League One. Rather than having a traditional one up one down system, the RFL decided to implement a top 6 playoff system that was being used in the Super League at the time to decide promotion.
In 2007 it was announced licensing was to be introduced for the 2008 season, replacing promotion and relegation, but the Grand Final would be retained and the division would be rebranded the Championship.
Salford and Celtic Crusaders were the first teams to be awarded Super League licenses and both teams reached the Grand Final which was reduced to being decided by a 5 team playoff, however it would return to six teams the following season.
In 2013, the playoffs were expanded for the first time to eight teams as it had been seen to be a success in the Super League for a number of years before. The eight team playoff would be the last before it was announced the Championship Grand Final would be scrapped in 2014 due to a league restructure in 2015.
In 2015 the Championship Grand Final was effectively replaced with the Million Pound Game. In the new league structure the top four Championship clubs would form a mini league with the bottom four Super League clubs. Teams finishing in the top three were promoted to Super League while teams in the bottom three were relegated to the Championship, meanwhile teams finishing 4th and 5th would play each other in the Million Pound Game for the final Super League place. In the four years it was contested three Championship clubs competed in it with 2018 being the only time both teams in it were from the Championship. [1]
After scrapping the Super 8s in 2019 the RFL Championship Grand Final returned as the promotion deciding game. [2] [3] Despite this, the "Million Pound Game" name was still kept for marking purposes until 2022 season. [4] [5]
| Year | Winners | Score | Runner-up | Stadium | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 |  Salford | 31–14 | Leigh | Halton Stadium | 9,186 |
| 2004 | Leigh | 32–16 |  Whitehaven | 11,005 | |
| 2005 |  Castleford | 36–8 | Whitehaven | 13,300 | |
| 2006 |  Hull KR | 29–16 |  Widnes | Halliwell Jones Stadium | |
| 2007 | Castleford | 42–10 | Widnes | Headingley | 20,814 |
| 2008 | Salford | 36–18 |  Celtic Crusaders | Halton Stadium | 7,104 |
| 2009 |  Barrow | 26–18 |  Halifax | Halliwell Jones Stadium | 11,398 |
| 2010 | Halifax | 23–22 |  Featherstone | 9,443 | |
| 2011 | Featherstone | 40–4 |  Sheffield | 7,263 | |
| 2012 | Sheffield | 20–16 | Featherstone | 6,409 | |
| 2013 | Sheffield | 19–12 |  Batley | Leigh Sports Village | 6,800 |
| 2014 | Leigh | 36–12 | Featherstone | Headingley | 9,164 |
| For 2015-2018 see Million Pound Game | |||||
| 2019 |  Toronto Wolfpack | 24–6 | Featherstone Rovers | Lamport Stadium | 9,974 |
| 2020 | Season cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic [6] | ||||
| 2021 |  Toulouse Olympique | 34–12 | Featherstone Rovers | Stade Ernest-Wallon | 9,235 |
| 2022 | Leigh Centurions | 44–12 | Batley Bulldogs | Leigh Sports Village | 7,233 |
| 2023 |  London Broncos | 18–14 | Toulouse Olympique | Stade Ernest-Wallon | |
| Club | Wins | Runners-up | Winning Years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Salford Red Devils | 2 | 0 | 2003, 2008 |
| Castleford Tigers | 2 | 0 | 2005, 2007 |
| Leigh Centurions | 3 | 1 | 2004, 2014, 2022 |
| Sheffield Eagles | 2 | 1 | 2012, 2013 |
| Hull Kingston Rovers | 1 | 0 | 2006 |
| Barrow Raiders | 1 | 0 | 2009 |
| Halifax | 1 | 1 | 2010 |
| Featherstone Rovers | 1 | 5 | 2011 |
| Toronto Wolfpack | 1 | 0 | 2019 |
| Toulouse Olympique | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| London Broncos | 1 | 0 | 2023 |
| Whitehaven | 0 | 2 | N/A |
| Widnes Vikings | 0 | 2 | N/A |
| Celtic Crusaders | 0 | 1 | N/A |
| Batley Bulldogs | 0 | 2 | N/A |
The Rugby Football League Championship, is the second highest division of rugby league in Britain after the Super League.
The London Broncos are a professional rugby league club based in London, England, that competes in the Super League. They were a member of Super League, from its inaugural season in 1996 until the end of the 2014 season, when they were relegated to the Championship. They returned to the Super League after achieving promotion by winning the Million Pound Game against the Toronto Wolfpack in 2018, but were relegated back to the Championship at the end of the 2019 Super League season after finishing 12th. They returned to Super League in 2024, having beaten Toulouse Olympique 18–14 in the play off final.
Featherstone Rovers are a professional rugby league club in Featherstone, West Yorkshire, England, who play in the Championship. Featherstone is a former coal mining town with a population of around 16,000 and Rovers are one of the last "small town teams" which were common in rugby league in the early 20th century. The club has produced many junior players who have gone on to play for Super League clubs. Their local rivals are Castleford and Wakefield Trinity, and in the Championship, Halifax.
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.
The British rugby league system is based on a five-tier structure administered by the Rugby Football League.
The Rugby Football League One is the third-highest division of rugby league in Britain. It is also the lowest level of professional rugby league in Britain.
The Super League is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of which ten are from Northern England, reflecting the sport's geographic heartland within the UK, one from London and one from southern France.
The 2009 RFL Championship was the 1st season of the RFL Championship under its current name and the 42nd season under its current league status.
Éloi Pélissier is a French professional rugby league footballer who plays as a hooker for Toulouse Olympique in the Betfred Championship and France at international level.
Liam Kay is an Ireland international rugby league footballer who plays on the wing or hooker for Wakefield Trinity in the Betfred Super League.
Million Pound Game was an annual rugby league game that decides which Championship teams will be promoted to Super League, and which Super League teams would be relegated for the following season. Instituted in 2015 and played until 2018, the game was played as the final of The Qualifiers replacing the playoffs and Championship Grand Final.
Since the formation of Super League in 1996, the Rugby Football League (RFL) has continually expanded the top three divisions of rugby league in Britain with an aim to expand the competitions outside the traditional heartlands.
The 2016 Super 8s were a feature of the British rugby league system, between 2015 and 2018, and were played in the top three professional divisions.
Licensing was introduced in 2009 as an alternative to automatic promotion and relegation. It was supposed to improve the stadiums, finances and quality of teams in the Super League.
The 2018 Rugby Football League Championship is a rugby league football competition played primarily in the United Kingdom, one tier below the first tier Super League. The 2018 season is the fourth to consist of the Super 8s structure combining the Championship and Super League three-quarters of the way through the season.
This is a list of the 2018 RFL Championship season results. The Championship is the second-tier rugby league competition in the United Kingdom. The season is scheduled to begin on February 2.
The 2018 Rugby League Qualifiers is the format used in European rugby league, to determine promotion and relegation between the top two divisions, and forms the second phase of Super League XXIII and the 2018 Rugby League Championship.
Super League XXIV, known as the Betfred Super League XXIV for sponsorship reasons, was the 2019 iteration of and the 24th season of the Super League and 125th season of rugby league in Great Britain.
Mathieu Jussaume is a professional rugby league player with Toulouse Olympique in Super League. He plays centre and is a product of the Toulouse academy system.
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.
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