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.
| 2023 Betfred League One | |
|---|---|
| League | League One |
| Duration | 18 February 2023 – 27 August 2023 |
| Teams | 10 |
| Matches played | 185 |
| Points scored | 4,986 |
| Highest attendance | 2,549 Doncaster v North Wales Crusaders (24 September) |
| Lowest attendance | 186 London Skolars v Hunslet (18 March) |
| Average attendance | 719 |
| Attendance | 69,820 |
| 2023 | |
| Champions | Dewsbury Rams |
| Biggest home win | Dewsbury Rams 78–10 Cornwall (16 April) |
| Biggest away win | London Skolars 0–60 Doncaster (11 August) |
| Top point-scorer(s) | Connor Robinson (Doncaster) (228) |
| Top try-scorer(s) | Sam Smeaton (Doncaster) (21) |
| Resignation | London Skolars |
The title and the automatic promotion place was won by Dewsbury Rams. Also promoted were Doncaster who won through the play-offs to win the play-off final 18–6 against North Wales Crusaders.
Top try scorer was Doncaster's Sam Smeaton with 21. Top points-scorer was Connor Robinson, also of Doncaster with 228 points (9 tries and 96 goals).[1]
Teams
The number of teams in League One was scheduled to remain at 11, with Keighley and Swinton (who were promoted in 2022), being replaced by Dewsbury Rams and Workington Town, (the teams relegated from the Championship), but on 22 December 2022, the RFL announced that West Wales Raiders had withdrawn from the league, and that the season would proceed with just 10 clubs.[2][3]
In January 2023, Midlands Hurricanes confirmed that the club would be moving from the Portway Stadium, to use the Alexander Stadium in Perry Park, Birmingham.[4]
Towards the end of the season, Oldham announced that the club's planned relocation to Boundary Park would be brought forward from 2024. On 22 August, the club played their penultimate home game of the regular season, at Boundary Park (the club's first match there since 2009).[5]
On 15 September 2023, London Skolars issued a statement to say they would be withdrawing from League One, ahead of the 2024 season.[6]
Stadiums and locations
| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|
 Cornwall RLFC |
Penryn, Cornwall | The Memorial Ground | 4,000 |
 Dewsbury Rams |
Dewsbury | Crown Flatt | 5,100 |
 Doncaster |
Doncaster | Eco-Power Stadium | 15,231 |
 Hunslet |
Leeds | South Leeds Stadium | 4,000 |
 London Skolars |
Haringey, London | New River Stadium | 2,000 |
 Midlands Hurricanes |
Birmingham | Alexander Stadium | 2,000 |
 North Wales Crusaders |
Colwyn Bay | Eirias Stadium | 5,500 |
 Oldham |
Oldham | Whitebank Stadium (2 matches at Boundary Park) | 1,500 (13,513) |
 Rochdale Hornets |
Rochdale | Spotland Stadium | 10,249 |
 Workington Town |
Workington | Derwent Park | 10,000 |
Rule changes
Changes in the operational rules were announced on 1 February 2023.[7]
On-field, the main change is that teams awarded a penalty for an offence at a scrum can now kick for goal. Previously such penalties were differential precluding the team from kicking for goal. The green card process has been clarified so that if the referee calls "time off" for a player to receive medical attention, the player must leave the pitch for two minutes. Teams will be allowed to name an 18th player (fifth interchange player) in the squad who can play if three or more players are withdrawn due to failing a head injury assessment (HIA).
Off-field the graduated return to play process that applies after a player has suffered a concussion will be a minimum of 12 days (up from 11 in 2022).
Changes have also been made to the disciplinary process where the periods of suspension for the various grade of offences have been reduced but the use of fines increased.[8]
Fixtures and results
With the withdrawal of West Wales Raiders, consideration was given to adding loop fixture to the season but a meeting of the 10 clubs decided against this and to proceed with an 18-match season with the dates where clubs would have played West Wales as byes.[3]
The round 18 match between Rochdale Hornets and London Skolars was forfeited by the Skolars. Originally scheduled for 23 July, the fixture was postponed due to bad weather. It was subsequently rescheduled again for 23 August, but was further postponed on 21 August, when Skolars informed the RFL they would be unable to fulfil the fixture. On 24 August, the RFL announced that Rochdale had been awarded the fixture as an automatic 48-0 win under the league's operational rules.[9]
Table
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dewsbury Rams |
18 | 15 | 1 | 2 | 623 | 215 | +408 | 31 | Promoted to the Championship |
| 2 | Hunslet |
18 | 14 | 0 | 4 | 572 | 284 | +288 | 28 | Advance to qualifying semi-final |
| 3 | Doncaster |
18 | 14 | 0 | 4 | 602 | 352 | +250 | 28 | Advance to qualifying play-off |
| 4 | Oldham |
18 | 12 | 1 | 5 | 605 | 333 | +272 | 25 | |
| 5 | Workington Town |
18 | 11 | 0 | 7 | 516 | 385 | +131 | 22 | Advance to elimination play-off |
| 6 | North Wales Crusaders |
18 | 7 | 0 | 11 | 520 | 437 | +83 | 14 | |
| 7 | Rochdale Hornets |
18 | 6 | 0 | 12 | 425 | 520 | −95 | 12 | |
| 8 | Midlands Hurricanes |
18 | 5 | 0 | 13 | 408 | 647 | −239 | 10 | |
| 9 | Cornwall |
18 | 5 | 0 | 13 | 257 | 712 | −455 | 10 | |
| 10 | London Skolars |
18 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 254 | 897 | −643 | 0 |
Play-offs
Team bracket
Week 1: Elimination & qualifying play-offs
Week 2: Semi-finals
Week 3: Preliminary final
Week 4: Promotion play-off final
| Doncaster | 18–6 | North Wales Crusaders |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Fonua, Mcconnell, Smeaton Goals: Robinson (3/4) |
Report |
Tries: Hughes Goals: Hayes (1/1) |
References
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