2019 RFL Championship

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.

Betfred Championship 2019
League	Championship
Duration	27 rounds + play-offs
Teams	14
Highest attendance	9,974 Toronto Wolfpack v Featherstone Rovers (5 October 2019)
Lowest attendance	337 Rochdale Hornets v Toulouse Olympique (13 July 2019)
Average attendance	2,645
Attendance	428,570; as of round 26 (1 September 2019)
Broadcast partners	Sky Sports
2019 season
Champions	Toronto Wolfpack
League Leaders' Shield	Toronto Wolfpack
Runners-up	Featherstone Rovers
Biggest home win	Toronto Wolfpack 70–8 Dewsbury Rams (15 June 2019)
Biggest away win	Rochdale Hornets 0–82 Bradford Bulls (8 September 2019)
Promotion and relegation
Promoted from RFL Championship	Toronto Wolfpack
Relegated to League 1	Barrow Raiders Rochdale Hornets
← 2018 2020 →

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.

West Yorkshire

Barrow

Leigh

Rochdale

Sheffield

Swinton

Widnes

York

Locations of the 2019 RFL Championship teams

Toulouse

Locations of 2019 RFL Championship teams

Toronto

Locations of 2019 RFL Championship teams

Bradford

Batley

Dewsbury

Featherstone

Halifax

Locations of the 2019 RFL Championship teams in West Yorkshire

Team	Stadium	Capacity	Location
Barrow Raiders	The JF Hornby Stadium	7,600	Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria
Batley Bulldogs	Fox's Biscuits Stadium	7,500	Batley, West Yorkshire
Bradford Bulls	Odsal Stadium	27,500	Bradford, West Yorkshire
Dewsbury Rams	Tetley's Stadium	5,800	Dewsbury, West Yorkshire
Featherstone Rovers	LD Nutrition Stadium	8,000	Featherstone, West Yorkshire
Halifax	The MBi Shay	14,000	Halifax, West Yorkshire
Leigh Centurions	Leigh Sports Village	12,000	Leigh, Greater Manchester
Rochdale Hornets	Crown Oil Arena	10,249	Rochdale, Greater Manchester
Sheffield Eagles	Sheffield Olympic Legacy Stadium	2,500	Sheffield, South Yorkshire
Swinton Lions	Heywood Road	3,387	Sale, Greater Manchester
Toronto Wolfpack	Lamport Stadium	9,600	Toronto, Canada
Toulouse Olympique	Stade Ernest-Argelès	4,000	Toulouse, France
Widnes Vikings	Halton Stadium	13,350	Widnes, Cheshire
York City Knights	Bootham Crescent	8,256	York, North Yorkshire

Regular-season results

Main article: 2019 RFL Championship season results

Final standings

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

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Toronto Wolfpack	27	26	0	1	1010	356	+654	52	Play-off semi-final
2	Toulouse Olympique	27	20	0	7	877	446	+431	40	Play-off qualifying final
3	York City Knights	27	19	1	7	612	529	+83	39
4	Leigh Centurions	27	18	0	9	792	558	+234	36	Play-off elimination final
5	Featherstone Rovers	27	17	0	10	837	471	+366	34
6	Bradford Bulls	27	16	1	10	717	522	+195	33
7	Sheffield Eagles	27	15	0	12	748	694	+54	30
8	Halifax	27	10	1	16	602	685	−83	21
9	Swinton Lions	27	10	1	16	619	803	−184	21
10	Batley Bulldogs	27	8	1	18	462	756	−294	17
11	Widnes Vikings	27	14	0	13	646	586	+60	16[a]
12	Dewsbury Rams	27	6	2	19	513	721	−208	14
13	Barrow Raiders	27	5	1	21	479	861	−382	11	Relegated to League 1
14	Rochdale Hornets	27	1	0	26	342	1268	−926	2

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-off					Qualifying semi-final					Preliminary final					Play-off final
						1	Toronto Wolfpack	40								Toronto Wolfpack		24
							Toulouse Olympique	24								Featherstone Rovers		6
	2	Toulouse Olympique	44								Toulouse Olympique		12
	3	York City Knights	6			Elimination semi-final					Featherstone Rovers		36
						York City Knights		4
	4	Leigh Centurions	18			Featherstone Rovers		30
	5	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]

• Club Of The Year: York City Knights
• Outstanding Achievement Award: Micky Higham, Oliver Wilkes
• Coach Of The Year: James Ford
• Young Player Of The Year: Matty Ashton
• Player Of The Year: Gareth O'Brien

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.