Country England Level on pyramid 3 Number of teams 16 Date founded 1991 Levels on pyramid 3 League cup League 1 Cup | Other club(s) from Wales
France Promotion to Second Division Current champion Rochdale Hornets Domestic cup Carnegie Challenge Cup TV partner Sky Sports | |
Relegation to National Conference League Current champions Rochdale Hornets (1st Tiltle) | ||
The Rugby Football League Championship Third Division was founded in 1991 and is the third tier of professional rugby league in the UK.
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There is no automatic promotion and relegation between the National Conference League, Conference League South, French Elite One or any other league but teams can apply to compete in the Third Division and be relegated by the RFL.
History
The RFL Championship Third Division was founded in 1991 to make the top two divisions more competitive. The competition ran for two seasons until it was scrapped in 1993. The third division was resurrected in 1995 and ran for another three seasons although there was no promotion in 1995-96. In 1999 the Third and Second Divisions were merged to create the Northern Ford Premiership, the third division was recreated again in 2003.
In 2003 rugby league beneath Super League were completely re-organised into the Rugby League National Leagues. The Tird Division was renamed National League Two; a National League Three ran between 2003 and 2006 with the view to eventually have promition and relegation between National League Two and Three although this never happened.
The Third Divisions name was changed again in 2009 when the National Leagues were renamed the Championships with National League Two becoming Championship 1. Between 2009 and 2014 the structure and number of teams in the league changed frequently.
Since 2012 the Third Division has been the entry league for new teams joining the professional ranks with the RFL previously having allowed teams to enter straight into the Super League and Championship.
In 2015 the Third Division was rebranded again, becoming League 1 to distinguish itself from the Championship.