Sport Rugby league Country England | Instituted 2005 | |
Formerly known as Rugby League Conference South Premier Division Champions South West London Chargers (2015) Related competition | ||
The South Premier, also known as the London Premier, is a division in rugby league's tier 4. It was the highest level of amateur rugby league in the South of England until the creation in 2013 of Conference League South. It was first contested in 2005 as the South Premier division of the Rugby League Conference but is currently a standalone league run by London Rugby League.
Contents
Many of the clubs run juniors in the London Junior League.
History
The Rugby League Conference was born in 1997 as the Southern Conference.
The Premier Division was set up in 2005 for teams who had achieved a certain playing standard and were able to travel further afield to find stronger opposition. The new Premier Divisions included the North Premier, the South Premier, the Central Premier and the Welsh Premier.
Prior to the 2005 season National League Three side South London Storm announced that they were joining the South Premier; the other founder members came from the Conference regional divisions.
After the 2006 season with other teams withdrawing from National League Three, St Albans Centurions also decided to join the Premier South.
In 2012 it became a standalone league and St Albans Centurions returned to playing nationally in National Conference League division three
Community game pyramid
Above the London Premier is the Conference League South and the National Conference League. Below is the London, South East and East Entrance League.
2014 Structure
Teams play each other on a home-and-away basis. Each Premier division then has its own play-off series to determine the champion with the five divisional winners entering the national play-offs. The winner of the national play-offs is awarded the Harry Jepson Trophy.