2015 Championship 1

The 2015 Championship 1, known as the Kingstone Press League 1 for sponsorship reasons, was a semi-professional rugby league football competition played in England, the third tier of the sport in the country.

2015 Championship 1
LeagueChampionship 1
Duration22 matches
Teams14
Highest attendance4,066
Keighley Cougars vs Coventry Bears (10/05/15)
Lowest attendance115
London Skolars vs Keighley Cougars (31/08/15)
2015 Season
Champions Oldham
Promotion Playoff Winner Swinton Lions

The 2015 Championship 1 will feature fourteen teams, who will all play each other once; Each team will then play nine other teams again, based on a geographical basis, totaling 22 games. Two teams will be promoted from Championship 1, due to the restructure of Super League, Championship and Championship 1. After the 22 regular season games, the top two sides will face each other and the winner will be automatically be promoted to the Kingstone Press Championship as champions, while the loser and the teams finishing 3rd, 4th and 5th will contest the play-offs and the winner will also be promoted. There is no relegation from this league as it is the lowest tier of professional rugby league.

2015 structure

The competition features the eight teams that did not win promotion in 2014: Gloucestershire All Golds, Hemel Stags, London Skolars, Newcastle Thunder, Oldham R.L.F.C., Oxford RLFC, South Wales Scorpions and York City Knights. It will also feature five teams relegated from the RFL Championship: Barrow Raiders, Keighley Cougars, North Wales Crusaders, Rochdale Hornets and Swinton Lions. Coventry Bears were also accepted into the division, creating a fourteen-team division.

Team & current season2014 PositionStadiumCapacityLocation
Barrow Raiders14th (Championship)Craven Park7,600Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria
Coventry BearsN/AButts Park Arena4,000Coventry, West Midlands
Gloucestershire All Golds6thPrince of Wales Stadium480Cheltenham, Gloucestershire
Hemel Stags5thPennine Way2,000Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire
Keighley Cougars8th (Championship)Cougar Park7,800Keighley, West Yorkshire
London Skolars7thNew River Stadium5,000Haringey, London
Newcastle Thunder4thKingston Park10,200Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear
North Wales Crusaders11th (Championship)Racecourse Ground10,500 (15,500 with The Kop open)Wrexham, Wales
Oldham3rdWhitebank Stadium1,500 (temporary capacity)Limeside, Oldham, Greater Manchester
Oxford RLFC8thIffley Road500Oxford, Oxfordshire
Rochdale Hornets12th (Championship)Spotland10,249Rochdale, Greater Manchester
South Wales Scorpions9thLlynfi Road6,000Maesteg, Bridgend, Wales
Swinton Lions13th (Championship)Park Lane3,000Whitefield, Greater Manchester
York City Knights1stHuntington Stadium3,428York, North Yorkshire

Season table

PosTeamPldWLDPFPAPDPts
1 Oldham (C)221930840362+47838
2 Keighley Cougars221840759400+35936
3 Swinton Lions (P)221651899402+49733
4 York City Knights221660816382+43432
5 North Wales Crusaders221471677391+28629
6 Rochdale Hornets221480731459+27228
7 Barrow Raiders221480661423+23828
8 Newcastle Thunder2211110555552+322
9 Gloucestershire All Golds228140562677-11516
10 Oxford RLFC227150453948-49514
11 London Skolars225170388671-28310
12 Coventry Bears225170430755-32510
13 Hemel Stags225170422903-4818
14 South Wales Scorpions2212102741122-8482
 Teams who won promotion.
 Teams qualifying for play-offs.

This table is correct as of 14 September 2015 (season complete).Source: rugbyleaguechampionships.co.uk and BBC Sport.

Classification: 1st on competition points; 2nd on match points difference.Competition points: For win = 2; For draw = 1

(C) - Champions (and promoted), (P) - Promoted.

Play Offs

  • League One Grand Final
#HomeScoreAwayMatch Information
Date and Time (Local)VenueRefereeAttendance
League One Grand Final
FOldham31 – 20Keighley Cougars20 September, 15:00 BSTWhitebank Stadium, OldhamMike Woodhead1,405
  • Oldham are League One Champions 2015 and are promoted to the 2016 Championship. Keighley Cougars will enter the play off semi finals for the second promotion place along with teams finishing 3rd, 4th and 5th.


  • League One Promotion Play Offs
#HomeScoreAwayMatch Information
Date and Time (Local)VenueRefereeAttendance
League One Promotion Play Off Semi-finals
SF1Keighley Cougars32 – 6North Wales Crusaders27 September, 15:00 BSTCougar Park, KeighleyStuart Ansell1,103
SF2Swinton Lions18 – 17 (AET)York City Knights27 September, 15:00 BSTPark Lane, SwintonChris Campbell
League One Promotion Play Off Final
FKeighley Cougars28 – 29Swinton Lions4 October, 14:00 BSTSelect Security Stadium, WidnesChris Kendall4,179
  • Swinton won the play off final to secure the second and final promotion place to the 2016 Championship.

References

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/league-one/table