Championship Grand Final

Championship Grand FinalTeams| 2

|

First meeting| 2003
Latest meeting| 2024
Next meeting| 2025
Statistics
Most wins|  Leigh Leopards (3 titles)

The Championship Grand Final (previously the National League One Grand Final) is the championship-deciding game of the Championship competition via the playoffs. In 2022 and 2023 the Grand Final was also used to determine promotion to Super League.

## History

[edit]

### 2003–2007: Promotion

[edit]

In 2003 as the Second Division was rebranded National League One and promotion and relegation was reintroduced between the Super League and National League One. Rather than having a traditional one up one down system, the RFL decided to implement a top 6 playoff system that was being used in the Super League at the time to decide promotion.

### 2008–2014: Licensing

[edit]

In 2007 it was announced licensing was to be introduced for the 2008 season, replacing promotion and relegation, but the Grand Final would be retained and the division would be rebranded the Championship.

Salford and Celtic Crusaders were the first teams to be awarded Super League licenses and both teams reached the Grand Final which was reduced to being decided by a 5 team playoff, however it would return to six teams the following season.

In 2013, the playoffs were expanded for the first time to eight teams as it had been seen to be a success in the Super League for a number of years before. The eight team playoff would be the last before it was announced the Championship Grand Final would be scrapped in 2014 due to a league restructure in 2015.

### 2015–2018: Million Pound Game

[edit]

Main article: Million Pound Game

See also: The Qualifiers

In 2015 the Championship Grand Final was effectively replaced with the Million Pound Game. In the new league structure the top four Championship clubs would form a mini league with the bottom four Super League clubs. Teams finishing in the top three were promoted to Super League while teams in the bottom three were relegated to the Championship, meanwhile teams finishing 4th and 5th would play each other in the Million Pound Game for the final Super League place. In the four years it was contested three Championship clubs competed in it with 2018 being the only time both teams in it were from the Championship.[1]

### 2019–present: Reintroduction

[edit]

After scrapping the Super 8s in 2019 the RFL Championship Grand Final returned as the promotion deciding game.[2][3] Despite this, the "Million Pound Game" name was still kept for marking purposes until 2022 season.[4][5]

## Results

[edit]

Year  | Winners  | Score  | Runner-up  | Stadium  | Attendance

|
|
|
|
|

2003  |  Salford | 31–14  |  Leigh | Halton Stadium | 9,186
2004  |  Leigh | 32–16  |  Whitehaven | 11,005
2005  |  Castleford | 36–8  |  Whitehaven | 13,300
2006  |  Hull KR | 29–16  |  Widnes | Halliwell Jones Stadium |
2007  |  Castleford | 42–10  |  Widnes | Headingley | 20,814
2008  |  Salford | 36–18  |  Celtic Crusaders | Halton Stadium | 7,104
2009  |  Barrow | 26–18  |  Halifax | Halliwell Jones Stadium | 11,398
2010  |  Halifax | 23–22  |  Featherstone | 9,443
2011  |  Featherstone | 40–4  |  Sheffield | 7,263
2012  |  Sheffield | 20–16  |  Featherstone | 6,409
2013  |  Sheffield | 19–12  |  Batley | Leigh Sports Village | 6,800
2014  |  Leigh | 36–12  |  Featherstone | Headingley | 9,164
For 2015-2018 see Million Pound Game
2019 |  Toronto Wolfpack | 24–6  |  Featherstone Rovers | Lamport Stadium | 9,974
2020 | Season cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic[6]
2021 |  Toulouse Olympique | 34–12  |  Featherstone Rovers | Stade Ernest-Wallon | 9,235
2022 |  Leigh Centurions | 44–12  |  Batley Bulldogs | Leigh Sports Village | 7,233
2023 |  London Broncos | 18–14  |  Toulouse Olympique | Stade Ernest-Wallon | 3,974
2024 |  Wakefield Trinity | 36–0  |  Toulouse Olympique | Belle Vue | 8,016

### Winners

[edit]

Club  | Wins  | Runners-up  | Winning Years

|
|
|

Salford Red Devils | 2 | 0 | 2003, 2008
Castleford Tigers | 2 | 0 | 2005, 2007
Leigh Centurions | 3 | 1 | 2004, 2014, 2022
Sheffield Eagles | 2 | 1 | 2012, 2013
Hull Kingston Rovers | 1 | 0 | 2006
Barrow Raiders | 1 | 0 | 2009
Wakefield Trinity | 1 | 0 | 2024
Halifax | 1 | 1 | 2010
Featherstone Rovers | 1 | 5 | 2011
Toronto Wolfpack | 1 | 0 | 2019
Toulouse Olympique | 1 | 1 | 2021
London Broncos | 1 | 0 | 2023
Whitehaven | 0 | 2 | N/A
Widnes Vikings | 0 | 2 | N/A
Celtic Crusaders | 0 | 1 | N/A
Batley Bulldogs | 0 | 2 | N/A

## See also

[edit]

* Sports portal

* Super League Grand Final
* League 1 Promotion Final
* Championship Leaders' Shield

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Rugby à XIII : La nouvelle organisation de la Super League dévoilée".
2. ^ "Super League decides to scrap controversial Super 8 format". The Guardian. 12 June 2018.
3. ^ "2019 Structure". Rugby Football League. 4 September 2018. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
4. ^ "Million Pound Game 2021: Old friends do battle as Featherstone Rovers and Toulouse Olympique clash".
5. ^ "Championship Grand Final: Jon Wells on Toulouse or London Broncos aiming to join Super League in 2024".
6. ^ "Championship and League One null and void". Serious About Rugby League. 20 July 2020. Retrieved 11 October 2021.

* v
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RFL Championship

Teams|

* Barrow Raiders
* Batley Bulldogs
* Bradford Bulls
* Doncaster
* Featherstone Rovers
* Halifax Panthers
* Hunslet
* London Broncos
* Oldham
* Sheffield Eagles
* Toulouse Olympique
* Widnes Vikings
* York Knights

Seasons|

* 2003
* 2004
* 2005
* 2006
* 2007
* 2008
* 2009
* 2010
* 2011
* 2012
* 2013
* 2014
* 2015
* 2016
* 2017
* 2018
* 2019
* 2020
* 2021
* 2022
* 2023
* 2024
* 2025

Results|

* 2010
* 2011
* 2012
* 2013
* 2014
* 2015
* 2016
* 2017
* 2018
* 2019
* 2020
* 2021
* 2022
* 2023
* 2024
* 2025

Major events|

* Championship Cup
* Championship Grand Final

Awards|

* Fair Play Index
* Leaders' Shield
* Tom Bergin Trophy

Related|

* Rugby Football League Championship Second Division
* 2009–11 licences
* 2012–14 licences
* League One
* Summer Bash
* Super 8s
* Million Pound Game

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