2020 RFL Championship

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Betfred Championship 2020
LeagueChampionship
DurationPlanned: 27 rounds + play-offs
Actual: 5 rounds
Teams14
Broadcast partnersSky Sports
2020 season

The 2020 Rugby Football League Championship is a rugby league football competition played primarily in England but including a team from 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 was abandoned and the Championship was to have featured a play-off system leading to promotion to Super League for one club while results during the regular season would have led to relegation to League 1 for two teams.

The 2020 Championship comprised 14 teams, which all played one another twice in the regular season, once at home and once away, totalling 26 games. The 2020 season would also have featured the "Summer Bash Weekend" for a sixth time so the regular season totals 27 games for each team.

On 16 March the structure and timing of the competition were placed in doubt as all rugby league games were suspended until 3 April at least as part of the United Kingdom's response to the coronavirus pandemic.[1] The suspension of the season was extended to indefinite.[2]

A discussion between the RFL and club officials in May saw a majority of the Championship clubs reject a suggestion that the season could recommence with games being played behind closed doors.[3] The RFL board met on 20 July and having consulted with the clubs decided to abandon the 2020 season as the majority of clubs did not support playing behind closed doors.[4] The RFL also confirmed that there would be no promotion or relegation between the Championship and Super League in 2020 and the season was declared null and void.[5][4]

Teams[]

The Championship is made up of 14 teams, 11 of whom featured in the 2019 Championship; one, London Broncos, who were relegated from Super League; and two, Whitehaven and Oldham, who won promotion from League 1 in 2019. At the end of the 2019 season Bradford Bulls moved out of their Odsal ground and for 2020 agreed a ground share deal with Dewsbury Rams at the Rams' Tetley's Stadium.

Locations of the 2020 RFL Championship teams
Locations of 2020 RFL Championship teams
Locations of the 2019 RFL Championship teams in West Yorkshire
Team Stadium Capacity Location
Batley colours.svg Batley Bulldogs Fox's Biscuits Stadium 7,500 Batley, West Yorkshire
Bullscolours.svg Bradford Bulls Tetley's Stadium 5,800 Dewsbury, West Yorkshire
Ramscolours.svg Dewsbury Rams Tetley's Stadium 5,800 Dewsbury, West Yorkshire
Fevcolours.svg Featherstone Rovers LD Nutrition Stadium 8,000 Featherstone, West Yorkshire
Faxcolours.svg Halifax The MBi Shay 14,000 Halifax, West Yorkshire
Leigh colours.svg Leigh Centurions Leigh Sports Village 12,000 Leigh, Greater Manchester
Broncoscolours.png London Broncos Trailfinders Sports Ground 4,000 Ealing, London
Oldhamcolours.svg Oldham Bower Fold[6] 6,500 Stalybridge, Greater Manchester
Sheffeagles colours.svg Sheffield Eagles Sheffield Olympic Legacy Stadium 2,500 Sheffield, South Yorkshire
Swintoncolours.svg Swinton Lions Heywood Road 3,387 Sale, Greater Manchester
ToulouseRLcolours.png Toulouse Olympique Stade Ernest-Wallon 19,500 Toulouse, France
Haven colours.svg Whitehaven Recreation Ground 7,500 Whitehaven, Cumbria
Widnes colours.svg Widnes Vikings Halton Stadium 13,350 Widnes, Cheshire
Balmain colours.svg York City Knights Bootham Crescent 8,256 York, North Yorkshire

Regular season results[]

Round 1[]

Home Score Away Match Information
Date and Time (GMT) Venue Referee Attendance
Ramscolours.svg Dewsbury Rams 10–36 Leigh colours.svg Leigh Centurions 31 January 2020, 19:30 Tetley's Stadium Cameron Worsley 1,723
ToulouseRLcolours.png Toulouse Olympique 22–10 Balmain colours.svg York City Knights 1 February 2020, 18:00 Stade Ernest-Argeles Marcus Griffiths 3,151
Batley colours.svg Batley Bulldogs 18–38 Fevcolours.svg Featherstone Rovers 2 February 2020, 15:00 The Fox's Biscuit Stadium Tom Grant 1,795
Bullscolours.svg Bradford Bulls 14–18 Broncoscolours.png London Broncos Tetley's Stadium Aaron Moore 2,697
Faxcolours.svg Halifax 18–17 Sheffeagles colours.svg Sheffield Eagles The MBI Shay Billy Pearson 1,525
Oldhamcolours.svg Oldham Roughyeds 6–36 Widnes colours.svg Widnes Vikings Bower Fold Jack Smith 1,726
Haven colours.svg Whitehaven RLFC 0–14 Swintoncolours.svg Swinton Lions Recreation Ground Gareth Hewer 803
Source:[7][8][9][10]

Round 2[]

Home Score Away Match Information
Date and Time (GMT) Venue Referee Attendance
Leigh colours.svg Leigh Centurions 58–10 Sheffeagles colours.svg Sheffield Eagles 8 February 2020, 15:00 Leigh Sports Village Michael Mannifield 3,104
ToulouseRLcolours.png Toulouse Olympique 58–6 Oldhamcolours.svg Oldham Roughyeds 8 February 2020, 18:00 Stade Ernest-Wallon Aaron Moore 2,318
Broncoscolours.png London Broncos 36–20 Haven colours.svg Whitehaven RLFC 9 February 2020, 15:00 Trailfinders Sports Ground Matthew Rossleigh 735
Widnes colours.svg Widnes Vikings 32–12 Batley colours.svg Batley Bulldogs Select Security Stadium Tom Grant 3,577
Fevcolours.svg Featherstone Rovers Faxcolours.svg Halifax RLFC TBC[a]
Swintoncolours.svg Swinton Lions Ramscolours.svg Dewsbury Rams TBC[a]
Balmain colours.svg York City Knights Bullscolours.svg Bradford Bulls TBC[a]
Source:
  1. ^ a b c Match postponed on original date due to poor weather conditions caused by Storm Ciara

Round 3[]

Home Score Away Match Information
Date and Time (GMT) Venue Referee Attendance
Batley colours.svg Batley Bulldogs 20–10 Swintoncolours.svg Swinton Lions 16 February 2020, 15:00 The Fox's Biscuit Stadium Billy Pearson 746
Bullscolours.svg Bradford Bulls 22–30 Fevcolours.svg Featherstone Rovers Tetley's Stadium Matthew Rossleigh 3,640
Leigh colours.svg Leigh Centurions 34–0 Balmain colours.svg York City Knights Leigh Sports Village Scott Mikalauskua 2,942
Sheffeagles colours.svg Sheffield Eagles 14–26 ToulouseRLcolours.png Toulouse Olympique Castle Park Aaron Moore 618
Widnes colours.svg Widnes Vikings 12–38 Broncoscolours.png London Broncos Select Security Stadium Jack Smith 3,680
Haven colours.svg Whitehaven RLFC 14–16 Oldhamcolours.svg Oldham Roughyeds 16 February 2020, 18:15 Recreation Ground Michael Mannifield 532
Ramscolours.svg Dewsbury Rams 18–16 Swintoncolours.svg Swinton Lions 18 February 2020, 19:45 The MBI Shay Cameron Worsley 1,151
Source:

Round 4[]

Home Score Away Match Information
Date and Time (GMT) Venue Referee Attendance
Batley colours.svg Batley Bulldogs 18–19[a] Sheffeagles colours.svg Sheffield Eagles 1 March 2020, 15:00 The Fox's Biscuit Stadium
Faxcolours.svg Halifax RLFC 28–4 Balmain colours.svg York City Knights The MBI Shay
Broncoscolours.png London Broncos 10–34 Fevcolours.svg Featherstone Rovers Trailfinders Sports Ground
Oldhamcolours.svg Oldham Roughyeds 12–26 Bullscolours.svg Bradford Bulls Bower Fold
Haven colours.svg Whitehaven RLFC 4–40 ToulouseRLcolours.png Toulouse Olympique Recreation Ground
Ramscolours.svg Dewsbury Rams 20–8 Widnes colours.svg Widnes Vikings 1 March 2020, 18:15 Tetley's Stadium
Swintoncolours.svg Swinton Lions Leigh colours.svg Leigh Centurions TBC [b]
Source:
  1. ^ after golden-point extra time
  2. ^ original match on 1 March, postponed due to a water-logged pitch

Round 5[]

Home Score Away Match Information
Date and Time (GMT) Venue Referee Attendance
ToulouseRLcolours.png Toulouse Olympique 34–14 Batley colours.svg Batley Bulldogs 7 March 2020, 18:00 Stade Ernest-Wallon
Fevcolours.svg Featherstone Rovers 35–24 Swintoncolours.svg Swinton Lions 8 March 2020, 15:00 LD Nutrition Stadium
Leigh colours.svg Leigh Centurions 34–20 Faxcolours.svg Halifax RLFC Leigh Sports Village
Oldhamcolours.svg Oldham Roughyeds 6–24 Ramscolours.svg Dewsbury Rams Bower Fold
Widnes colours.svg Widnes Vikings 40–16 Haven colours.svg Whitehaven RLFC Select Security Stadium
Balmain colours.svg York City Knights 12–18 Broncoscolours.png London Broncos Bootham Crescent 1,364
Bullscolours.svg Bradford Bulls 28–0 Sheffeagles colours.svg Sheffield Eagles 8 March 2020, 18:15
Source:

Standings at time of abandonment[]

Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD BP Pts
1 ToulouseRLcolours.png Toulouse Olympique 5 5 0 0 180 48 +132 0 10
2 Leigh colours.svg Leigh Centurions 4 4 0 0 162 40 +122 0 8
3 Fevcolours.svg Featherstone Rovers 4 4 0 0 137 74 +63 0 8
4 Broncoscolours.png London Broncos 5 4 0 1 120 92 +28 0 8
5 Widnes colours.svg Widnes Vikings 5 3 0 2 128 92 +36 0 6
6 Ramscolours.svg Dewsbury Rams 4 3 0 1 72 66 +6 0 6
7 Bullscolours.svg Bradford Bulls 4 2 0 2 90 60 +30 0 4
8 Faxcolours.svg Halifax 4 2 0 2 82 73 +9 0 4
9 Batley colours.svg Batley Bulldogs 5 1 0 4 82 133 −51 1 3
10 Swintoncolours.svg Swinton Lions 3 1 0 2 48 55 −7 0 2
11 Sheffeagles colours.svg Sheffield Eagles 5 1 0 4 60 148 −88 0 2
12 Oldhamcolours.svg Oldham 5 1 0 4 46 158 −112 0 2
13 Balmain colours.svg York City Knights 4 0 0 4 26 102 −76 0 0
14 Haven colours.svg Whitehaven 5 0 0 5 54 146 −92 0 0
Updated to match(es) played on 8 March 2020. Season abandoned on 20 July 2020.. Source: [1]

References[]

  1. ^ "Coronavirus: Rugby Football League suspends season until 3 April". BBC Sport. 16 March 2020.
  2. ^ "Rugby League to stand down staff and players". Rugby Leaguer & League Express. No. 3, 219. 30 March 2020. p. 3.
  3. ^ "Championship on the brink of closing for the season". Rugby Leaguer & League Express. No. 3, 226. 18 May 2020. p. 3.
  4. ^ a b "No relegation from Super League in 2020". BBC Sport. 20 July 2020. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  5. ^ "Championship and League One null and void". Serious About Rugby League. 20 July 2020. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  6. ^ Gordon, James (5 November 2019). "Oldham confirm return to Bower Fold". Love Rugby League.
  7. ^ "Leigh triumph in Betfred Championship opener". www.rugby-league.com. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  8. ^ "Toulouse fight back to beat York". www.rugby-league.com. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  9. ^ "London make winning start back in Championship". www.rugby-league.com. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  10. ^ "BULLDOGS 18-38 ROVERS". 2 February 2020. Retrieved 1 January 2021.[permanent dead link]
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