French Rugby League Championship

French Rugby League Championship

Sport	Rugby league
Founded	1934
No. of teams	10
Country	France
Most recent champion(s)	Saint-Esteve XIII Catalan
Most titles	AS Carcassonne XIII Catalan (11 Each)
TV partner(s)	Sport en France, vià

The French rugby league championship (French: Le Championnat de France de Rugby à XIII) has been the major rugby league tournament for semi-professional and professional clubs in France since the sport was introduced to the country in the 1930s.

Except for the first season, a play-off structure leading to a championship final has always been used to determine the fate of the championship. Because the French rugby league championship has several divisions where the teams will change each year depending on final standings and relegation/promotion there have been many teams in the French rugby league championship since its inception.

The championship is divided into several divisions; the top league is currently titled Elite One Championship (French: Le Championnat de France Elite).

List of finals[]

Toulouse Olympique celebrating victory in 1973 and 1975

Season	Winners	Score	Runner-up	Venue	Attendance
1934–35	Villeneuve 1	No final played. League leaders were awarded the title
1935–36	Catalan	25–14		, Bordeaux	14,150
1936–37		23–10	Catalan		14,300
1937–38	Albi	8–5	Villeneuve		14,880
1938–39	Roanne	9–0	Villeneuve	, Bordeaux	19,788
1939–40	Catalan	20–16		Stade des Minimes, Toulouse	10,000
1940-44: Rugby league outlawed by Vichy regime
1944–45	Carcassonne	13–12	Toulouse	, Perpignan
1945–46	Carcassonne	12–0	Toulouse	Stade de Gerland, Lyon
1946–47	Roanne	19–0	Carcassonne		15,000
1947–48	Roanne	3–2	Carcassonne	Marseille	20,000
1948–49	Marseille	12–5	Carcassonne	Stade Albert Domec, Carcassonne	23,500
1949–50	Carcassonne	21–7	Marseille	Perpignan	18,000
1950–51	Lyon	15–10	Catalan	Stade Chapou, Toulouse	21,933
1951–52	Carcassonne	18–6	Marseille		16,645
1952–53	Carcassonne	19���12	Lyon		22,000
1953–54		7–4	Marseille		8,000
1954–55	Lyon	7–6	Carcassonne		12,000
1955–56	Albi	13–5	Carcassonne		15,850
1956–57	Catalan	14–9	Avignon		9,000
1957–58	Albi	8–6	Carcassonne		16,163
1958–59	Villeneuve	24–16	Lézignan		13,000
1959–60	Roanne	31–24	Albi		13,800
1960–61	Lézignan	7–4	Roanne		6,998
1961–62	Albi	14–7	Villeneuve		12,068
1962–63	Lézignan	20–13	St Gaudens		12,200
1963–64	Villeneuve	4–3	Toulouse		5,166
1964–65	Toulouse	47–15	Villeneuve		8,837
1965–66	Carcassonne	45–20	St Gaudens		11,244
1966–67	Carcassonne	39–15	St Gaudens		10,779
1967–68	Limoux	13–12	Carcassonne		14,432
1968–69	Catalan	12–11	St Gaudens		8,326
1969–70	St Gaudens	32–10	Catalan		21,300
1970–71	St Estève	13–4	St Gaudens		8,179
1971–72	Carcassonne	21–9	St Gaudens		11,566
1972–73	Toulouse	18–0	Marseille		13,827
1973–74	St Gaudens	21–8	Villeneuve		5,696
1974–75	Toulouse	10–9	St Estève		5,015
1975–76	Carcassonne	14–6	Lézignan		14,000
1976–77	Albi	19–10	Carcassonne	Stadium Municipal d'Albi, Albi	18,325
1977–78	Lézignan	3–0	Catalan	Toulouse	10,358
1978–79	Catalan	17–2	Carcassonne		13,202
1979–80	Villeneuve	12–7	St Estève		10,029
1980–81 Villeneuve v Catalan abandoned after six minutes due to fighting; no championship awarded.
1981–82	Catalan	21–8	St Estève	Toulouse	8,504
1982–83	Catalan	10–8	Villeneuve		10,628
1983–84	Catalan	30–6	Villeneuve		8,182
1984–85	Catalan	26–6			8,797
1985–86		19–6	Catalan		8,000
1986–87	Catalan	11–3			4,350
1987–88		14–2	Catalan		9,950
1988–89	St Estève	23–4		Parc des Sports Et de l'Amitie, Narbonne	9,936
1989–90	St Estève	24–23	Carcassonne		8,000
1990–91	St Gaudens	10–8	Villeneuve	Toulouse	6,031
1991–92	Carcassonne	11–10	St Estève		6,000
1992–93	St Estève	9–8	Catalan		10,000
1993–93	Catalan	6–4	Pia	Stade des Sports Et de l'Amitie, Narbonne	12,000
1994–95	Pia	12–10	St Estève		13,200
1995–96	Villeneuve	27–26	St Estève		10,000
1996–97	St Estève	28–24	Villeneuve		12,000
1997–98	St Estève	15–8	Villeneuve		12,000
1998–99	Villeneuve	33–20	St Gaudens	Paris	7,592
1999–00	Toulouse	20–18	St Estève		6,500
2000–01	Villeneuve	32–20	Toulouse	Toulouse	9,000
	Villeneuve	17–0	Union Treiziste Catalane	Stade de la Mediterranee, Béziers	8,000
From the 2002-03 season, the French Rugby League Championship split into two divisions: Elite One Championship and Elite Two Championship. For the continuation of this list see Elite One Championship#Results.

Champions by club[]

	Club	Wins	Runners up	Winning Years
1	AS Carcassonne	11	13	1944-45, 1945-46, 1949-50, 1951-52, 1952-53, 1965-66, 1966-67, 1971-72, 1975-76, 1991-92, 2011-12
2	XIII Catalan	11	7	1935-36, 1939-40, 1956-57, 1968-69, 1978-79, 1981-82, 1982-83, 1983-84, 1984-85, 1986-87, 1993-94
3	Villeneuve Leopards	9	10	1934-35, 1958-59, 1963-64, 1979-80, 1995-96, 1998-99, 2000-01, 2001-02, 2002-03
4	Lézignan Sangliers	7	5	1960-61, 1962-63, 1977-78, 2007-08, 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11
5	Toulouse Olympique	6	6	1964-65, 1972-73, 1974-75, 1999-00, 2013-14, 2014-15
6	AS Saint Estève	6	6	1970-71, 1988-89, 1989-90, 1992-93, 1996-97, 1997-98
7	RC Albi	5	1	1937-38, 1955-56, 1957-58, 1961-62, 1976-77
8	St Gaudens	4	8	1969-70, 1973-74, 1990-91, 2003-04
9	Pia XIII	4	4	1994-95, 2005-06, 2006-07, 2012-13
10	RC Roanne XIII	4	1	1938-39, 1946-47, 1947-48, 1959-60
11	Limoux Grizzlies	3	3	1967-68, 2015-16, 2016-17
12		2	3	1985-86, 1987-88
13	Lyon Villeurbanne XIII	2	1	1950-51, 1954-55
14		2	1	1936-37, 1953-54
15	Marseille XIII	1	4	1948-49
16	Saint-Estève XIII Catalan	1	2	2018-19
17	Union Treiziste Catalane	1	1	2004-05
18	SO Avignon	1	1	2017-18

Footnotes[]

1. Won title on points: no play-off was used
2. Match abandoned after six minutes after the beginning due to fighting; no championship awarded.

Books[]

• Le Rugby à XIII le plus français du monde −1934 to 1996– by ,
• The Forbidden game by Mike Rylance.

See also[]

• Rugby league in France
• France national rugby league team
• France women's national rugby league team
• Elite One Championship
• Elite Two Championship
• National Division 1
• National Division 2
• Lord Derby Cup
• Coupe Falcou
• Paul Dejean Cup
• French rugby league system

References[]

External links[]

• Official website
• Infostreize
• Le monde du rugby à XIII