2011 Championship 1

The 2011 Championship 1 was a semi-professional rugby league football competition played in England and Wales, the third tier of the sport in the country. The winner of this league, along with the play-off winners will be promoted to the 2012 Rugby Football League Championship. There is no relegation from this league as it is the lowest tier of professional rugby league.

2011 Championship 1
League	Championship 1
Duration	18 games each
Teams	10
Broadcast partners	SKY Sports
2011 Season
Play-off Winners	Keighley Cougars
Champions	Swinton Lions
Top point-scorer(s)	Ian Mort (292)
Top try-scorer(s)	Ian Mort (21)
← 2010 2012 →

All of the teams competed in the 2011 Challenge Cup but the South Wales Scorpions did not compete in the 2011 National League Cup.

2011 structure

The competition features mainly the same teams as it did in 2010. The exceptions being that the Hunslet Hawks and the York City Knights were both promoted to compete in the 2011 RFL Championship. The Keighley Cougars and Whitehaven were relegated from the 2010 RFL Championship. The competition was to contain 11 teams, however, the Blackpool Panthers went into administration and were thus omitted from the competition for 2011

Championship 1

Team	2010 Season	Stadium	Capacity	City/Area
Doncaster	9th	Keepmoat Stadium	15,231	Doncaster, South Yorkshire
Gateshead Thunder	11th	Thunderdome	11,800	Gateshead, Tyne and Wear
Keighley Cougars	10th (Championship)	Cougar Park	6,800	Keighley, West Yorkshire
London Skolars	10th	New River Stadium	5,000	Haringey, London
Oldham	2nd	Whitebank Stadium	1500	Limeside, Oldham Greater Manchester
Rochdale Hornets	5th	Spotland Stadium	10,249	Rochdale, Greater Manchester
South Wales Scorpions	6th	The Gnoll	6,000	Neath, West Glamorgan, Wales
Swinton Lions	8th	The Willows (Shared with Salford for this season)	N/A	Swinton, Greater Manchester
Whitehaven	11th (Championship)	Recreation Ground	7,500	Whitehaven, Cumbria
Workington Town	7th	Derwent Park	10,000	Workington, Cumbria

Season table

2011 Championship 1

#	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Bns	Pts
1	Swinton Lions	20	14	1	5	720	479	+241	3	47
2	Keighley Cougars	20	13	0	7	663	412	+251	4	43
3	Workington Town	20	11	1	8	659	443	+216	6	41
4	Rochdale Hornets	20	12	0	8	652	498	+154	4	40
5	Doncaster	20	12	0	8	531	433	+98	4	40
6	Whitehaven	20	13	2	5	566	425	+141	2	36[a]
7	Oldham	20	11	0	9	641	533	+108	3	36
8	South Wales Scorpions	20	6	0	14	536	674	−138	4	22
9	London Skolars	20	5	1	14	433	678	−245	4	21
10	Gateshead Thunder	20	0	1	19	268	1094	−826	0	2

	Teams qualifying for promotion
	Teams qualifying for the Play-offs

updated 7 October 2011

Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20111005000040/http://www.cooperativechampionship.co.uk/table_nl2.php

Competition points: For win = 3; For draw = 2; For loss by 12 points or fewer = 1.

Season Results

Round 1

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
			Date and Time	Venue	Referee
Whitehaven	30–22	Rochdale Hornets	13 March, 15:00 GMT	Recreation GroundA	704
Swinton Lions	22–10	Workington Town	13 March, 15:00 GMT	The Willows	681
Oldham R.L.F.C.	66–12	Gateshead Thunder	13 March, 15:00 GMT	Whitebank Stadium	562
Keighley Cougars	66–6	London Skolars	13 March, 15:00 GMT	Cougar Park	640
Doncaster	40–10	South Wales Scorpions	13 March, 15:00 GMT	Keepmoat Stadium	895
Source:[1]

Round 2

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
			Date and Time	Venue	Referee
Workington Town	31–12	Oldham R.L.F.C.	20 March, 15:00 GMT	Derwent ParkA	473
South Wales Scorpions	18–22	Whitehaven	20 March, 13:00 GMT	The Gnoll	271
Rochdale Hornets	26–46	Swinton Lions	20 March, 15:00 GMT	Spotland Stadium	743
London Skolars	22–42	Doncaster	20 March, 15:00 GMT	New River Stadium	326
Gateshead Thunder	10–44	Keighley Cougars	20 March, 15:00 GMT	Gateshead International Stadium	305
Source:[2]

Round 3

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
			Date and Time	Venue	Referee
Whitehaven	24–10	Keighley Cougars	27 March, 15:00 GMT	Recreation GroundA	754
South Wales Scorpions	60–20	Gateshead Thunder	27 March, 13:00 GMT	The Gnoll	302
Rochdale Hornets	40–20	London Skolars	27 March, 15:00 GMT	Spotland Stadium	434
Oldham R.L.F.C.	24–68	Swinton Lions	27 March, 15:00 GMT	Whitebank Stadium	744
Doncaster	26–16	Workington Town	27 March, 15:00 GMT	Keepmoat Stadium	493
Source:[1]

Round 4

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
			Date and Time	Venue	Referee
Workington Town	38–24	South Wales Scorpions	3 April, 13:00 GMT	Derwent ParkA	376
Swinton Lions	48–24	Gateshead Thunder	3 April, 15:00 GMT	The Willows	493
London Skolars	16–48	Whitehaven	3 April, 15:00 GMT	New River Stadium	542
Keighley Cougars	40–14	Oldham R.L.F.C.	3 April, 15:00 GMT	Cougar Park	995
Doncaster	8–24	Rochdale Hornets	3 April, 15:00 GMT	Keepmoat Stadium	589
Source:[1]

Round 5

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
			Date and Time	Venue	Referee
Swinton Lions	38–30	London Skolars	9 April, 17:00 GMT	The WillowsA	395
Rochdale Hornets	49–18	Whitehaven	10 April, 15:00 GMT	Spotland StadiumA	457
Source:[1]

Round 6

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
			Date and Time	Venue	Referee
Whitehaven	26–16	Doncaster	17 April, 15:00 GMT	Recreation GroundA	727
South Wales Scorpions	22–74	Swinton Lions	17 April, 15:00 GMT	The Gnoll	370
Rochdale Hornets	32–40	Keighley Cougars	17 April, 15:00 GMT	Spotland Stadium	515
Oldham R.L.F.C.	52–26	London Skolars	17 April, 15:00 GMT	Whitebank Stadium	566
Gateshead Thunder	0–64	Workington Town	17 April, 15:00 GMT	Gateshead International Stadium	273
Source:[1]

Round 7

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
			Date and Time	Venue	Referee
Doncaster	32–36	Swinton Lions	25 April, 15:00 GMT	Keepmoat StadiumA	649
Keighley Cougars	38–18	Workington Town	25 April, 15:00 GMT	Cougar Park	892
London Skolars	32–32	Gateshead Thunder	25 April, 14:00 GMT	New River Stadium	263
Rochdale Hornets	40–18	South Wales Scorpions	25 April, 15:00 GMT	Spotland Stadium	402
Whitehaven	40–24	Oldham R.L.F.C.	25 April, 15:00 GMT	Recreation Ground	946
Source:[2]

Statistics

The following are the top points scorers in Championship 1 during the 2011 season. Statistics also include tries and goals scored in the play-offs.^[3]

Most tries

Player	Team	Tries
Andy Saywell	Rochdale Hornets	22
Ian Mort	Swinton Lions	21
Scott Kaighan	Workington Town	21
Dale Bloomfield	Rochdale Hornets	19
Gavin Dodd	Swinton Lions	17
Andrew Gay	South Wales Scorpions	16
Craig Calvert	Whitehaven	15
Chris Spurr	Doncaster	13
Mark Brocklehurst	Oldham R.L.F.C.	13
Ben Heaton	Oldham R.L.F.C.	13
Steve Parry	South Wales Scorpions	13
Neil Frazer	Workington Town	13

Most goals

Player	Team	Goals
Ian Mort	Swinton Lions	104
Paul Crook	Rochdale Hornets	100
Darren Holt	Workington Town	73
Scott Spaven	Doncaster	70
Carl Forber	Oldham R.L.F.C.	63
Danny Lawton	Keighley Cougars	58
Lewis Palfrey	Whitehaven	56
Lewis Reece	South Wales Scorpions	54
Dylan Skee	London Skolars	36
Chris Baines	Keighley Cougars	33

Most points

Player	Team	Tries	Goals	DGs	Points
Ian Mort	Swinton Lions	21	104	0	292
Paul Crook	Rochdale Hornets	10	100	5	245
Scott Spaven	Doncaster	7	70	1	169
Darren Holt	Workington Town	1	73	5	155
Danny Lawton	Keighley Cougars	9	58	0	152
Carl Forber	Oldham R.L.F.C.	5	63	0	146
Lewis Palfrey	Whitehaven	5	56	0	132
Lewis Reece	South Wales Scorpions	5	54	0	128
Scott Kaighan	Workington Town	21	16	1	117
Dylan Skee	London Skolars	6	36	1	97

See also

• Co-operative Championship
• 2011 RFL Championship
• RFL League 1
• 2011 National League Cup

Notes

1. Whitehaven were deducted 9 points for entering administration.