National Conference League Division Three

The National Conference League Division Three is the fourth level of the National Conference League and sits in the seventh tier of the British rugby league system.

National Conference League Division Three

Current season, competition or edition: 2024 National Conference League season
Sport	Rugby league
Founded	2012; 13 years ago (2012)
No. of teams	10
Country	England
Most recent champion(s)	East Leeds (2nd title)
Most titles	East Leeds (2 titles)
Level on pyramid	7
Promotion to	National Conference League Division Two
Relegation to	Regional leagues
Domestic cup(s)	Challenge Cup BARLA National Cup

It is the entry league for the NCL and sits above the Conference League South although there is no promotion and relegation between the two or the regional leagues. Any club wanting to compete in the NCL has to send an application to the league.

Background

In 2011, NCL clubs voted to switch from playing in winter to summer ^[1] which resulted in a reorganisation of the amateur pyramid. The current summer competition, the Rugby League Conference, was to be scrapped with its National Division effectively become part of the NCL while most of its regional divisions would continue as they were.

NCL Division Three was the NCLs most geographically diverse division with six out of the ten clubs competing being located outside the north of England. There was no promotion in the leagues first season, only a top six playoff was played to determine the winners. Of the ten clubs who competed in the first season only two, Coventry Bears and Underbank Rangers, returned the following season.^{[citation needed]}

Clubs in 2025

Club	Founded	Location
Bentley	1963	Doncaster, South Yorkshire
Beverley	1883	Beverley, Hull, East Yorkshire
Distington		Distington, Cumbria
Eastmoor Dragons	1873	Wakefield, West Yorkshire
Featherstone Lions	1994	Featherstone, West Yorkshire
Leigh East	1977	Leigh, Greater Manchester
Millom	1873	Millom, Cumbria
Milford		Kirkstall, Leeds, West Yorkshire
Myton Warriors	1997	Hull, East Yorkshire
Saddleworth Rangers	1930	Saddleworth, Greater Manchester
Seaton Rangers	1890	Seaton, Workington, Cumbria

Results

Season	Winners	Runners up	Playoff Winner	Score	Playoff Runner up	Bottom team
2012	Hemel Stags	Underbank Rangers	Hemel Stags	17-10	Underbank Rangers	South Wales Hornets
2013	Kells	Pilkington Recs	No playoff held			Peterlee Pumas
2014	Featherstone Lions	Blackbrooke	Underbank Rangers	20-6	Crosfield	Peterlee Pumas
2015	Hunslet Club Parkside	Thornhill Trojans	Stanningley	20-17	Drighlington	Eastmoor Dragons
2016	Crossfields	Drighlington	Drighlington	32-18	Woolston Rovers	Gateshead Storm
2017	West Bowling	Stanningley	Dewsbury Moor	16-10	Woolston Rovers	Waterhead Warriors
2018	Beverley	Barrow Island	Clock Face Miners	16-12	Millom	Stanley Rangers
2019	Woolston Rovers	Hunslet Warriors	Dewsbury Celtic	30-16	Heworth	Salford City Roosters
2020	Tournament curtailed due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2021	Tournament restructured due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2022	East Leeds	Waterhead Warriors	Shaw Cross Sharks	30-18	Oldham St Annes	Eastmoor Dragons
2023	Oldham St Annes	Ellenborough	Millom	20-6	Leigh East	Seaton Rangers
2024	East Leeds (2)	Hensingham	Drighlington	17-10	Distington	Featherstone Lions

Winners

Club	Wins	Runners up	Winning years
East Leeds	2	0	2022, 2024
Hemel Stags	1	0	2012
Kells	1		2013
Featherstone Lions	1		2014
Hunslet Club Parkside	1		2015
Crosfield	1		2016
West Bowling	1		2017
Beverley	1		2018
Woolston Rovers	1		2019