Champ Rugby

Champ Rugby (formerly the RFU Championship) is an English rugby union competition among fourteen clubs. It is the second level of men's English rugby and is played by both professional and semi-professional players.^[1][2] The competition has existed since 1987, when English clubs were first organised into leagues.^[3]

Championship Rugby

Current season, competition or edition: 2025–26 Champ Rugby
Sport	Rugby union
Founded	1987; 38 years ago (1987)
Administrator	RFU
No. of teams	14
Countries	England
Most recent champion(s)	Ealing Trailfinders (3rd title) (2024–25)
Most titles	Bristol Bears (4 titles)
Level on pyramid	Level 2
Promotion to	Premiership
Relegation to	National League 1
Official website	championshiprugby.co.uk

Format

The fourteen teams each play one another twice (once at home and once away), the results of the matches contribute points to the league table with points awarded as follows: 4 for a win, 2 for a draw, and 0 for a loss, although a team can earn 1 bonus point for losing by 7 points or fewer and another for scoring 4 or more tries in a match. The top six teams enter the play-offs to determine the league champion, with 1st and 2nd earning home semi-finals and 3rd to 6th contesting quarter-finals; the winner then faces the bottom team in the 2025–26 Premiership for a chance at promotion.^[4] The teams finishing 12th and 13th play a one-leg match, with the loser then facing the National League 1 runner-up to decide who remains in the Championship.^[4] The 14th-placed team is automatically relegated to National League 1 and replaced by that league's champion.^[4]

Current league table

2025–26 Champ Rugby table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	TF	TA	TB	LB	Pts	Qualification
1	Ampthill	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Play-off semi-finals
2	Bedford Blues	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	Caldy	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Play-off quarter-finals
4	Cambridge	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
5	Chinnor	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
6	Cornish Pirates	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
7	Coventry	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
8	Doncaster Knights	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
9	Ealing Trailfinders	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
10	Hartpury University	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
11	London Scottish	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
12	Nottingham	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Relegation play-off
13	Richmond	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
14	Worcester Warriors	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Relegated

Updated to match(es) played on unknown. Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Rules for classification: If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:

1. Number of matches won
2. Number of matches drawn
3. Difference between points for and against
4. Total number of points for
5. Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams
6. Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled

Current teams

Fourteen teams will complete in the league – the twelve teams from last season, the champions of National League One and Worcester Warriors. No team was promoted to the Premiership. Last season the RFU's Tier 2 Board ran a tender process for any club, college or university to join this league, if they could meet a growth strategy and minimum operating standards. On 3 April 2025 the RFU announced that Worcester Warriors will return to professional rugby, two and half years after going into administration.^[5][6]

Club Stadium Capacity Area Previous season Ampthill Dillingham Park 3,000 Ampthill, Bedfordshire 8th Bedford Blues Goldington Road 5,000 (1,700 seats) Bedford, Bedfordshire 2nd Caldy Paton Field 4,000 Thurstaston, Wirral, Merseyside 11th Cambridge Grantchester Road 2,200 (200 seats) Cambridge, Cambridgeshire 12th (not relegated) Chinnor Kingsey Road 2,500 Thame, Oxfordshire 10th Cornish Pirates Mennaye Field 4,000 (2,200 seats) Penzance, Cornwall 4th Coventry Butts Park Arena 5,250 (3,000 seats) Coventry, West Midlands 5th Doncaster Knights Castle Park 5,183[7] (1,926 seats) Doncaster, South Yorkshire 3rd Ealing Trailfinders Trailfinders Sports Ground 5,000 (2,115 seats) West Ealing, London Champions (not promoted) Hartpury University Hartpury Stadium[8] 2,000 Hartpury, Gloucestershire 6th London Scottish Athletic Ground 4,500 (1,000 seats) Richmond, London 9th Nottingham Lady Bay Sports Ground 3,700 Nottingham, Nottinghamshire 7th Richmond Athletic Ground[9] 4,500 (1,000 seats) Richmond, London Promoted from National League 1 (champions) Worcester Warriors Sixways Stadium 12,750 (proposed)[10] Worcester First season

Ampthill Bedford Caldy Cambridge Chinnor Cornish Pirates Coventry Doncaster Hartpury Nottingham Worcester London Locations of the 2025–26 Champ Rugby teams Ealing Richmond London Scottish 2025-26 Greater London Championship clubs

History

Precursor competitions (1987–2009)

The governing body for rugby union in England, the RFU, first allowed league hierarchies in 1987. This came nearly a century after leagues were first established in football and cricket, England's other two principal team sports.^[11][12]

The RFU's reluctance to allow leagues was based on a perceived threat to the sport's amateurism regulations: competitive leagues were seen as making clubs more likely to use incentives to attract and retain the best players.^[13]

When formalised leagues were finally permitted in the 1987–88 season, the second level was known as 'Courage League National Division Two'. The league has since had several different names before becoming the RFU Championship in the 2009–10 season.

Name of second-level competition	First season	Last season
Courage League National Division Two	1987–88	1996–97
Allied Dunbar Premiership Two	1997–98	1999–2000
National Division One	2000–01	2008–09

Origins (2008)

In November 2008, the Rugby Football Union (RFU) published a plan for a new professional tier below the Premiership. The 12-team Championship replaced the 16-team National Division One.

Level of men's rugby	Name of competition in 2008–09	Name of competition in 2009–10	Number of teams in 2008–09	Number of teams in 2009–10
Level 1	Guinness Premiership	Guinness Premiership	12	12
Level 2	National Division One	RFU Championship	16	12
Level 3	National Division 2	National League 1	14	16

To enable Level 2 to transition from 16 teams to 12, the RFU proposal called for five teams to be relegated at the end of the 2008–09 season. The relegated teams would play in the third level of rugby, known as 'National Division 2' in 2008–09 and to be known as 'National League 1' in 2009–10.

Additionally, one team would be relegated from the Premiership (Level 1 to Level 2), one team would be promoted to the Premiership (Level 2 to Level 1), and one team would be promoted from National Division 2 (Level 3 to Level 2).

The RFU Council voted overwhelmingly in favour of the new proposal, and the first Championship season started the following year, in 2009.

RFU Championship (2009–2025)

Promotion to the Premiership

Competition logo used until the end of the 2024–25 season

Automatic promotion to the Premiership has not been a consistent feature of the RFU Championship. A playoff tournament was used to decide promotion between the 2009–10 and 2016–17 seasons, as well as in the 2020–21 season.

In seasons without a promotion playoff (2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20), the team at the top of the league was automatically promoted to the Premiership.^[14]

Season	Number of playoff teams
2009–10	8
2010–11
2011–12
2012–13	4
2013–14
2014–15
2015–16
2016–17
2017–18	No play-offs
2018–19
2019–20
2020–21	2
2021–22	No play-offs
2022–23
2023–24
2024–25	2

The RFU plans to reintroduce possible promotion at the end of the 2023–24 season, by means of a play-off between the top placed team in the Championship and the bottom placed side in the Premiership.^[15]

COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic caused the 2019–20 season to be prematurely ended. Final standings were based on a "best playing record formula" and promotion and relegation remained for the 1st and 12th placed clubs respectively.^[16]

The 2020–21 season was impacted by the aforementioned pandemic and as a consequence, a shorter season kicked off in spring 2021. The reduced season saw each team play each other once only with the top two teams entering a two-legged promotion playoff. There was no relegation due to cancellation of National League 1.^[17]

In February 2021, a moratorium on relegation from the Premiership into the Championship was approved and it was confirmed that the RFU were working on a review of the minimum standards criteria for promotion and the league structure from 2021–22.^[18] The moratorium was extended for a further two years in June 2021 and also could include promotion from the Championship at the end of the 2022–23 season if there was promotion in the previous season. There was also no relegation from the Championship in 2021–22.

Champ Rugby (2025–)

On 15 May 2025, the Rugby Football Union (RFU) announced a new format and structure for the competiton under the brand of Champ Rugby. The new format and structure will see a return of relegation to National League 1 and potential promotion to the Premiership, which Tier 2 board chair Simon Gillham said will create "aspiration and jeopardy". The competiton was expanded to 14 teams from the 2025–26 season onwards. The new structure will see the top six sides, after the regular season, enter into a play-off phase to determine the league champions. Teams placed 12th and 13th in the table will face each other in single-leg play-off, the loser playing the runner-up in 2025–26 National League 1. The eventual winner will be in Champ Rugby for the 2026–27 season. The bottom placed side will be automatically relegated to National League 1 for the 2026–27 season. They will be replaced by the National League 1 champions.^[4][19]

Competition funding

The RFU Championship clubs were in dispute with the RFU over funding for the competition and claimed that each club was owed £77,000 for the past three seasons, and will be owed a further £120,000 over the next four seasons. The clubs believed they should have received £295,000 in 2009–10, rising to £400,000 by 2015–16 and further believe there was a breach of contract on the part of the RFU. The RFU stated that the original funding was an estimate and by 2015–16 the figure will be £359,400.^[20] When the RFU announced the hiatus of promotion play-offs, it also announced funding increases from both itself and the Premiership, including a new system which ties some of the new funding to each Championship side's performance in the league season.^[14] The extra funding provided prior to 2016–17 was removed prior to the 2020–21 season.^[21][22]

Sponsorship

For sponsorship reasons, the competition was officially known as the Greene King IPA Championship between the 2013–14 and 2020–21 seasons.^[23]

Historic results

Courage League National Division Two (1987–1997)

Season	Matches	Champions	Runners–up	Relegated teams
1987–88	11	Rosslyn Park	Liverpool St Helens	No relegation
1988–89	11	Saracens	Bedford	London Scottish and London Welsh
1989–90	11	Northampton Saints	Liverpool St Helens	No relegation[a 1]
1990–91	12	Rugby	London Irish	Richmond and Headingley
1991–92	12	London Scottish	West Hartlepool	Plymouth Albion, Liverpool St Helens
1992–93	12	Newcastle Gosforth	Waterloo	Bedford, Rosslyn Park, Richmond, Blackheath, Coventry, Fylde, Morley
1993–94	18	Sale	West Hartlepool	Rugby, Otley
1994–95	18	Saracens	Wakefield	Fylde, Coventry
1995–96	18	Northampton Saints	London Irish	No relegation[a 2]
1996–97	22	Richmond	Newcastle	Rugby, Nottingham
Green background are promotion places.

Allied Dunbar Premiership Two (1997–2000)

Season	Matches	Champions	Runners–up	Relegated teams
1997–98	22	Bedford	West Hartlepool[a 3]	No relegation[a 4]
1998–99	26	Bristol	Rotherham	Blackheath and Fylde
1999–00	26	Rotherham	Leeds Tykes	Rugby and West Hartlepool
Green background are promotion places.

National Division One (2000–2009)

Season	Matches	Champions	Runners–up	Relegated teams
2000–01	26	Leeds Tykes	Worcester	Orrell and Waterloo
2001–02	26	Rotherham	Worcester	Henley and Bracknell
2002–03	26	Rotherham	Worcester	Moseley, Rugby Lions
2003–04	26	Worcester	Orrell	Wakefield, Manchester
2004–05	26	Bristol	Exeter	Orrell, Henley
2005–06	26	Harlequins	Bedford Blues	No relegation[a 5]
2006–07	30	Leeds Tykes	Earth Titans	Otley, Waterloo
2007–08	30	Northampton Saints	Exeter Chiefs	Pertemp Bees, Launceston
2008–09	30	Leeds Tykes	Exeter Chiefs	Esher, Sedgley Park, Newbury, Otley, Manchester
Green background are promotion places.

RFU Championship (2009–2025)

Season	Matches	Champions	Runners–up	Relegated teams
2009–10	22	Exeter Chiefs	Bristol	Coventry
2010–11	22	Worcester Warriors	Bedford Blues	Doncaster Knights
2011–12	22	London Welsh	Bristol	Ealing Trailfinders
2012–13	22	Newcastle Falcons	Bristol	Plymouth Albion
2013–14	23	London Welsh	Doncaster Knights	Moseley
2014–15	22	Worcester Warriors	Yorkshire Carnegie	No relegation
2015–16	22	Bristol	Ealing Trailfinders	Rotherham Titans
2016–17	22	London Irish	Ealing Trailfinders	Richmond
2017–18	22	Bristol	Ealing Trailfinders	Yorkshire Carnegie
2018–19	22	London Irish	Ealing Trailfinders	No relegation
2019–20	15*	Newcastle Falcons	Ealing Trailfinders	No relegation
2020–21	10**	Saracens	Ealing Trailfinders	No relegation
2021–22	20	Ealing Trailfinders	Doncaster Knights	No relegation
2022–23	22	Jersey Reds	Ealing Trailfinders	Richmond
2023–24	20	Ealing Trailfinders	Cornish Pirates	No relegation
2024–25	22	Ealing Trailfinders	Bedford Blues	No relegation
2025–26	26
Green background are promotion places. **2020–21 season started late due to the pandemic.

Number of league titles

• Bristol (4)
• Ealing Trailfinders (3)
• Leeds Tykes (3)
• Newcastle Falcons (3)
• Northampton Saints (3)
• Rotherham (3)
• Saracens (3)
• Worcester Warriors (3)
• London Irish (2)
• London Welsh (2)
• Bedford (1)
• Exeter Chiefs (1)
• Harlequins (1)
• Jersey Reds (1)
• London Scottish (1)
• Richmond (1)
• Rosslyn Park (1)
• Rugby (1)
• Sale (1)

See also

• Rugby union in England
• Premiership Rugby
• List of English rugby union teams

Notes

1. Due to the expansion of the Courage National Leagues for the following season there was no relegation from the 1989–90 Courage League National Division Two.^[24]
2. Due to the expansion of the division from 10 to 12 teams for the following season there was no relegation from the 1995-96 Courage League National Division Two.^[25]
3. 3rd place London Scottish were also promoted.
4. Due to the expansion of the top two divisions for the following season there was no relegation from the 1997-98 Dunbar Premiership Two.^[26]
5. Due to the RFU expanding the league from 14 to 16 teams for the following season there was no relegation from the 2005-06 National Division One.^[27]