The Rugby League Conference (RLC) (also known as the Co-operative Rugby League Conference as a result of sponsorship from The Co-operative Group), was a series of regionally based divisions of amateur rugby league teams spread throughout England, Scotland, and Wales.
The RLC was founded as the 10-team Southern Conference League in 1997, with teams from the southern midlands and the south east, but subsequently, rebranded and expanded both geographically and numerically to include around 90 teams stretched across almost the whole of Great Britain from Aberdeen in northern Scotland down to Plymouth on the south coast of England.
The aim of the RLC was initially to provide regular fixtures for new clubs based outside the traditional 'heartland' of rugby league in the UK, although as the playing standards increased, it also accepted teams from the 'heartlands'. The hope was that some clubs would eventually progress to become semi-professional.
With the top heartlands amateur league, the National Conference League voting to move to a summer season, the 2012 season saw a re-alignment of the amateur game and the Rugby League Conference was replaced with a series of regional leagues.
The Southern Conference League was founded as a 10-team competition in 1997. The following season it was rebranded as the Rugby League Conference due to its intentions to include teams from outside the traditional heartlands of Yorkshire, Lancashire and Cumbria.
The league steadily expanded over the first few seasons right up to the fringes of the heartlands, before expanding into Wales for the first time in 2001 with the addition of Cardiff Demons. The league expanded into the North East that same season.
In 2003 National League Three was founded including some of the stronger Rugby League Conference clubs and some BARLA clubs. This same season saw massive expansion of the Rugby League Conference including an entire Welsh division. The league also pushed its borders further including more teams from the less rugby league playing areas of the counties considered the heartlands and went as far south west as Somerset.
The league expanded further in 2004 by allowing entry to heartland clubs. For the 2005 season the competition was split into two tiers, with Premier divisions being created for above the existing regional divisions. The next major changes were in 2007 when National League Three (as the National Division) and the Scottish League became integral parts of the Rugby League Conference structure.
The Rugby League Conference celebrated passing the 100 club barrier in 2010.[1]
2011 was the last season before the league was restructured.
There were many changes in format of the Rugby League Conference as it expanded over time, here are the divisions that existed when the league was lasted competed for in 2011.
Until 2004, the Harry Jepson trophy was competed for by all the Conference sides. Between 2005 and 2011, it was competed for by the RLC Premier divisions.
From 2012 onwards, it has been contested by the non-heartlands successor leagues.
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For the heartlands competition see National Conference League This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Rugby League Conference news newspapers books scholar JSTOR December 2023 Learn how and when to remove this message The Rugby League Conference RLC also known as the Co operative Rugby League Conference as a result of sponsorship from The Co operative Group was a series of regionally based divisions of amateur rugby league teams spread throughout England Scotland and Wales Rugby League ConferenceSportRugby leagueFormerly known asSouthern Conference LeagueInstituted1997 27 years ago 1997 Ceased2012 12 years ago 2012 Replaced bySee hereNumber of teams115Countries England Scotland WalesChampionsHuddersfield Underbank Rangers 2011 Websiterugbyleagueconference co uk The RLC was founded as the 10 team Southern Conference League in 1997 with teams from the southern midlands and the south east but subsequently rebranded and expanded both geographically and numerically to include around 90 teams stretched across almost the whole of Great Britain from Aberdeen in northern Scotland down to Plymouth on the south coast of England The aim of the RLC was initially to provide regular fixtures for new clubs based outside the traditional heartland of rugby league in the UK although as the playing standards increased it also accepted teams from the heartlands The hope was that some clubs would eventually progress to become semi professional To date London Skolars and Coventry Bears both play in the professional structure as have Hemel Stags and Oxford although Hemel reverted to being a solely amateur club after selling its professional license to Cornwall and Oxford folded With the top heartlands amateur league the National Conference League voting to move to a summer season the 2012 season saw a re alignment of the amateur game and the Rugby League Conference was replaced with a series of regional leagues Contents 1 History 2 Representative fixtures 3 Former divisions within the RLC 4 Successor leagues 5 Past winners 5 1 Rugby League Conference National 5 2 Harry Jepson Trophy 5 3 RLC Regional 6 See also 7 Notes 8 References 9 External linksHistory editMain article History of the Rugby League Conference The Southern Conference League was founded as a 10 team competition in 1997 The following season it was rebranded as the Rugby League Conference due to its intentions to include teams from outside the traditional heartlands of Yorkshire Lancashire and Cumbria The league steadily expanded over the first few seasons right up to the fringes of the heartlands before expanding into Wales for the first time in 2001 with the addition of Cardiff Demons The league expanded into the North East that same season In 2003 National League Three was founded including some of the stronger Rugby League Conference clubs and some BARLA clubs This same season saw massive expansion of the Rugby League Conference including an entire Welsh division The league also pushed its borders further including more teams from the less rugby league playing areas of the counties considered the heartlands and went as far south west as Somerset The league expanded further in 2004 by allowing entry to heartland clubs For the 2005 season the competition was split into two tiers with Premier divisions being created for above the existing regional divisions The next major changes were in 2007 when National League Three as the National Division and the Scottish League became integral parts of the Rugby League Conference structure The Rugby League Conference celebrated passing the 100 club barrier in 2010 1 2011 was the last season before the league was restructured Representative fixtures editThe Rugby League Amateur Four Nations was competition for national amateur sides from England Scotland Wales and Ireland Former divisions within the RLC editThere were many changes in format of the Rugby League Conference as it expanded over time here are the divisions that existed when the league was lasted competed for in 2011 National Division The premier divisions Midlands Premier now Midlands League North East Premier now North East League North West Premier replaced by North West League Scottish Premier now Scottish National League Southern Premier now London League Welsh Premier now South Wales Premiership Yorkshire Premier replaced by Yorkshire League The feeder leagues London and South East Merit League Midlands Merit League North West Merit League Yorkshire and Humber Merit LeagueSuccessor leagues editTier Four National Conference League Premier Division Division One Division Two Division Three Conference League South Tier Five Yorkshire League a North West League a Cumbria League Barrow amp District League North East League Pennine Championship b Hull amp District League Midlands League c South West League East League London amp South East League South Premier North Wales Conference South Wales Premiership Scottish National LeaguePast winners editMain article Rugby League Conference trophy winners Rugby League Conference National edit 2003 Warrington Woolston Rovers now Warrington Wizards as National League three 2004 Coventry Bears as National League three 2005 Bradford Dudley Hill as National League three 2006 Bramley Buffaloes as National League three 2007 Featherstone Lions 2008 Crusaders Colts 2009 Bramley Buffaloes 2010 Warrington Wizards 2011 Huddersfield Underbank Rangers Harry Jepson Trophy edit Main article Harry Jepson Trophy Until 2004 the Harry Jepson trophy was competed for by all the Conference sides Between 2005 and 2011 it was competed for by the RLC Premier divisions From 2012 onwards it has been contested by the non heartlands successor leagues 1997 North London Skolars as Southern Conference 1998 Crawley Jets 1999 Chester Wolves 2000 Crawley Jets 2001 Teesside Steelers 2002 Coventry Bears 2003 Bridgend Blue Bulls 2004 Widnes Saints 2005 Bridgend Blue Bulls 2006 South London Storm 2007 St Albans Centurions 2008 Nottingham Outlaws 2009 West London Sharks 2010 St Albans Centurions 2011 Parkside Hawks RLC Regional edit The RLC Regional is open to English sides that are in the regional divisions rather than the Premier divisions It was introduced in 2005 2005 Wetherby Bulldogs 2006 Liverpool Buccaneers 2007 Widnes Saints 2008 Moorends Thorne Marauders 2009 Northampton Casuals now Northampton Demons 2010 Northampton Demons 2011 Elmbridge EaglesSee also editBritish rugby league system Women s Rugby League ConferenceNotes edit a b Includes premier division division one division two division three division four and division five Includes premier division division one division two and division three Includes premier division division one and division two References edit RLC set to expandExternal links editOfficial website Unofficial RLC website Club directory on official site Official tables Fixture lists Fixtures and results on leaguenews co uk Portal nbsp Sports Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Rugby League Conference amp oldid 1208724880, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
