2015 Championship 1


The 2015 Championship 1, known as the Kingstone Press League 1 for sponsorship reasons, was a semi-professional rugby league football competition played in England, the third tier of the sport in the country.
The 2015 Championship 1 featured fourteen teams, who all played each other once; Each team then played nine other teams again, based on a geographical basis, totalling 22 games. Two teams were promoted from Championship 1, due to the restructure of Super League, Championship and Championship 1. After the 22 regular season games, the top two sides faced each other and the winner was automatically be promoted to the Kingstone Press Championship as champions, while the loser and the teams finishing 3rd, 4th and 5th contested the play-offs and the winner was also promoted. There is no relegation from this league as it is the lowest tier of professional rugby league.

2015 structure

The competition featured the eight teams that did not win promotion in 2014: Gloucestershire All Golds, Hemel Stags, London Skolars, Newcastle Thunder, Oldham R.L.F.C., Oxford RLFC, South Wales Scorpions and York City Knights. It also featured five teams relegated from the RFL Championship: Barrow Raiders, Keighley Cougars, North Wales Crusaders, Rochdale Hornets and Swinton Lions. Coventry Bears were also accepted into the division, creating a fourteen-team division.
Team & current season2014 PositionStadiumCapacityLocation
Barrow Raiders14th Craven Park7,600Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria
Coventry BearsN/AButts Park Arena4,000Coventry, West Midlands
Gloucestershire All Golds6thPrince of Wales Stadium480Cheltenham, Gloucestershire
Hemel Stags5thPennine Way2,000Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire
Keighley Cougars8th Cougar Park7,800Keighley, West Yorkshire
London Skolars7thNew River Stadium5,000Haringey, London
Newcastle Thunder4thKingston Park10,200Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear
16px North Wales Crusaders11th Racecourse Ground10,500 Wrexham, Wales
Oldham3rdWhitebank Stadium1,500 Limeside, Oldham, Greater Manchester
Oxford RLFC8thIffley Road500Oxford, Oxfordshire
Rochdale Hornets12th Spotland10,249Rochdale, Greater Manchester
South Wales Scorpions9thLlynfi Road6,000Maesteg, Bridgend, Wales
Swinton Lions13th Park Lane3,000Whitefield, Greater Manchester
York City Knights1stHuntington Stadium3,428York, North Yorkshire

Season table

Play-offs

  • League One Grand Final
  • Oldham are League One Champions 2015 and are promoted to the 2016 Championship. Keighley Cougars will enter the play off semi finals for the second promotion place along with teams finishing 3rd, 4th and 5th.
  • League One Promotion Play Offs
  • Swinton won the play off final to secure the second and final promotion place to the 2016 Championship.