Current season, competition or edition: 2025–26 Champ Rugby | |
 | |
| Sport | Rugby union |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1987 |
| Administrator | RFU |
| No. of teams | 14 |
| Countries |  England |
| Most recent champion | 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 |
Champ Rugby (formerly theRFU Championship) is an Englishrugby union competition among fourteen clubs. It is the second level ofmen'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]
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]
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | TB | LB | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ealing Trailfinders | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 344 | 117 | +227 | 7 | 0 | 35 | Play-off semi-finals |
| 2 | Worcester Warriors | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 234 | 165 | +69 | 6 | 2 | 28 | |
| 3 | Bedford Blues | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 238 | 174 | +64 | 6 | 1 | 27 | Play-off quarter-finals |
| 4 | Cornish Pirates | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 217 | 128 | +89 | 4 | 2 | 24 | |
| 5 | Nottingham | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 191 | 165 | +26 | 6 | 2 | 24 | |
| 6 | Caldy | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 175 | 150 | +25 | 5 | 2 | 23 | |
| 7 | Hartpury | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 172 | 178 | −6 | 2 | 1 | 19 | |
| 8 | Chinnor | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 148 | 175 | −27 | 1 | 2 | 19 | |
| 9 | Coventry | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 267 | 248 | +19 | 6 | 1 | 19 | |
| 10 | Richmond | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 166 | 181 | −15 | 1 | 2 | 15 | |
| 11 | Doncaster Knights | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 173 | 181 | −8 | 2 | 2 | 14 | |
| 12 | Ampthill | 7 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 147 | 323 | −176 | 3 | 1 | 12 | Relegation play-off |
| 13 | London Scottish | 7 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 111 | 205 | −94 | 1 | 1 | 6 | |
| 14 | Cambridge | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 115 | 308 | −193 | 3 | 1 | 4 | Relegated |
Fourteen teams will complete in the league – the twelve teams from last season, the champions ofNational League One and Worcester Warriors. No team was promoted to the Premiership. Last season the RFU's Tier 2 Board ran atender 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 intoadministration.[5][6]
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.[10][11]
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.[12]
When formalised leagues were finally permitted in the1987–88 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 the2009–10 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 |
In November 2008, theRugby 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.
Automatic promotion to the Premiership has not been a consistent feature of the RFU Championship. A playoff tournament was used to decide promotion between the2009–10 and2016–17 seasons, as well as in the2020–21 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.[13]
| 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.[14]
TheCOVID-19 pandemic caused the2019–20 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.[15]
The2020–21 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.[16]
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 from2021–22.[17] 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.
On 15 May 2025, theRugby Football Union (RFU) announced a new format and structure for the competition under the brand ofChamp Rugby. The new format and structure will see a return of relegation toNational League 1 and potential promotion to thePremiership, which Tier 2 board chair Simon Gillham said will create "aspiration and jeopardy". The competition was expanded to 14 teams from the2025–26 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 in2025–26 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][18]
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.[19] 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.[13] The extra funding provided prior to 2016–17 was removed prior to the 2020–21 season.[20][21]
For sponsorship reasons, the competition was officially known as the Greene King IPA Championship between the2013–14 and2020–21 seasons.[22]
| Season | Matches | Champions | Runners–up | Relegated teams | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1987–88 | 11 | Rosslyn Park | Liverpool St Helens | No relegation | ||||||||||
| 1988–89 | 11 | Saracens | Bedford | London Scottish andLondon Welsh | ||||||||||
| 1989–90 | 11 | Northampton Saints | Liverpool St Helens | No relegation[a 1] | ||||||||||
| 1990–91 | 12 | Rugby | London Irish | Richmond andHeadingley | ||||||||||
| 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. | ||||||||||||||
| 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 andFylde | ||||||||||
| 1999–00 | 26 | Rotherham | Leeds Tykes | Rugby andWest Hartlepool | ||||||||||
| Green background are promotion places. | ||||||||||||||
| Season | Matches | Champions | Runners–up | Relegated teams | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000–01 | 26 | Leeds Tykes | Worcester | Orrell andWaterloo | ||||||||||
| 2001–02 | 26 | Rotherham | Worcester | Henley andBracknell | ||||||||||
| 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. | ||||||||||||||
| 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. | ||||||||||||||
| Governing body |
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| National teams |
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| International competitions |
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| London and South East competitions |
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| Midland competitions |
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| Related articles | |||||
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