The South Premier, also known as the London Premier, is a division in rugby league's tier 4. It was the highest level of amateur

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...

in the

South of England Southern England, or the South of England, also known as the South, is an area of England consisting of its southernmost part, with cultural, economic and political differences from the Midlands and the North. Officially, the area includes ...

until the creation in 2013 of Conference League South. It was first contested in 2005 as the South Premier division of the

Rugby League Conference 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 ...

but is currently a standalone league run by London Rugby League. Many of the clubs run juniors in the London Junior League.

History

The

was born in 1997 as the Southern Conference. The Premier Division was set up in 2005 for teams who had achieved a certain playing standard and were able to travel further afield to find stronger opposition. The new Premier Divisions included the North Premier, the South Premier, the Central Premier and the Welsh Premier. Prior to the 2005 season National League Three side

South London Storm South London Storm is a rugby league club who play and train at Archbishop Lanfranc School in the London Borough of Croydon, they currently compete in the London and South East Merit League. Founded in 1997, Storm have been voted Rugby League ...

announced that they were joining the South Premier; the other founder members came from the Conference regional divisions. After the 2006 season with other teams withdrawing from National League Three,

St Albans Centurions The St Albans Centurions are a rugby league club based in St Albans, Hertfordshire. The club plays their home games at Toulmin Drive, St Albans and their clubhouse is in High Oaks, St Albans. Founded in 1996, they first played in various loca ...

also decided to join the Premier South. In 2012 it became a standalone league and St Albans Centurions returned to playing nationally in

National Conference League division three National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

Community game pyramid

National Conference League The National Conference League (known as the Kingstone Press National Conference League for sponsorship reasons) is the top English amateur rugby league competition in the Rugby Football League pyramid, and as such is the leading amateur rugby l ...

* Conference League South * South Premier *

East Men's League The East Rugby League (East RL) is a tier 5 amateur rugby league competition structure with sides from the East of England. It was previously the ''East Division'' of the Rugby League Conference, which was set up in 1997. Structure The East ...

, London & South East Men's League * London, South East and East Entrance League Above the London Premier is the Conference League South and the

. Below is the London, South East and East Entrance League.

2014 Structure

*NB: Staines Titans entered but failed to complete the season Teams play each other on a home-and-away basis. Each Premier division then has its own play-off series to determine the champion with the five divisional winners entering the national play-offs. The winner of the national play-offs is awarded the Harry Jepson Trophy. *NB: West London Sharks & South London Storm merged to form South West London Chargers

Past League Standings

*¹ competed as Ipswich Rhinos between 2005 and 2009 *² competed as Kingston Warriors between 2005 and 2007 and Elmbridge in 2008. *³ competed as Haringey Hornets in 2006 *⁴ a merger of South London Storm and West London Sharks *⁵ midseason replacements for Hainault Bulldogs

Key

Grand Finals

Titles

* Hammersmith Hill Hoists: 2 * South London Storm: 2 * St Albans Centurions: 2 * West London Sharks: 2 * South West London Chargers: 3

London Cup

*2013: South West London Chargers

National Play-offs

References

External links

* {{British and Irish Rugby League links Rugby League Conference Rugby league in London Sports leagues established in 2012 2012 establishments in England