The 2019 Rugby Football League Championship was a rugby league football competition played primarily in England but including teams from Canada and France. It is the second tier of the three tiers of professional rugby league in England, below

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of ...

and above League 1. Following rule changes agreed at the end of the 2018 season, the Super 8's format has been abandoned and the Championship will feature a play-off system leading to promotion to Super League for one club while results during the regular season will lead to relegation to League 1 for two teams. The 2019 Championship comprised 14 teams, which all played one another twice in the regular season, once at home and once away, totalling 26 games. The 2019 season also featured the "Summer Bash Weekend" for a fifth time so the regular season comprised 27 games for each team. The Championship Grand Final was won by

Toronto Wolfpack The Toronto Wolfpack are a Canadian professional rugby league club based in Toronto, Ontario, who compete in the North American Rugby League. The club originally competed in the British rugby league system but withdrew in the Super League XXV, ...

, who by beating

Featherstone Rovers Featherstone Rovers are a professional rugby league club in Featherstone, West Yorkshire, England, who play in the Championship. Featherstone is a former coal mining town with a population of around 16,000 and Rovers are one of the last "small ...

24–6 also won promotion to

for the first time in the club's history, ahead of 2020 season. Toronto also won the

RFL Championship Leaders' Shield The RFL Championship Leaders' Shield is a shield awarded to the team finishing the season top of Championship in the sport of rugby league football. Currently the Shield is awarded to the team finishing top of the Championship at the end of the r ...

, after finishing top of the league and completing a 100% home record, and only losing 1 game all season. Betfred remain the sponsors of the Championship. The season started on 3 February 2019.

Teams

The Championship is made up of 14 teams, 11 of whom featured in the 2018 Championship; one,

Widnes Vikings The Widnes Vikings are an English rugby league club in Widnes, Cheshire, which competes in the Betfred Championship. The club plays home matches at the Halton Stadium. Founded as Widnes Football Club, they are one of the original twenty-two ...

, who were relegated from Super League; and two,

Bradford Bulls The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, playing in the Championship. They have won five Challenge Cups, six league championships and three World Club Challenges. The team jersey is pre ...

and York City Knights, who won promotion from League 1 in 2018.

Regular-season results

Final standings

Final standings at the end of regular season on 8 September 2019

Play-offs

At the end of the 27 game regular season, the top five teams enter a four-round play-off. The winners of the play-off final will earn promotion to

for 2020.

End-of-season awards

The end of season awards ceremony was held on 24 September 2019 when the following awards were made: * Club Of The Year: York City Knights * Outstanding Achievement Award: Micky Higham, Oliver Wilkes * Coach Of The Year: James Ford * Young Player Of The Year:

Matty Ashton Matty Ashton (born 28 July 1998) is an English rugby league footballer who plays as a for the Warrington Wolves in the Super League. He previously played for Swinton Lions, where he made his professional debut in 2019. He made his debut at int ...

* Player Of The Year:

Gareth O'Brien Gareth "Gaz" O'Brien (born 31 October 1991) is an English professional rugby league footballer who plays as a or for the Leigh Leopards in the Betfred Super League. He previously played for the Warrington Wolves and the Salford Red Devils in ...

References

{{2019 in rugby league Rugby Football League Championship 2019 in English rugby league 2019 in French rugby league 2019 in Canadian sports