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 Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...

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 Toronto Wolfpack RLFC is a Canadian professional rugby league club based in Toronto, Ontario. The club is the first and only professional rugby league club in North America, and as of 2023 competes in the self sponsored Canada Cup, an invitation ...

, who by beating

Featherstone Rovers Featherstone Rovers are a professional rugby league club in Featherstone, West Yorkshire, England. The club play home games at Post Office Road and currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of British rugby league. Featherstone ...

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, 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 RFL Championship, Betfred Championship. The club plays home matches at DCBL Stadium. Founded as Widnes Football Club, they are one of the original twe ...

, who were relegated from Super League; and two,

Bradford Bulls The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, and compete in the Championship, the second tier of British rugby league. The club have won the League Championship six times, the Challenge Cup f ...

and

York City Knights The York Knights are the men's professional rugby league team of York RLFC, based in York, England. The club play their home games at York Community Stadium and currently compete in the RFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of Briti ...

, 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:

* Outstanding Achievement Award: Micky Higham, Oliver Wilkes * Coach Of The Year: James Ford * Young Player Of The Year: Matty Ashton * Player Of The Year: Gareth O'Brien

References

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