The 2020 Rugby Football League Championship is a rugby league football competition played primarily in England but including a team from 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 was abandoned and the Championship was to have featured a play-off system leading to promotion to Super League for one club while results during the regular season would have led to relegation to League 1 for two teams. The 2020 Championship comprised 14 teams, which all played one another twice in the regular season, once at home and once away, totalling 26 games. The 2020 season would also have featured the "Summer Bash Weekend" for a sixth time so the regular season totals 27 games for each team. On 16 March the structure and timing of the competition were placed in doubt as all rugby league games were suspended until 3 April at least as part of the United Kingdom's response to the coronavirus pandemic. The suspension of the season was extended to indefinite. A discussion between the RFL and club officials in May saw a majority of the Championship clubs reject a suggestion that the season could recommence with games being played behind closed doors. The RFL board met on 20 July and having consulted with the clubs decided to abandon the 2020 season as the majority of clubs did not support playing behind closed doors. The RFL also confirmed that there would be no promotion or relegation between the Championship and Super League in 2020 and the season was declared '' null and void''.

Teams

The Championship is made up of 14 teams, 11 of whom featured in the 2019 Championship; one,

London Broncos The London Broncos are a professional rugby league club based in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, England. They play their home games at Plough Lane and currently compete in the RFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of British rugby le ...

, who were relegated from Super League; and two,

Whitehaven Whitehaven is a town and civil parish in the Cumberland (unitary authority), Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. It is a port on the north-west coast, and lies outside the Lake District National parks of England and Wales, National Park. ...

and

Oldham Oldham is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers River Irk, Irk and River Medlock, Medlock, southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative cent ...

, who won promotion from League 1 in 2019. At the end of the 2019 season

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 ...

moved out of their

Odsal Odsal is an area of the City of Bradford, West Yorkshire. Odsal Stadium is currently the home of Bradford rugby league club and YorStox F1 and F2 stock cars. The Richard Dunn Sports Centre is named after the boxer who lived in Bradford at th ...

ground and for 2020 agreed a ground share deal with

Dewsbury Rams The Dewsbury Rams are a professional rugby league club based in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, England that compete in RFL League 1, League One, the third tier of British rugby league system, British rugby league. History 1875–1887: Dewsbury Athl ...

at the Rams' Tetley's Stadium.

Regular season results

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Standings at time of abandonment

References

{{2020 in rugby league Rugby Football League Championship 2020 in English rugby league 2020 in French rugby league

RFL Championship The Rugby Football League Championship, (known as the Betfred Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the second highest division of rugby league in British rugby league system, Britain (with one team in the league also being based in France) ...