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The Rugby League Conference, also known as the Co-operative Rugby League Conference as a result of sponsorship from
The Co-operative Group The Co-operative Group Limited, trading as Co-op and formerly known as the Co-operative Wholesale Society, is a British consumer cooperative, consumer co-operative with a group of retail businesses, including grocery retail and wholesale, leg ...
), was a series of regionally based divisions of amateur
rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...
teams spread throughout England, Scotland, and Wales. The RLC was founded as the 10-team Southern Conference League in 1997, with teams from the southern midlands and the south east, but subsequently, rebranded and expanded both geographically and numerically to include around 90 teams stretched across almost the whole of Great Britain from
Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...
in northern Scotland down to
Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...
on the south coast of England. The aim of the RLC was initially to provide regular fixtures for new clubs based outside the traditional 'heartland' of rugby league in the UK, although as the playing standards increased, it also accepted teams from the 'heartlands'. The hope was that some clubs would eventually progress to become semi-professional. To date,
London Skolars The London Skolars are a rugby league club based at the White Hart Lane Community Sports Centre, New River Stadium in Wood Green, London Borough of Haringey, Haringey, North London. Founded in 1995, the club operated as a semi-professional team ...
and
Coventry Bears The Midlands Hurricanes are a semi-professional rugby league club based in Birmingham, West Midlands, England. They were founded in 2021 and took over the professional franchise owned by Coventry Bears previously entering the third tier of th ...
both play in the professional structure as have
Hemel Stags The Hemel Stags are an amateur rugby league club based in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire. They were semi-professional and played in Betfred League 1 from 2013 until 2018. They withdrew from the professional system when their licence was purch ...
and
Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...
although Hemel reverted to being a solely amateur club after selling its professional license to
Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...
and Oxford folded. With the top heartlands amateur league, the
National Conference League The National Conference League (NCL) comprises the five levels of the British rugby league system at the top end of the amateur pyramid below the professional RFL League 1, League One. It comes under the jurisdiction of the Rugby Football League ...
voting to move to a summer season, the 2012 season saw a re-alignment of the amateur game and the Rugby League Conference was replaced with a series of regional leagues.


History

The ''Southern Conference League'' was founded as a 10-team competition in 1997. The following season it was rebranded as the ''Rugby League Conference'' due to its intentions to include teams from outside the traditional heartlands of Yorkshire, Lancashire and Cumbria. The league steadily expanded over the first few seasons right up to the fringes of the heartlands, before expanding into Wales for the first time in 2001 with the addition of Cardiff Demons. The league expanded into the North East that same season. In 2003 National League Three was founded including some of the stronger Rugby League Conference clubs and some BARLA clubs. This same season saw massive expansion of the Rugby League Conference including an entire Welsh division. The league also pushed its borders further including more teams from the less rugby league playing areas of the counties considered the heartlands and went as far south west as Somerset. The league expanded further in 2004 by allowing entry to heartland clubs. For the 2005 season the competition was split into two tiers, with Premier divisions being created for above the existing regional divisions. The next major changes were in 2007 when National League Three (as the National Division) and the Scottish League became integral parts of the Rugby League Conference structure. The Rugby League Conference celebrated passing the 100 club barrier in 2010. 2011 was the last season before the league was restructured.


Representative fixtures

The
Rugby League Amateur Four Nations The Amateur Four Nations was a rugby league competition contested annually by England Amateurs, Ireland Amateurs, Scotland Amateurs, and Wales Amateurs. The teams from the Celtic nations would pick players from their domestic competitions, while ...
was competition for national amateur sides from England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland.


Former divisions within the RLC

''As of 2010'' * National Division (Tier 4) *The premier divisions (Tier 5): **RLC Yorkshire Premier (now
Yorkshire Men's League The Yorkshire Men's League is a summer rugby league competition for amateur teams in Yorkshire. The competition was formed in 2009 as the RLC Yorkshire Premier by splitting the RLC North Premier into two competitions - this and the RLC North ...
) **RLC Midlands Premier (now
Midlands Rugby League The Midlands Rugby League is a series of summer rugby league competition for amateur teams in the Midlands. The competition was formed in 2006 as the Rugby League Conference, RLC Midlands Premier. Its name changed following the 2012 restructur ...
) **RLC North West Premier (now
North West Men's League The North West Men's League is a summer rugby league competition for amateur teams in North West England. The competition was formed in 2009 as the RLC North West Premier by splitting the RLC North Premier into two competitions - this and the R ...
) **RLC Welsh Premier (now
South Wales Men's League The South Wales Men's League is a summer rugby league competition for amateur teams in South Wales. The competition was formed in 2003 as the Rugby League Conference, RLC Welsh Premier. Following the 2012 restructure of amateur rugby league in ...
) **RLC Southern Premier (now London and South East Rugby League) *The regional divisions (Tier 6): **RLC Yorkshire Regional (defunct) **RLC Midlands Regional (now
Midlands Rugby League The Midlands Rugby League is a series of summer rugby league competition for amateur teams in the Midlands. The competition was formed in 2006 as the Rugby League Conference, RLC Midlands Premier. Its name changed following the 2012 restructur ...
) **RLC North West Regional (defunct) **RLC Wales Regional (defunct) **RLC South West Regional (now
South West Rugby League The South West Rugby League is a summer rugby league competition for amateur teams in South West England. The competition was formed in 2003 as the RLC South West Regional. Its name changed following the 2012 restructure of amateur rugby leag ...
) **RLC South East Regional (defunct) **RLC East Regional (now
East Rugby League The East Rugby League is a summer rugby league competition for amateur teams from the East of England. The competition was formed in 1997 as one of the two founding divisions of the Rugby League Conference. It ended its time in the conference a ...
) **RLC North East Regional (now
North East Rugby League The North East Rugby League is a summer rugby league competition for amateur teams in North East England. The competition was formed in 2001 as the RLC North East Regional. Following the 2012 restructure of amateur rugby league in Great Britain ...
) **RLC Scotland Regional (now Scottish National League)


Past winners


RLC National

* 2003 Warrington Woolston Rovers (now Warrington Wizards) (as National League three) * 2004
Coventry Bears The Midlands Hurricanes are a semi-professional rugby league club based in Birmingham, West Midlands, England. They were founded in 2021 and took over the professional franchise owned by Coventry Bears previously entering the third tier of th ...
(as National League three) * 2005
Bradford Dudley Hill Bradford Dudley Hill RLFC is an amateur rugby league team based in Bradford, West Yorkshire. Originally formed after the First World War, the club was re-established in 1948. History Early years Established just after the First World War, D ...
(as National League three) * 2006
Bramley Buffaloes Bramley Buffaloes is an amateur rugby league club based in West Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The club was formed in 2000 following the demise of the original Bramley club that they are considered a continuation of. History 2000–2004: ...
(as National League three) * 2007
Featherstone Lions Featherstone Lions are an amateur rugby league club from Featherstone, West Yorkshire who play in the National Conference League and the Yorkshire Men's League. The juniors (U7 - U18) play in the Yorkshire Junior & Youth League. The club also h ...
* 2008
Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding ...
Colts * 2009
Bramley Buffaloes Bramley Buffaloes is an amateur rugby league club based in West Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The club was formed in 2000 following the demise of the original Bramley club that they are considered a continuation of. History 2000–2004: ...
* 2010
Warrington Wizards Woolston Rovers are a rugby league team based in Warrington. The open age teams play in the National Division of the Rugby League Conference. History Woolston Rovers Woolston Rovers Rugby Club was founded at the Lido Country Club on Manchester ...
* 2011
Huddersfield Underbank Rangers Underbank Rangers are a rugby league team based in Holmfirth near Huddersfield, West Yorkshire. They play in the Yorkshire Men's League. Underbank are the second oldest rugby league club in the world - but the longest running rugby league club i ...


RLC Premier

Competed for by winners of each premier division. * 1997 North London Skolars (as Southern Conference) * 1998 Crawley Jets * 1999 Chester Wolves * 2000 Crawley Jets * 2001 Teesside Steelers * 2002
Coventry Bears The Midlands Hurricanes are a semi-professional rugby league club based in Birmingham, West Midlands, England. They were founded in 2021 and took over the professional franchise owned by Coventry Bears previously entering the third tier of th ...
* 2003
Bridgend Blue Bulls The Blue Bulls (known as Bridgend Blue Bulls RLFC between 2003 and 2012) are a rugby league side based in Pyle, Wales. They play in the Welsh Premier of the Rugby League Conference. They are the most successful amateur rugby league team in Wa ...
* 2004
Widnes Saints Widnes Saints are a rugby league team based in Widnes, Cheshire. They play in the North West Premier Division of the Rugby League Conference The Rugby League Conference, also known as the Co-operative Rugby League Conference as a result of ...
* 2005
Bridgend Blue Bulls The Blue Bulls (known as Bridgend Blue Bulls RLFC between 2003 and 2012) are a rugby league side based in Pyle, Wales. They play in the Welsh Premier of the Rugby League Conference. They are the most successful amateur rugby league team in Wa ...
* 2006
South London Storm South London Storm was a rugby league club who played and trained at Archbishop Lanfranc School in the London Borough of Croydon. They competed in the London and South East Merit League. Founded in 1997, Storm were voted Rugby League Conferen ...
* 2007
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 ...
* 2008 Nottingham Outlaws * 2009
West London Sharks West London Sharks RLFC was a rugby league team based in Chiswick, London. They competed in the South Premier Division of the Rugby League Conference. The club ran an additional social side in the London League competition and a women's team pl ...
* 2010
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 ...
* 2011 Parkside Hawks


RLC Regional

Competed for by winners of each regional division. * 2005 Wetherby Bulldogs * 2006
Liverpool Buccaneers Liverpool Buccaneers Rugby League Football Club are an amateur rugby league club from West Derby in Liverpool, formed in 2003. The team played home games at Sefton RUFC in West Derby. They played in the North West Premier division of the Rugby ...
* 2007
Widnes Saints Widnes Saints are a rugby league team based in Widnes, Cheshire. They play in the North West Premier Division of the Rugby League Conference The Rugby League Conference, also known as the Co-operative Rugby League Conference as a result of ...
* 2008 Moorends-Thorne Marauders * 2009
Northampton Casuals Northampton Demons was a rugby league club based in Duston, Northampton. They played in the RFL Midlands Rugby League Men's South Division. History Northampton Casuals The club was founded in 2007 as the ''Northampton Casuals'' and was accepted ...
(now Northampton Demons) * 2010 Northampton Demons * 2011 Elmbridge Eagles


See also

*
British rugby league system The British rugby league system is based on a five-tier structure administered by the Rugby Football League. Professional clubs The following is a list of professional and semi-professional clubs in the British rugby league system: *''*capaci ...
*
Women's Rugby League Conference The Women's Rugby League Conference was a competition for women's rugby league teams in Britain that ran from 2008 to 2011. The men's equivalent is the Rugby League Conference. History : The ''Southern Conference League'' began as a 10-team p ...


Notes


References


External links


Official website

Unofficial RLC website

Club directory on official site

Official tables

Fixture lists

Fixtures and results on leaguenews.co.uk
{{Portal bar, Sports Sports leagues established in 1997 1997 establishments in England