The Rugby Football League Championship Second Division was founded in 1902 and was the second tier of professional rugby league in the UK until 2003. During the 1990s a third division was established and there is automatic promotion between the second and third division.

History

The Second Division was formed in 1902 by splitting the

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) ...

into two divisions of 18. After three seasons the Second Division was abolished and not resurrected until 1962. Two seasons later in 1964 the Second Division was scrapped for the second time. The division was resurrected again in 1973 and has been played every season since. During the 1991–92 season, a third division was established and, for the first time, two teams were relegated. There was no regular relegation from the Second Division until 2003. In 1995, in anticipation for the

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 ...

starting in 1996, six teams were relegated from the

, five were relegated to the Second Division and one was relegated to form the Third Division. Controversy was caused as

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 finished 4th in the Second Division, were elected to the Championship ahead of

Keighley Keighley ( ) is a market town and a civil parishes in England, civil parish in the City of Bradford Borough of West Yorkshire, England. It is the second-largest settlement in the borough, after Bradford. Keighley is north-west of Bradford, n ...

Batley Batley is a market town in the Kirklees district, in West Yorkshire, England, south-west of Leeds, north-west of Wakefield and Dewsbury, south-east of Bradford and north-east of Huddersfield, in the Heavy Woollen District. In 2011, the popu ...

and

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confl ...

. In 2003, the divisions under

were reorganised into the National Leagues with Second and Third Divisions becoming National League One and National League Two.

Results

Winners

*§ ''Denotes club now

defunct Defunct may refer to: * Defunct (video game), ''Defunct'' (video game), 2014 * Zombie process or defunct process, in Unix-like operating systems See also

* * :Former entities * End-of-life product * Obsolescence {{Disambiguation ...

References

External links

{{British and Irish Rugby League links Rugby league competitions in the United Kingdom Rugby Football League Rugby Football League Championship