The Rugby League Premiership was a competition for British

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 ...

clubs between 1973 and 1995. As the Super League Premiership the competition continued until 1997.

History

From 1909 until 1973 (except for 1962–64) the

Rugby Football League Championship The Rugby Football League Championship First Division was the top division of rugby league in Great Britain between 1895 and 1996, when it was replaced by the Super League. History 1895–1904: Foundations The first season of rugby leagu ...

used a play-off format to determine the league champions. For the 1973–74 season the league was split into two divisions, and a play-off system was no longer used. In order to maintain interest towards the end of the season a new competition, the Club Championship, was introduced to replace the play-offs. The

Harry Sunderland Trophy The Harry Sunderland Trophy was awarded annually to the man of the match in the Super League Grand Final and its predecessors, the RFL First Division Final and the Premiership Final, between 1965 and 2023. Named after Harry Sunderland, who w ...

, which had until then been awarded to the man of the match in the championship final, was instead awarded in the premiership final. The first season saw 16 teams take part: the top 12 of the first division and the top four from the

second division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

. The following season saw the title change to "Premiership", and the format was altered so that only the top eight teams in the first division would compete. A similar competition was later instituted for clubs in the lower league(s). The Premiership continued to be played until 1995–96, and the switch to a summer sport, when the competition was abandoned to allow the 1996

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 ...

season to begin in the spring. A top-four play-off leading to a final, the Super League Premiership, was instituted as part of the

competition. In

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

this was replaced by a return to a play-off for the championships, with the Harry Sunderland Trophy being the award to the Grand Final's man of the match.

Premiership winners

''For completeness, this table includes the 1973–74 Club Championship, and premiership winners from the

era.''

References

External links

{{Rugby League Premiership Rugby league competitions in the United Kingdom 1973 establishments in the United Kingdom 1997 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Premiership Recurring sporting events established in 1973 Defunct rugby league competitions Recurring sporting events disestablished in 1997

History

Premiership winners

See also

References

External links