RL Merit League

The Rugby League Conference, also known as the Co-operative Rugby League Conference as a result of sponsorship from The Co-operative Group), was a series of regionally based divisions of amateur rugby league 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 in northern Scotland down to Plymouth 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 and Coventry Bears both play in the professional structure as have Hemel Stags and Oxford although Hemel reverted to being a solely amateur club after selling its professional license to Cornwall and Oxford folded.

With the top heartlands amateur league, the National Conference 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 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)
**RLC Midlands Premier (now Midlands Rugby League)
**RLC North West Premier (now North West Men's League)
**RLC Welsh Premier (now South Wales Men's League)
**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)
**RLC North West Regional (defunct)
**RLC Wales Regional (defunct)
**RLC South West Regional (now South West Rugby League)
**RLC South East Regional (defunct)
**RLC East Regional (now East Rugby League)
**RLC North East Regional (now North East Rugby League)
**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 (as National League three)
* 2005 Bradford Dudley Hill (as National League three)
* 2006 Bramley Buffaloes (as National League three)
* 2007 Featherstone Lions
* 2008 Crusaders Colts
* 2009 Bramley Buffaloes
* 2010 Warrington Wizards
* 2011 Huddersfield Underbank Rangers

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
* 2003 Bridgend Blue Bulls
* 2004 Widnes Saints
* 2005 Bridgend Blue Bulls
* 2006 South London Storm
* 2007 St Albans Centurions
* 2008 Nottingham Outlaws
* 2009 West London Sharks
* 2010 St Albans Centurions
* 2011 Parkside Hawks

RLC Regional

Competed for by winners of each regional division.

* 2005 Wetherby Bulldogs
* 2006 Liverpool Buccaneers
* 2007 Widnes Saints
* 2008 Moorends-Thorne Marauders
* 2009 Northampton Casuals (now Northampton Demons)
* 2010 Northampton Demons
* 2011 Elmbridge Eagles

See also

* British rugby league system
* Women's Rugby League Conference

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