The Southern Conference League is the fourth tier of the

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 ...

. It is the highest level 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 ...

outside of the heartlands in

Northern England Northern England, or the North of England, refers to the northern part of England and mainly corresponds to the Historic counties of England, historic counties of Cheshire, Cumberland, County Durham, Durham, Lancashire, Northumberland, Westmo ...

, operating in

The Midlands The Midlands is the central region of England, to the south of Northern England, to the north of southern England, to the east of Wales, and to the west of the North Sea. The Midlands comprises the ceremonial counties of Derbyshire, Herefords ...

Southern England Southern England, also known as the South of England or the South, is a sub-national part of England. Officially, it is made up of the southern, south-western and part of the eastern parts of England, consisting of the statistical regions of ...

, and

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. It was one of the many leagues that replaced the

Rugby League Conference 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, Sco ...

. The competition was first played between 2012 and 2016, and was relaunched in 2019 after a two-year hiatus.

History

The Southern Conference League was founded in 2013 as the ''Conference League South'' following the restructuring of amateur rugby league in Great Britain. Teams that had competed in the

Rugby League Conference National Division The Rugby League Conference National Division (formerly known as the National League Three) was the fourth division of the British rugby league system. In 2012, the winter amateur competition, the National Conference League announced it was sw ...

in 2011 were moved to the newly formed and

BARLA The British Amateur Rugby League Association (BARLA) is an association for social and recreational rugby league. It works jointly with the Rugby Football League through the RFL Community Board. History BARLA was created on 3 March 1973 at t ...

administered NCL Division Three with clubs drawn from all across England. However at the end of the inaugural season many southern and midlands clubs opted to leave the National Conference League structure and join the newly formed Conference League South for the 2013 season. The Conference League South was created for sides outside the rugby league heartlands of the

North of England Northern England, or the North of England, refers to the northern part of England and mainly corresponds to the historic counties of Cheshire, Cumberland, Durham, Lancashire, Northumberland, Westmorland and Yorkshire. Officially, it is a gr ...

that wanted a higher standard of rugby league than the Midlands Rugby League Premier Division or the South Premier but were not yet ready for the NCL. In 2013, the six teams to compete in the Conference League South were,

Bristol Sonics Bristol Sonics are a rugby league club based in Bristol in the South West of England. The Sonics' first team plays in the Conference League South competition, having previously played in the now defunct Rugby League Conference Midlands Premi ...

, Nottingham Outlaws and St Albans Centurions from National Conference League Division 3; Leicester Storm and Northampton Demons were elevated from the premier division of Midlands Rugby League and Sheffield Hallam Eagles joined as a new side after the collapse of the Championship reserve under-23 division. Northampton Demons and St Albans Centurions were replaced with

Oxford Cavaliers Oxford Cavaliers Rugby League Football Club is the first amateur rugby league club formed in Oxford in the summer era. For almost thirty years, the Cavaliers have coached and developed several players who have gone on to play the game both pro ...

and

Valley Cougars Valley Cougars are a rugby league team based in Treharris. They play in the Wales Premier League, which they won in 2017 after defeating the Torfaen Tigers in the league's Grand Final. History They were founded in 2001 as Cynon Valley Cougars an ...

in 2014 however

failed to complete the season.

dropped down to the

West of England 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 ...

in 2015 which allowed four new clubs to join; Gloucestershire Warriors, Coventry Bears Reserves,

Torfaen Tigers Torfaen Tigers are a rugby league team based in Pontypool, Torfaen, Wales. They play in the Southern Conference League division, which is the 4th tier in the Rugby league pyramid Torfaen Tigers runs 4 junior teams U12's,14's,16's and 19's in th ...

and Raiders RL alongside the return of

. London Chargers were promoted to compete in 2016 alongside a new reserve side from University of Gloucestershire All Golds with Gloucestershire Warriors, Leicester Storm,

and Sheffield Hallam Eagles dropping out. At the end of the 2016 season, it was announced that the Conference League South season would not take place in 2017, and teams would return to their respective regional leagues. In May 2017, the RFL announced plans to introduce a new Southern League competition from 2018 onwards. The Conference League South was reintroduced for the 2019 season as the ''Southern Conference League'', split into geographic Eastern and Western divisions, with the Hammersmith Hills Hoists winning the first title under the tournament's new name. The 2020 season was abandoned due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, but the competition resumed in 2021, with a maiden title for Wests Warriors beating local rivals London Chargers 20 points to 10. For the 2023 season, the geographic split of the league has been removed with all teams in the divisions below being able to apply to enter the competition if they so wish. When the fixture list was released, only 8 teams have entered the division - All Golds, Bedford Tigers, Brentwood Eels, Eastern Rhinos, Hammersmith Hills Hoists, London Chargers, North Herts Crusaders, Wests Warriors.

Clubs

Results

The 2012 results refer to National Conference League 3.

Winners

Tables

2021

;Playoffs *Preliminary Round :London Chargers 56–18 North Herts Crusaders :Devon Sharks 22–36 Hammersmith Hills Hoists :Swindon St George 24–22 Bedford Tigers *Semi Finals :Wests Warriors 36–10 Hammersmith Hills Hoists :Swindon St George 14–52 London Chargers *Final :Wests Warriors 20–10 London Chargers

2022

;Playoffs *Preliminary Rounds :Torfaen Tigers 0–24 Brentwood Eels :All Golds 46–6 Eastern Rhinos *Semi Finals :All Golds 12–46 Wests Warriors :Brentwood Eels 8–38 London Chargers *Final :Wests Warriors 20–12 London Chargers

2023

Play Off

2024

;Deductions *London Skolars: Withdrew partway into season. All remaining fixtures rewarded 24-0 to opponents.

References

External links

{{British Rugby League links Rugby Football League BARLA competitions Rugby league in the United Kingdom Rugby league competitions in the United Kingdom