Championship Grand Final

The Championship Grand Final (previously the National League One Grand Final) is the championship-deciding game of the Championship competition via the playoffs. Since 2022 the Grand Final has also been used to determine promotion to Super League.

Championship Grand Final
Teams2
First meeting2003
Latest meeting2022
Next meeting2023
BroadcastersSky Sports
Statistics
Meetings total13
Most wins Leigh Leopards (3 titles)

History

1998–2002: Institution

Due to the success of the Super League Grand Final that was introduced in 1998, the RFL decided to introduce a Grand Final for the second division' with the winner being promoted to Super League rather than the team finishing top being promoted.

2003–2007: Promotion

In 2003 as the Second Division was rebranded National League One and promotion and relegation was reintroduced between the Super League and National League One. Rather than having a traditional one up one down system, the RFL decided to implement a top 6 playoff system that was being used in the Super League at the time to decide promotion.

2008–2014: Licensing

In 2007 it was announced licensing was to be introduced for the 2008 season, replacing promotion and relegation, but the Grand Final would be retained and the division would be rebranded the Championship.

Salford and Celtic Crusaders were the first teams to be awarded Super League licenses and both teams reached the Grand Final which was reduced to being decided by a 5 team playoff, however it would return to six teams the following season.

In 2013, the playoffs were expanded for the first time to eight teams as it had been seen to be a success in the Super League for a number of years before. The eight team playoff would be the last before it was announced the Championship Grand Final would be scrapped in 2014 due to a league restructure in 2015.

2015–2018: Million Pound Game

In 2015 the Championship Grand Final was effectively replaced with the Million Pound Game. In the new league structure the top 4 Championship clubs would form a mini league with the bottom 4 Super League clubs. Teams finishing in the top three were promoted to Super League while teams in the bottom three were relegated to the Championship, meanwhile teams finishing 4th and 5th would play each other in the Million Pound Game for the final Super League place. In the four years it was contested three Championship clubs competed in it with 2018 being the only time both teams in it were from the Championship.

2022–present: Reintroduction

After scrapping the Super 8s in 2019 the RFL kept the Million Pound Game as the promotion final. For the 2022 season it was decided that the Million Pound Game branding was to be dropped in favour of the Grand Final for the first time since 2014.

Results

Year Winners Score Runner-up Stadium Attendance
2003 Salford 3114 Leigh Halton Stadium 9,186
2004 Leigh 3216 Whitehaven 11,005
2005 Castleford 36-8 Whitehaven 13,300
2006 Hull KR 2916 Widnes Halliwell Jones Stadium
2007 Castleford 4210 Widnes Headingley 20,814
2008 Salford 3618 Celtic Crusaders Halton Stadium 7,104
2009 Barrow 2618 Halifax Halliwell Jones Stadium 11,398
2010 Halifax 2322 Featherstone 9,443
2011 Featherstone 404 Sheffield 7,263
2012 Sheffield 2016 Featherstone 6,409
2013 Sheffield 1912 Batley Leigh Sports Village 6,800
2014 Leigh 3612 Featherstone Headingley 9,164
For 2015-2020 see Million Pound Game
2022 Leigh 4412 Batley Leigh Sports Village 7,000

Winners

Club Wins Runners-up Winning Years
1 Salford Red Devils202003, 2008
2 Castleford Tigers202005, 2007
3 Leigh Centurions312004, 2014, 2022
4 Sheffield Eagles212012, 2013
5 Hull Kingston Rovers102006
6 Barrow Raiders102009
7 Halifax112010
8 Featherstone Rovers132011
9 Whitehaven02N/A
10 Widnes Vikings02N/A
11 Celtic Crusaders01N/A
12 Batley Bulldogs02N/A

League Leaders

Club Wins Runners-up Winning Years
1 Featherstone Rovers402010, 2011, 2012, 2013
2 Salford Red Devils202003, 2008
3 Leigh Centurions202004, 2014
4 Whitehaven102005
5 Hull Kingston Rovers102006
6 Castleford Tigers102007
7 Barrow Raiders102009

See also

References

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