RFU Championship
| Country |
 England
|
|---|---|
| Other club(s) from |
 Jersey
|
| Founded | 1987 |
| Number of teams | 12 |
| Level on pyramid | 2 |
| Promotion to | Premiership |
| Relegation to | National League 1 |
| Domestic cup(s) | British and Irish Cup |
| Most championships |
Worcester Warriors Rotherham Titans Yorkshire Carnegie Northampton Saints Bristol (3 titles) |
| TV partners | Sky Sports |
| Website | englandrugby.com |
 2016–17 RFU Championship
|
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The RFU Championship, known for sponsorship reasons as the Greene King IPA Championship from 2013–14, is the second tier of the English rugby union league system and was founded in September 1987. The league was previously known as National Division One and in 2009 changed from a league consisting of semi-professional clubs to one that is now fully professional. The current champions are Bristol, who won promotion to the English Premiership after beating the Doncaster Knights in a two-legged play-off, having finished first in the league during the regular season.
On 10 November 2008 it was proposed by the Rugby Football Union that the second tier of the English rugby union system should be a fully professional twelve club Championship. The proposal was criticised by the then National League One chairman Geoff Irvine, representing the clubs, who described it as "financial suicide", although, six League One clubs subsequently supported the proposal. The proposals required five clubs to be relegated to National Division Two, with only one club being promoted from that division and one club joining the league from the Premiership. On 15 November 2008 the RFU Council voted overwhelmingly in favour of the new proposal, which began in September 2009. Under the proposal the RFU paid £2.3 million a year to help fund the change, with future rises due through television rights. For the 2009–10 season and beyond, the team which wins the Championship league will not be automatically promoted to the Premiership, there will be a play-off competition to decide which team is promoted. For the first three seasons, the top eight clubs qualified for the play-offs and from 2012–13 the play-offs were between the top four clubs. In the event that the winner of the play-off competition does not meet the minimum standards criteria for entry to the Premiership, there will be no promotion or relegation between the two divisions for that season. There is the possibility that neither team in the play-off final meet the minimum standards criteria, in which case the game would be meaningless in terms of promotion or relegation. The RFU have clarified that they will not consider promoting lower-placed sides, even if they finished top of the league phase of the competition. The play-off format of the Championship has been heavily criticised by the media, players and fans alike.
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