National League Two
| League 1 | |
|---|---|
Current season or competition:: 2017 League 1
|
|
 |
|
| Sport | Rugby league |
| Instituted | 2003 |
| Inaugural season | 2003 |
| Number of teams | 16 |
| Countries |
 England (13 teams) Wales (2 teams) Canada (1 team) |
| Champions |
 Rochdale Hornets (1st title) (2016)
|
| Most titles |
 York City Knights Dewsbury Rams (2 titles)
|
| Website | kingstone press leagues |
| Broadcast partner |
Sky Sports Premier Sports (Toronto matches) GameTV (Canada) |
| Related competitions |
Domestic Cup: Challenge Cup League Cup: League 1 Cup |
| Promotion to | Championship |
League 1, formerly Championship 1 and currently known as Kingstone Press League 1 for sponsorship reasons, is a professional rugby league competition based in England. The competition also features clubs from Canada and Wales. It is the RFL's third-tier competition, below the Championship, with which it has promotion and relegation.
The league was inaugurated in 2003 when the Northern Ford Premiership was divided into two separate leagues, initially named National League One and National League Two. In 2009, the league names were changed to the Championship and Championship 1 respectively, with the latter adopting its current name of League 1 in 2015.
Third-division rugby league competitions in the United Kingdom have existed periodically since 1991. The current incarnation was created in 2003 when the second-division competition below Super League, the Northern Ford Premiership, was split into National Leagues One and Two. Teams that finished in the top ten league positions of the Northern Ford Premiership at the end of the 2002 season formed National League One, while the remaining eight formed National League Two where they were joined by two additional clubs, London Skolars from the Rugby League Conference and York City Knights, who replaced the defunct York Wasps and also joined National League Two for the inaugural season in 2003.
At the end of the 2005 Super League season, an extra team was relegated to National League One in order to accommodate French side Catalans Dragons' entry to the competition. In turn, an additional team was relegated from National League One to League Two, while Blackpool Panthers were elected to National League Two for the 2005 season to replace the defunct Chorley Lynx, leaving 11 teams in League Two. In order to even up the numbers, the Welsh team Celtic Crusaders were admitted to the competition in 2005, first playing in the 2006 season and increasing the division to twelve teams.
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