Rugby League Conference
| Rugby League Conference | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Sport | Rugby league |
| Formerly known as | Southern Conference League |
| Instituted | 1997 |
| Ceased | 2012 |
| Replaced by |
National Conference League Conference League South Regional Leagues |
| Number of teams | 115 |
| Countries |
 England Scotland Wales
|
| Champions | Huddersfield Underbank Rangers (2011) |
| Website | rugbyleagueconference.co.uk |
The Rugby League Conference (RLC) (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 has 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 'heartland' of rugby league, although as the playing standards increased, it also accepted teams from the 'heartlands'. The hope is that, at least some of these clubs, would eventually progress to become semi-professional clubs that could one day join the 'traditional' clubs in Championship 1; to date, London Skolars have done so with both Hemel Stags and Oxford Rugby League joining in 2013, Coventry Bears in 2014 and Nottingham Outlaws will join Championship 1 in the 2016 season.
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.
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 all non-heartland parts of the country and its even then inclusion of several teams outside the South.
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.
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