2009 Championship 1 was a semi-professional rugby league football competition played in the United Kingdom, the third tier of the sport in the country. The winner of this league will be promoted to the Co-operative Championship. There is no relegation from this league as it is the lowest tier of professional rugby league in the UK.
2009 Structure
Championship 1Team 2008 SeasonStadium CapacityCity/Area Blackpool Panthers 9th Woodlands Memorial Ground 9,000 Lytham St Annes, Lancashire Dewsbury Rams 11th(National League One) Crown Flatt 5,100 Dewsbury, West Yorkshire Hunslet Hawks 12th South Leeds Stadium 4,000 Leeds, West Yorkshire Keighley Cougars 5th Cougar Park 7,800 Keighley, West Yorkshire London Skolars 11th New River Stadium 5,000 Haringey, London Oldham 3rd Boundary Park 10,368 Oldham, Greater Manchester Rochdale Hornets 7th Spotland Stadium 10,249 Rochdale, Greater Manchester Swinton Lions 10th Park Lane 3,000 Swinton, Greater Manchester Workington Town 8th Derwent Park 10,000 Workington, Cumbria York City Knights 6th Huntington Stadium 3,428 York, North Yorkshire
The Dewsbury Rams were easily the best team throughout the regular season. They won all their games and finished on top of the table, 12 points ahead of the second placed Keighley Cougars. The Rochdale Hornets were stripped of six competition points for going into administration and had to be reformed by local fans .
Table Three points were awarded for a win, one point for a draw. Bonus points were awarded (one point per game) to losing teams where the margin of defeat was 13 points or less. PositionClubPlayedWonDrawnLostPts forPts agstPts diffPoints1 Dewsbury Rams 1818007602335370542 Keighley Cougars1813055394151243423 York City Knights1812065893602294404 Oldham R.L.F.C.1810176184491694355 Blackpool Panthers18918565456765336 Hunslet Hawks181008472411613337 Swinton Lions188010513516 −33278 Rochdale Hornets186012500557 −57615(a)9 Workington Town182016281700 −41951110 London Skolars181017210927 −71725
a: Rochdale were docked 9 points for going into administration.
Play-offs Championship 1 uses a top 6 play-off system. Elimination semi-finals HomeScoreAwayMatch informationDate and timeVenueRefereeAttendance Blackpool Panthers18–21 Hunslet Hawks13 September, 15:00 GMTWoodlands Memorial GroundCraig Halloran 543 Oldham R.L.F.C.31–26 Swinton Lions13 September, 15:00 GMTBoundary ParkMatthew Thomasson 745
Qualification and elimination matches HomeScoreAwayMatch informationDate and timeVenueRefereeAttendance Keighley Cougars 32–18 York City Knights20 September, 15:00 GMTCougar Park Ronnie Laughton 1,501 Oldham R.L.F.C. 54–30 Hunslet Hawks20 September, 15:00 GMTBoundary Park Jamie Leahy 801 Final qualifiers HomeScoreAwayMatch informationDate and timeVenueRefereeAttendance York City Knights 14–44 Oldham R.L.F.C. 27 September, 15:00 GMT Huntington Stadium Phil Bentham 1,164
Grand Final HomeScoreAwayMatch informationDate and timeVenueRefereeAttendance Keighley Cougars 28–26 Oldham R.L.F.C. 4 October, 15:05 GMT Halliwell Jones Stadium Ronnie Laughton 11,398
2009 Attendances
Team Played Highest Lowest Total Average 1 Dewsbury Rams 92,10391211,3811,2652 York City Knights 103,10662911,4691,1473 Keighley Cougars 101,7265349,8989894 Oldham R.L.F.C. 111,41974510,7109745 Rochdale Hornets 91,2494806,1396826 Hunslet Hawks 910194125,747639 7 Blackpool Panthers 89752804,139517 8 Swinton Lions 97053694,610512 9 Workington Town 66933533070512 10 London Skolars 91,1562154003445 Total9011,39821582,564907
– Crowd figures could not be found for all games. – The final will be played at a neutral venue and thus will not be included in the averages of any team.
See also Co-operative Championship 2009 Co-operative Championship RFL League 1
References