The 2011 Championship 1 was a semi-professional rugby league football competition played in England and Wales, the third tier of the sport in the country. The winner of this league, along with the play-off winners will be promoted to the 2012 Rugby Football League Championship. There is no relegation from this league as it is the lowest tier of professional rugby league.
All of the teams competed in the 2011 Challenge Cup but the South Wales Scorpions did not compete in the 2011 National League Cup.
2011 structure
The competition features mainly the same teams as it did in 2010. The exceptions being that the Hunslet Hawks and the York City Knights were both promoted to compete in the 2011 RFL Championship. The Keighley Cougars and Whitehaven were relegated from the 2010 RFL Championship. The competition was to contain 11 teams, however, the Blackpool Panthers went into administration and were thus omitted from the competition for 2011. +Championship 1Team 2010 SeasonStadium CapacityCity/Area Doncaster 9th Keepmoat Stadium 15,231 Doncaster, South Yorkshire Gateshead Thunder 11th Thunderdome 11,800 Gateshead, Tyne and Wear Keighley Cougars 10th (Championship) Cougar Park 6,800 Keighley, West Yorkshire London Skolars 10th New River Stadium 5,000 Haringey, London Oldham 2nd Whitebank Stadium 1500 Limeside, Oldham Greater Manchester Rochdale Hornets 5th Spotland Stadium 10,249 Rochdale, Greater Manchester South Wales Scorpions 6th The Gnoll 6,000 Neath, West Glamorgan, Wales Swinton Lions 8th The Willows (Shared with Salford for this season) N/A Swinton, Greater Manchester Whitehaven 11th (Championship) Recreation Ground 7,500 Whitehaven, Cumbria Workington Town 7th Derwent Park 10,000 Workington, Cumbria
Season table +2011 Championship 1Team 1 Swinton Lions 20 14 1 5 720 479 +241 3 47 2 Keighley Cougars 20 13 0 7 663 412 +251 4 43 3 Workington Town 20 11 1 8 659 443 +216 6 41 4 Rochdale Hornets 20 12 0 8 652 498 +154 4 40 5 Doncaster 20 12 0 8 531 433 +98 4 40 6 Whitehaven 20 13 2 5 566 425 +141 2 36 7 Oldham 20 11 0 9 641 533 +108 3 36 8 South Wales Scorpions 20 6 0 14 536 674 −138 4 22 9 London Skolars 20 5 1 14 433 678 −245 4 21 10 Gateshead Thunder 20 0 1 19 268 1094 −826 0 2
Teams qualifying for promotion Teams qualifying for the Play-offs
Season Results
Round 1 HomeScoreAwayMatch InformationDate and timeVenueAttendance Whitehaven30–22 Rochdale Hornets13 March, 15:00 GMTRecreation Ground704 Swinton Lions22–10 Workington Town13 March, 15:00 GMTThe Willows681 Oldham R.L.F.C.66–12 Gateshead Thunder13 March, 15:00 GMTWhitebank Stadium562 Keighley Cougars66–6 London Skolars13 March, 15:00 GMTCougar Park640 Doncaster40–10 South Wales Scorpions13 March, 15:00 GMTKeepmoat Stadium895 Source:" Cooperative Championship
Round 2 Home Score AwayMatch InformationDate and timeVenueAttendance Workington Town31–12 Oldham R.L.F.C.20 March, 15:00 GMTDerwent Park473 South Wales Scorpions18–22 Whitehaven20 March, 13:00 GMTThe Gnoll271 Rochdale Hornets26–46 Swinton Lions20 March, 15:00 GMTSpotland Stadium743 London Skolars22–42 Doncaster20 March, 15:00 GMTNew River Stadium326 Gateshead Thunder10–44 Keighley Cougars20 March, 15:00 GMTGateshead International Stadium305 Source:
Round 3 HomeScoreAwayMatch InformationDate and timeVenueAttendance Whitehaven24–10 Keighley Cougars27 March, 15:00 GMTRecreation Ground754 South Wales Scorpions60–20 Gateshead Thunder27 March, 13:00 GMTThe Gnoll302 Rochdale Hornets40–20 London Skolars27 March, 15:00 GMTSpotland Stadium434 Oldham R.L.F.C.24–68 Swinton Lions27 March, 15:00 GMTWhitebank Stadium744 Doncaster26–16 Workington Town27 March, 15:00 GMTKeepmoat Stadium493 Source:
Round 4 HomeScoreAwayMatch InformationDate and timeVenueAttendance Workington Town38–24 South Wales Scorpions3 April, 13:00 GMTDerwent Park376 Swinton Lions48–24 Gateshead Thunder3 April, 15:00 GMTThe Willows493 London Skolars16–48 Whitehaven3 April, 15:00 GMTNew River Stadium542 Keighley Cougars40–14 Oldham R.L.F.C.3 April, 15:00 GMTCougar Park995 Doncaster8–24 Rochdale Hornets3 April, 15:00 GMTKeepmoat Stadium589 Source:
Round 5 HomeScoreAwayMatch InformationDate and timeVenueAttendance Swinton Lions38–30 London Skolars9 April, 17:00 GMTThe Willows395 Rochdale Hornets49–18 Whitehaven10 April, 15:00 GMTSpotland Stadium457 Source:
Round 6 HomeScoreAwayMatch InformationDate and timeVenueAttendance Whitehaven26–16 Doncaster17 April, 15:00 GMTRecreation Ground727 South Wales Scorpions22–74 Swinton Lions17 April, 15:00 GMTThe Gnoll370 Rochdale Hornets32–40 Keighley Cougars17 April, 15:00 GMTSpotland Stadium515 Oldham R.L.F.C.52–26 London Skolars17 April, 15:00 GMTWhitebank Stadium566 Gateshead Thunder0–64 Workington Town17 April, 15:00 GMTGateshead International Stadium273 Source:
Round 7 HomeScoreAwayMatch InformationDate and timeVenueAttendance Doncaster32–36 Swinton Lions25 April, 15:00 GMTKeepmoat Stadium649 Keighley Cougars38–18 Workington Town25 April, 15:00 GMTCougar Park892 London Skolars32–32 Gateshead Thunder25 April, 14:00 GMTNew River Stadium263 Rochdale Hornets40–18 South Wales Scorpions25 April, 15:00 GMTSpotland Stadium402 Whitehaven40–24 Oldham R.L.F.C.25 April, 15:00 GMTRecreation Ground946 Source:
Play-offs
Source:
Statistics The following are the top points scorers in Championship 1 during the 2011 season. Statistics also include tries and goals scored in the play-offs.
+Most tries Player Team Tries Andy Saywell Rochdale Hornets 22 Ian Mort Swinton Lions 21 Scott Kaighan Workington Town 21 Dale Bloomfield Rochdale Hornets 19 Gavin Dodd Swinton Lions 17 Andrew Gay South Wales Scorpions 16 Craig Calvert Whitehaven 15 Chris Spurr Doncaster 13 Mark Brocklehurst Oldham R.L.F.C. 13 Ben Heaton Oldham R.L.F.C. 13 Steve Parry South Wales Scorpions 13 Neil Frazer Workington Town 13 +Most goals Player Team Goals Ian Mort Swinton Lions 104 Paul Crook Rochdale Hornets 100 Darren Holt Workington Town 73 Scott Spaven Doncaster 70 Carl Forber Oldham R.L.F.C. 63 Danny Lawton Keighley Cougars 58 Lewis Palfrey Whitehaven 56 Lewis Reece South Wales Scorpions 54 Dylan Skee London Skolars 36 Chris Baines Keighley Cougars 33 +Most points Player Team Tries Goals DGs Points Ian Mort Swinton Lions 21 104 0 292 Paul Crook Rochdale Hornets 10 100 5 245 Scott Spaven Doncaster 7 70 1 169 Darren Holt Workington Town 1 73 5 155 Danny Lawton Keighley Cougars 9 58 0 152 Carl Forber Oldham R.L.F.C. 5 63 0 146 Lewis Palfrey Whitehaven 5 56 0 132 Lewis Reece South Wales Scorpions 5 54 0 128 Scott Kaighan Workington Town 21 16 1 117 Dylan Skee London Skolars 6 36 1 97
See also Co-operative Championship 2011 RFL Championship RFL League 1 2011 National League Cup
Notes
References
External links Official Championship website RFL Championship coverage Scores from Sky Sports RugbyLeague.org Championship 1 Fans Forums