Conference League South
The Southern Conference League is the fourth tier of the British rugby league system. It is the highest level of amateur rugby league outside of the heartlands in Northern England, thus operates in The Midlands, South England, and Wales. It was one of the many leagues that replaced the Rugby League Conference. The competition was first played between 2012 and 2016, and was relaunched in 2019 after a two-year hiatus.
Current season, competition or edition: 2023 Conference League South | |
 | |
| Sport | Rugby league |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2012 |
| No. of teams | 14 |
| Country |  England Wales |
| Most recent champion(s) | Wests Warriors |
| Promotion to | League 1 (via RFL application) |
| Relegation to | Midlands League South West League West League East League London and South East League North Wales Conference South Wales Conference |
| Domestic cup(s) | Challenge Cup |
| Official website | RFL SCL Page |
History
The Conference League South was founded in 2012 as a result of restructuring of the community game which saw the Rugby League Conference (RLC) broken up into regional leagues covering Britain and the heartlands National Conference League (NCL) move to a summer season. Some RLC sides joined a newly formed National Conference League Division 3 for a single season and applied for full membership of the NCL the following season.
The Conference League South was created for sides outside the rugby league heartlands of the North of England that wanted a higher standard of rugby league than the Midlands Rugby League Premier Division or the South Premier but were not yet ready to join the NCL.
In 2013 the six teams to compete in the Conference League South were , Bristol Sonics, Nottingham Outlaws and St Albans Centurions joined from National Conference League Division 3; Leicester Storm and Northampton Demons were elevated from the premier division of Midlands Rugby League and Sheffield Hallam Eagles joined as a new side after the collapse of the Championship reserve under-23 division.
Northampton Demons and St Albans Centurions were replaced with Oxford Cavaliers and Valley Cougars in 2014 however Oxford Cavaliers failed to complete the season. Bristol Sonics dropped down to the West of England Rugby League in 2015 which allowed four new clubs to join; Gloucestershire Warriors, Coventry Bears Reserves, Torfaen Tigers and Raiders RL alongside the return of Oxford Cavaliers.
London Chargers were promoted to compete in 2016 alongside a new reserve side from University of Gloucestershire All Golds with Gloucestershire Warriors, Leicester Storm, Oxford Cavaliers and Sheffield Hallam Eagles dropping out.
At the end of the 2016 season, it was announced that the Conference League South season would not take place in 2017, and teams would return to their respective regional leagues.[1] In May 2017, the RFL announced plans to introduce a new Southern League competition from 2018 onwards.[2]
The Conference League South was reintroduced for the 2019 season as the Southern Conference League, split into geographic Eastern and Western divisions, with the Hammersmith Hills Hoists winning the first title under the tournament's new name. The 2020 season was abandoned due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the competition resumed in 2021, with a maiden title for Wests Warriors beating local rivals London Chargers 20 points to 10.
For the 2023 season, the geographic split of the league has been removed with all teams in the divisions below being able to apply to enter the competition if they so wish. When the fixture list was released, only 8 teams have entered the division - All Golds, Bedford Tigers, Brentwood Eels, Eastern Rhinos, Hammersmith Hills Hoists, London Chargers, North Herts Crusaders, Wests Warriors.
Clubs
| Team | City | Ground |
| Gloucestershire All Golds | Gloucester | St. Peter's Sports Ground[3] |
| Bedford Tigers | Bedford | Great Ouse Way[4] |
| Brentwood Eels | Brentwood, Essex | Old Brentwoods RFC |
| Eastern Rhinos | Colchester | Mill Road Playing Fields[5] |
| Hammersmith Hills Hoists | Chiswick, London | Chiswick RFC[6] |
| London Chargers | Chiswick, London | Chiswick RFC[7] |
| North Herts Crusaders | Hitchin | King George V Playing Fields[8] |
| Wests Warriors | Acton, London | Twyford Avenue[9] |
Results
| Season | Grand Final Information | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Champions | Score | Runners-up | |
| 2012 | Hemel Stags | 17-10 | Huddersfield Underbank Rangers |
| 2013 | Sheffield Hallam Eagles | 32-24 | Nottingham Outlaws |
| 2014 | Valley Cougars | 19-10 | Sheffield Hallam Eagles |
| 2015 | Nottingham Outlaws | 39-12 | Valley Cougars |
| 2016 | London Chargers | 42-0 | Valley Cougars |
| 2017 | Hiatus | ||
| 2018 | |||
| 2019 | Hammersmith Hills Hoists | 16-10 | London Chargers |
| 2020 | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | ||
| 2021 | Wests Warriors | 20-10 | London Chargers |
| 2022 | London Chargers | 38-8 | Brentwood Eels |
| 2023 | |||
| 2024 | |||
Winners
| Club | Wins | Winning years |
|---|---|---|
| London Chargers | 2 | 2016, 2022 |
| Hemel Stags | 1 | 2012 |
| Sheffield Hallam Eagles | 1 | 2013 |
| Valley Cougars | 1 | 2014 |
| Nottingham Outlaws | 1 | 2015 |
| Hammersmith Hills Hoists | 1 | 2019 |
| Wests Warriors | 1 | 2021 |
Tables
2021
| Western Conference | Eastern Conference | |||||||||||||||||||
| POS | CLUB | P | W | L | D | PF | PA | DIFF | PTS | POS | CLUB | P | W | L | D | PF | PA | DIFF | PTS | |
| 1 | Swindon St George | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 162 | 150 | 12 | 8 | 1 | Wests Warriors | 12 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 538 | 146 | 392 | 24 | |
| 2 | Valley Cougars | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 156 | 115 | 41 | 5 | 2 | London Chargers | 12 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 396 | 207 | 189 | 20 | |
| 3 | Devon Sharks | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 144 | 125 | 19 | 5 | 3 | Hammersmith Hills Hoists | 12 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 351 | 308 | 43 | 16 | |
| 4 | All Golds | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 114 | 186 | -72 | 3 | 4 | North Herts Crusaders | 12 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 366 | 326 | 40 | 10 | |
|
5 | Bedford Tigers | 11 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 274 | 298 | -24 | 10 | ||||||||||
| 6 | Eastern Rhinos | 12 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 250 | 344 | -94 | 10 | |||||||||||
| 7 | Hemel Stags | 11 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 139 | 423 | -284 | 1 | |||||||||||
| 8 | South London Silverbacks | 10 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 132 | 394 | -262 | -1 | |||||||||||
- Playoffs
- Preliminary Round
- London Chargers 56-18 North Herts Crusaders
- Devon Sharks 22-36 Hammersmith Hills Hoists
- Swindon St George 24-22 Bedford Tigers
- Semi Finals
- Wests Warriors 36-10 Hammersmith Hills Hoists
- Swindon St George 14-52 London Chargers
- Final
- Wests Warriors 20-10 London Chargers
2022
| Western Conference | Eastern Conference | |||||||||||||||||||
| POS | CLUB | P | W | L | D | PF | PA | DIFF | PTS | POS | CLUB | P | W | L | D | PF | PA | DIFF | PTS | |
| 1 | All Golds | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 138 | 54 | 84 | 8 | 1 | London Chargers | 12 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 482 | 164 | 318 | 24 | |
| 2 | Torfaen Tigers | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 228 | 152 | 76 | 8 | 2 | Wests Warriors | 12 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 460 | 228 | 232 | 20 | |
| 3 | Swindon St George | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 146 | 188 | -42 | 3 | 3 | Brentwood Eels | 12 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 210 | 316 | -106 | 10 | |
| 4 | Devon Sharks | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 54 | 172 | -118 | 2 | 4 | Eastern Rhinos | 12 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 238 | 290 | -52 | 8 | |
|
5 | Bedford Tigers | 12 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 220 | 314 | -94 | 8 | ||||||||||
| 6 | North Herts Crusaders | 12 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 226 | 392 | -166 | 8 | |||||||||||
| 7 | Hammersmith Hills Hoists | 12 | 3 | 9 | 0 | 228 | 360 | -132 | 5 | |||||||||||
- Playoffs
- Semi Finals
- Torfaen Tigers 0-24 Brentwood Eels
- All Golds 46-6 Eastern Rhinos
- Preliminary Final
- All Golds 12-46 Wests Warriors
- Final
- London Chargers 38-8 Brentwood Eels
See also
References
- Hodgson, Phil (15 December 2016). "Goodbye to the Conference League South?". Total Rugby League. League Publications. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
- "New Southern Rugby League Competition set to launch in 2018". The Rugby Football League. 26 May 2017. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
- "Contact". All Golds Rugby League Gloucestershire. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
- "Contact Bedford Tigers RLFC". www.pitchero.com. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
- "StackPath". www.easternrhinos.co.uk. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
- "CONTACT". mysite. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
- "Contact London Chargers RL". www.pitchero.com. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
- "North Herts Crusaders Rugby League". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
- "Contact Wests Warriors Rugby League". www.pitchero.com. Retrieved 7 June 2020.