The 2012 Rugby Football League Championship, also known as Co-operative Championship due to sponsorship by The Co-operative Group, was a semi-professional rugby league football competition played in the UK, one tier below the first tier Super League. The two worst performing teams during the season usually are relegated to Championship 1, however for the 2012 season, no relegation took place, due to the expansion of the Championship to 14 teams in 2013. The winners of the division is decided by a play-off system involving the top 6 teams at the end of the regular season with two teams eventually progressing to the Grand Final. The final was won by Sheffield Eagles, who beat Featherstone Rovers 20–16 at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.
There was no automatic promotion from this league to Super League, which uses a licensing system renewed every three years. Qualifying for the Grand Final or winning the Northern Rail Cup is a prerequisite for Championship clubs to be able to apply for a licence in the next round of applications for the 2015–17 seasons.
All of the teams in the 2012 Co-operative Championship also competed in the 2012 Challenge Cup, where they entered in the third round. All of the teams also competed in the 2012 National League Cup which started before the Co-operative Championship with the finals held mid season.
Teams
This year's competition featured mostly the same teams as it did in 2011. The Swinton Lions and Keighley Cougars were promoted from the 2011 Championship 1, Widnes Vikings were promoted into Super League after winning a licence for 2012-14 seasons, while Barrow Raiders were relegated. Toulouse Olympique, who finished second bottom the previous season, decided to withdraw from the competition and return to the French Elite One Championship league. The changes means that 10 teams competed in the 2012 season. This will increase to 14 in the 2013 season, which meant no relegation from the Championship for the 2012 season.
Legend Reigning champions Defending Northern Rail Cup Champions Promoted
Team & Current Season Stadium Capacity Location Batley Bulldogs Mount Pleasant 6,000 Batley, West Yorkshire Dewsbury Rams Tetley's Stadium 3,500 Dewsbury, West Yorkshire Featherstone Rovers Bigfellas Stadium 6,750 Featherstone, West Yorkshire Halifax The Shay Stadium 6,561 Halifax, West Yorkshire Hunslet Hawks South Leeds Stadium 4,000 Leeds, West Yorkshire Keighley Cougars Cougar Park 7,800 Keighley, West Yorkshire Leigh Centurions Leigh Sports Village 12,700 Leigh, Greater Manchester Sheffield Eagles Bramall Lane 32,702 Sheffield, South Yorkshire Swinton Lions Leigh Sports Village 12,700 Leigh, Greater Manchester York City Knights Huntington Stadium 3,428 York, North Yorkshire
Season standings 2012 RFL Championship Team 1 Featherstone Rovers 18 15 1 2 684 354 +330 0 47 2 Leigh Centurions 18 14 0 4 612 310 +302 2 44 3 Halifax 18 14 0 4 597 377 +220 2 44 4 Sheffield Eagles 18 12 1 5 565 437 +128 3 41 5 Batley Bulldogs 18 11 0 7 551 326 +225 7 40 6 Keighley Cougars 18 8 1 9 395 368 +27 5 31 7 Dewsbury Rams 18 7 0 11 371 518 -147 4 25 8 Swinton Lions 18 4 1 13 366 632 −266 5 19 9 Hunslet Hawks 18 2 0 16 248 684 -436 4 10 10 York City Knights 18 1 0 17 272 645 -373 4 7
Teams qualifying for the Play-offs
This table is correct as of 2 September 2012. Source: cooperativechampionship.co.uk and BBC Sport.
Classification: 1st on competition points; 2nd on match points difference. Competition points: For win = 3; For draw = 2; For loss by 12 points or fewer = 1.
Season results
The regular league season sees the 10 teams play each other twice (one home, one away) over 18 matches. The top six teams at the end of the regular season goes through to the play-offs to determine the winners of the Championship.
Playoffs The Co-operative Championship uses a top 6 play-off system.
Round 1
Sheffield Eagles 42-12 Batley Bulldogs
Halifax 28-24 Keighley Cougars
Round 2
Halifax 12-54 Sheffield Eagles
Featherstone Rovers 32-14 Leigh
Semi Final
Leigh 22-32 Sheffield Eagles
Final
Featherstone Rovers 16-20 Sheffield Eagles
See also Co-operative Championship 2012 Championship 1 British rugby league system Super League Rugby League Conference Northern Ford Premiership National League Cup
References
External links Co-operative Championship