National Conference League

National Conference League
Country	England
Confederation	RFL BARLA
Founded	1986
Divisions	Premier Division Division One Division Two Division Three
Number of teams	50
Level on pyramid	4
Promotion to	League 1 via application to RFL
Relegation to	Cumbria League North West League North East League Yorkshire League Scottish National League
Domestic cup(s)	Challenge Cup League 1 Cup Conference Challenge Trophy
Current champions	Leigh Miners Rangers (Premier Division) Kells (Division One) Millom (Division Two) Hunslet Club Parkside (Division Three) (2015)
Website	www.nationalconferenceleague.co.uk
2015

The National Conference League (known as the Kingstone Press National Conference League for sponsorship reasons) is the top British amateur rugby league competition in the Rugby Football League pyramid, and as such is the leading amateur rugby league competition in England. Since 2012, the National Conference operates over a summer season in line with the professional game.

History

Main article: History of the National Conference League

The league was founded as the BARLA National League for the 1986–87 season with 10 teams: Dudley Hill, Egremont Rangers, Heworth, Leigh Miners Welfare (now Leigh Miners Rangers), Milford Marlins, Millom, Pilkington Recs, West Hull, Wigan St Patrick's and Woolston Rovers. The original NCL concept was one team per town.

The league added a second division in 1989, and expanded to three divisions (now named premier, first and second as opposed to first and second) along with a rebrand to the current name of National Conference League in 1993.

Somewhat confusingly, in the late 1990s and 2000s another major amateur competition was also titled conference: the Rugby League Conference (RLC), which operated a summer season as opposed to the traditional winter season retained by the NCL. The move to a summer season by the NCL in 2012 and a reorganisation by the RFL resulted in a merger of the leagues and the creation of a new NCL 3rd division out of the old RLC National Division, which was replaced by the Conference League South in 2013.

Structure

The National Conference League consists of four divisions. Teams can be promoted and relegated through all four divisions, and teams can also be relegated from Division Three into the regional leagues.

Although it is considered the tier below League 1, teams are not promoted and relegated between the amateur NCL and the professional game, although NCL teams do play in the League 1 Cup and Challenge Cup.

Level	League(s)/Division(s)
1	Premier Division 12 clubs – 3 relegations
2	Division One 12 clubs – 3 promotions, 3 relegations
3	Division Two 12 clubs – 3 promotions, 2 relegations
4	Division Three 14 clubs – 3 promotions, 2 relegations

Clubs

Premier Division	Division One	Division Two	Division Three
Egremont Rangers	Blackbrook	Askam	Barrow Island
Kells	Castleford Lock Lane	Bradford Dudley Hill	Clock Face Miners
Leigh Miners Rangers	Featherstone Lions	Crosfields	Dewsbury Celtic
Myton Warriors	Hull Dockers	Drighlington	Dewsbury Moor Maroons
Pilkington Recs	Hunslet Club Parkside	East Leeds	Eastmoor
Rochdale Mayfield	Hunslet Warriors	Leigh East	Elland
Siddal	Ince Rose Bridge	Millom	Gateshead Storm
Skirlaugh	Milford Marlins	Oulton Raiders	Oldham St Annes
Thatto Heath Crusaders	Normanton Knights	Saddleworth	Rylands
Wath Brow Hornets	Shaw Cross Sharks	Salford City Roosters	Stanley Rangers
West Hull	Underbank Rangers	Thornhill Trojans	Stanningley
Wigan St Patricks	York Acorn	Wigan St Judes	Waterhead Warriors
			West Bowling
			Woolston Rovers

Winners

Season	Premier Division	Division One	Division Two	Division Three
1986–87	Hewford
1987–88	Milford Marlins
1988–89	West Hull
1989–90	Bradford Dudley Hill		Saddleworth Rangers
1990–91	Leigh East		Barrow
1991–92	Wigan St Patricks		West Hull
1992–93	Saddleworth Rangers		Rochdale Mayfield
1993–94	Woolston Rovers	Hewford	Oldham St Annes
1994–95	Woolston Rovers	Millom	Eastmoor Dragons
1995–96	Woolston Rovers	Beverley	Wigan St Judes
1996–97	West Hull	Askam	Redhill
1997–98	Egremont Rangers	Skirlaugh	Featherstone Lions
1998–99	West Hull	Redhill	Ideal Isberg
1999–00	West Hull	Oulton Raiders	Eastmoor Dragons
2000–01	West Hull	Leigh East	Thatto Heath Crusaders
2001–02	West Hull	West Bowling	Crosfield
2002–03	Siddal	Thatto Heath Crusaders	Wath Brow Hornets
2003–04	Siddal	Wath Brow Hornets	East Hull
2004–05	Leigh Miners Rangers	Shaw Cross Sharks	Ince Rose Bridge
2005–06	Oulton Raiders	West Hull	Castleford Panthers
2006–07	Skirlaugh	Rochdale Mayfield	Waterhead
2007–08	East Hull	Wigan St Judes	Millom
2008–09	Siddal	Wath Brow Hornets	Myton Warriors
2009–10	Leigh East	Thatto Heath Crusaders	Eccles
2010–11	Thatto Heath Crusaders	Oulton Raiders	Hunslet Warriors
2012	Wath Brow Hornets	Egremont Rangers	East Leeds
2013	West Hull	East Leeds	Normanton Knights	Kells
2014	West Hull	Oulton Raiders	Kells	Featherstone Lions
2015	Leigh Miners Rangers	Kells	Millom	Hunslet Club Parkside

Sponsorship

The NCL was first sponsored at the same time as the Rugby League Conference by the Cooperative Group which lasted for 14 years and also sponsored the Rugby League Championships.

Years	Sponsor	Name
1997–2011	Cooperative Group	Cooperative National Conference League
2012–2016	Kingstone Press Cider	Kingstone Press National Conference League

References

External links

The Rugby Football League

Chairmen	Rodney Walker Richard Lewis Brian Barwick

Presidents	Les Bettinson Colin Hutton Harry Jepson Maurice Lindsay Gary Hetherington Bev Risman

Founder members	Batley FC Bradford FC Brighouse Rangers RFC Broughton Rangers FC Halifax FC Huddersfield FC Hull FC Hunslet FC Leeds FC Leigh FC Liversedge RFC Manningham FC Oldham FC Rochdale Hornets FC Runcorn RFC Stockport RFC St Helens FC Tyldesley FC Wakefield Trinity FC Warrington FC Widnes FC Wigan FC

Rugby Football League seasons

Rugby Football League era
(1895–1996)

					1895–96	1896–97	1897–98	1898–99	1899–00
1900–01	1901–02	1902–03	1903–04	1904–05	1905–06	1906–07	1907–08	1908–09	1909–10
1910–11	1911–12	1912–13	1913–14	1914–15	1915–16	1916–17	1917–18	1918–19	1919–20
1920–21	1921–22	1922–23	1923–24	1924–25	1925–26	1926–27	1927–28	1928–29	1929–30
1930–31	1931–32	1932–33	1933–34	1934–35	1935–36	1936–37	1937–38	1938–39	1939–40
1940–41	1941–42	1942–43	1943–44	1944–45	1945–46	1946–47	1947–48	1948–49	1949–50
1950–51	1951–52	1952–53	1953–54	1954–55	1955–56	1956–57	1957–58	1958–59	1959–60
1960–61	1961–62	1962–63	1963–64	1964–65	1965–66	1966–67	1967–68	1968–69	1969–70
1970–71	1971–72	1972–73	1973–74	1974–75	1975–76	1976–77	1977–78	1978–79	1979–80
1980–81	1981–82	1982–83	1983–84	1984–85	1985–86	1986–87	1987–88	1988–89	1989–90
1990–91	1991–92	1992–93	1993–94	1994–95	1995–96

Super League era
(1996–present)

					1996	1997	1998	1999	2000
2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010
2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016

Rugby league in Great Britain and Ireland

Nations and regions	Rugby league in England Rugby league in Ireland Rugby league in Scotland Rugby league in Wales Rugby league in Lancashire Rugby league in Yorkshire

Federations	Rugby Football League BARLA Rugby League Ireland Scotland Rugby League Wales Rugby League

National teams	Great Britain England Ireland Scotland Wales

Women's national teams	Great Britain England Ireland Scotland Wales

Leagues	Super League Championship League 1 National Conference League Conference League South Yorkshire Men's League Pennine League North West Men's League Cumberland League Midlands Rugby League North East Rugby League South West Rugby League West of England Rugby League East Men's League South Premier London & South East Men's League Scottish Conference League North Wales Conference South Wales Premiership Super 8 RFL Women's Rugby League

Cups	Challenge Cup BARLA National Cup Yorkshire County Cup Lancashire County Cup Cumbria County Cup Cumberland County Cup

Former competitions	RFL Championship Premiership Rugby League Conference Lancs/Yorks Cups Lancs/Yorks League League Cup Charity Shield BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Trans-Pennine Cup Championship Cup

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