RFL Wheelchair Championship
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Current season, competition or edition: 2025 RFL Wheelchair Championship | |
| Sport | Wheelchair rugby league |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2020 |
| First season | 2021 |
| No. of teams | 14 |
| Country |  England Scotland Wales |
| Most recent champion |  Castleford Tigers (2025) |
| Most titles |  North Wales Crusaders (2 titles) |
| Level on pyramid | 2 |
| Promotion to | RFL Wheelchair Super League |
| Domestic cup | Wheelchair Challenge Cup |
| Official website | |
The RFL Wheelchair Championship is the second highest level of wheelchair rugby league in England and Wales, with teams promoted to the RFL Wheelchair Super League providing certain criteria is met.
The Wheelchair Championship was founded in 2020, one year after the Super League, following attempts to better organise the higher levels of the sport.
Like the Super League, the league operates a round robin system to determine the Championship Leaders' Shield before a playoff series leading to a grand final.
Results
The following is a summary of Wheelchair Championship seasons:[1]
- Key
Promoted to next season's Super League
Withdrew from Championship
2020 season
The inaugural 2020 season ended up being cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic after one round of matches.
| POS | CLUB | P | W | L | D | PF | PA | DIFF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gravesend Dynamite | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 172 | 16 | 156 | 2 |
| 2 | Celts | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 0 | 26 | 2 |
| 3 | North Wales Crusaders A | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 |  West Wales Raiders | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | Ebbw Vale | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 26 | -26 | 0 |
| 6 | Argonauts | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 16 | 172 | -156 | 0 |
2021 season
| POS | CLUB | P | W | L | D | PF | PA | DIFF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hereford Harriers | 9 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 603 | 46 | 557 | 18 |
| 2 |  Warrington Wolves (P) | 9 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 374 | 39 | 335 | 18 |
| 3 | West Wales Raiders | 11 | 3 | 8 | 0 | 74 | 323 | -249 | 6 |
| 4 | North Wales Crusaders A | 7 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 120 | 318 | -198 | 4 |
| 5 | Torfaen Tigers | 10 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 96 | 367 | -271 | 4 |
| 6 | Celts | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 174 | -174 | 0 |
- Final
2022 season
Like the Super League, the 2022 season was split into two phases. In addition, the championship was also split into a North and South division, and thus featured more teams. The top team in each division at the time of the split entered a Middle 5 division with the bottom three sides in the Super League.[4]
Championship North
- Phase 1
| POS | CLUB | P | W | L | D | PF | PA | DIFF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mersey Storm (M5) | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 406 | 51 | 355 | 10 |
| 2 |  Bradford Bulls (P2) | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 330 | 117 | 213 | 8 |
| 3 | Dundee Dragons (P2) | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 234 | 174 | 60 | 6 |
| 4 | North Wales Crusaders A (P2) | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 172 | 242 | -70 | 4 |
| 5 |  Rochdale Hornets (P2) | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 71 | 233 | -162 | 2 |
| 6 |  Sheffield Eagles (P2) | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 46 | 442 | -396 | 0 |
- Phase 2
| POS | CLUB | P | W | L | D | PF | PA | DIFF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bradford Bulls | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 434 | 142 | 292 | 10 |
| 2 | North Wales Crusaders A | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 246 | 150 | 96 | 10 |
| 3 | Dundee Dragons | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 184 | 114 | 70 | 4 |
| 4 | Rochdale Hornets | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 112 | 392 | -280 | 2 |
| 5 | Sheffield Eagles | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 50 | 228 | -178 | 0 |
- Final
- Bradford Bulls 68–22 North Wales Crusaders A[5]
Championship South
- Phase 1
| POS | CLUB | P | W | L | D | PF | PA | DIFF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hereford Harriers (M5) | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 230 | 97 | 133 | 6 |
| 2 | Woodlands Warriors (P2) | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 134 | 113 | 21 | 6 |
| 3 | West Wales Raiders | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 4 | Gravesend Dynamite (P2) | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 69 | 73 | -4 | 2 |
| 5 | Argonauts (P2) | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 54 | 112 | -58 | 1 |
| 6 | Torfaen Tigers | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 16 | 108 | -92 | 1 |
- Phase 2
| POS | CLUB | P | W | L | D | PF | PA | DIFF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gravesend Dynamite | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 221 | 68 | 153 | 6 |
| 2 | Argonauts | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 66 | 136 | -70 | 2 |
| 3 | Woodlands Warriors | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 86 | 169 | -83 | 0 |
- Final
- Gravesend Dynamite 58–23 Woodlands Warriors[6]
Middle 5 (with Super League)
| POS | CLUB | P | W | L | D | PF | PA | DIFF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Wales Crusaders | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 362 | 1115 | 247 | 10 |
| 2 |  Hull F.C. (P) | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 222 | 203 | 19 | 10 |
| 3 | Hereford Harriers | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 127 | 126 | 1 | 4 |
| 4 | Warrington Wolves (P) | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 68 | 230 | -162 | 2 |
| 5 | Mersey Storm | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 83 | 188 | -105 | 0 |
- Final
- North Wales Crusaders 102–46 Hull F.C.[5]
2023 season
The 2023 season saw North Wales Crusaders join after being relegated from the Super League.
| POS | CLUB | P | W | L | D | PF | PA | DIFF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Wales Crusaders | 10 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 766 | 138 | 628 | 20 |
| 2 |  Wigan Warriors A | 10 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 516 | 350 | 166 | 16 |
| 3 | Sheffield Eagles | 10 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 364 | 500 | -136 | 10 |
| 4 | Bradford Bulls | 10 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 328 | 476 | -148 | 10 |
| 5 | Rochdale Hornets | 10 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 256 | 532 | -276 | 4 |
| 6 | Mersey Storm | 10 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 24 | 258 | -234 | -9 |
- Final
- North Wales Crusaders 46–40 Wigan Warriors A[7]
2024 season
The 2024 season saw the Championship split into 3 regions.[8] Sheffield Eagles, who won the Grand Final, were accepted into the Super League for the 2025 season.[9]
Championship East
| POS | CLUB | P | W | L | D | PF | PA | DIFF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sheffield Eagles (P) | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 756 | 88 | 465 | 16 |
| 2 |  York Knights | 10 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 398 | 162 | 236 | 12 |
| 3 | Bradford Bulls | 10 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 170 | 276 | -106 | 8 |
| 4 |  Hull KR | 10 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 231 | 468 | -237 | 4 |
| 5 |  Wakefield Trinity | 10 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 108 | 466 | -358 | 0 |
Championship West
| POS | CLUB | P | W | L | D | PF | PA | DIFF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hereford Harriers | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 514 | 174 | 340 | 13 |
| 2 | North Wales Crusaders | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 488 | 251 | 237 | 12 |
| 3 | Warrington Wolves | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 430 | 348 | 82 | 8 |
| 4 | Rochdale Hornets | 8 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 275 | 527 | -252 | 4 |
| 5 |  Widnes Vikings | 8 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 200 | 607 | -407 | 1 |
Championship South
| POS | CLUB | P | W | L | D | PF | PA | DIFF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gravesend Dynamite | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 514 | 92 | 422 | 12 |
| 2 | Woodlands Warriors | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 214 | 204 | 10 | 8 |
| 3 | Brentwood Eels | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 158 | 344 | -186 | 4 |
| 4 |  Bedford Tigers | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 140 | 386 | -246 | 0 |
Playoffs
28 September 2024 11:45 |
| Sheffield Eagles |
48–38 | North Wales Crusaders |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Ben Simpson (13), Stephen Reilly (18, 46, 51, 63), Joe Wink-Simmonds (27, 55), Will Brooks (47), Chris Haynes (61) Goals: Joe Wink-Simmonds (5/6), Ben Simpson (1/2), Will Brooks (0/1) |
Tries: Jonathan Gill (4, 44), Matthew Turner (33, 42, 78), Stuart Williams (37), Harry Jones (58), Martin Turner (67) Goals: Martin Turner (2/5), Harry Jones (1/3) |
English Institute of Sport, Sheffield Attendance: 63 |
28 September 2024 12:30 |
| Hereford Harriers | 16–40 | Gravesend Dynamite |
|---|---|---|
13 October 2024 14:30 |
| Sheffield Eagles |
38–36 AET | Gravesend Dynamite |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Will Brooks (2, 32, 60, 67), Stephen Reilly (28, 63), Joe-Wink-Simmonds (74) Goals: Joe-Wink-Simmonds (5/7), Ben Simpson (0/1) |
1st: 16–12 2nd: 36–36 |
Tries: Dan Grant (13, 76), Max Owen (20, 46), Reuben Bunning (43, 69) Goals: Dan Grant (6/6) Drop goals: Dan Grant (0/1) |
Allam Arena, Hull Player of the Match: Stephen Reilly |
2025 season
In the 2025 Championship Final, Castleford Tigers won 58–46 against Rochdale Hornets.[10] Before the start of the season it was announced that Warrington Wolves would be promoted to the Super League for the 2026 season.[11] However, after the 2025 season Warrington withdrew their application and following a new application process Bradford Bulls were invited to become the eighth Super League team for 2026.[12]
Teams for 2025 season:[9]
- Championship East
Batley Bulldogs
Bradford Bulls
Castleford Tigers
Hull KR
Wakefield Trinity
York Knights
- Championship West
- Hereford Harriers
North Wales Crusaders
Rochdale Hornets
Salford Red Devils
Warrington Wolves
Widnes Vikings
2026 season
The Championship was restructured into a single eight-team competition for the 2026 season.
Teams for 2026 Championship season:[12][13]
- Batley Bulldogs
- Castleford Tigers
Gravesend Dynamite
Midlands Hurricanes[a]- North Wales Crusaders
- Rochdale Hornets
- Wakefield Trinity
- York Knights
