Rugby Football League Championship Third Division

For the current incarnation of the Third Division, see League 1 (rugby league).

The Rugby Football League Championship Third Division was founded in 1991 and was the third tier of professional rugby league in the UK until 1998.

RFL Championship Third Division

Sport	Rugby league
Instituted	1991-1993 (as Third Division) 1995-1998 (as Division Two)
Ceased	1998
Replaced by	League 1
Country	England
Most titles	Hull Kingston Rovers (2 titles)
Related competition	Challenge Cup
Promotion to	Second Division

History

The RFL Championship Third Division was founded in 1991 to make the top two divisions more competitive. The competition ran for two seasons until it was scrapped in 1993. The third division was resurrected in 1995 and ran for another three seasons although there was no promotion in 1995–96. In 1999 the Second and Third Divisions were merged to create the Northern Ford Premiership, the third division was recreated again in 2003.

In 2003 rugby league beneath Super League were completely re-organised into the Rugby League National Leagues. The Third Division was renamed National League Two.

Results

Year	Champions	Promoted	Bottom
1991-92	Huddersfield	Huddersfield Bramley	Nottingham City
1992-93	Keighley	Keighley Workington Town	Chorley Borough Blackpool Gladiators Nottingham City
1993-1995: No Third Division
1995-96	Hull Kingston Rovers	No Promotion	Highfield
1996	Hull Kingston Rovers	Hull Kingston Rovers Swinton	Highfield
1997	Hunslet	Hunslet Rochdale Leigh	Prescot Panthers
1998	Chorley	No Promotion	Doncaster
1999-2002: No Third Division

• In 1993, Chorley Borough, Blackpool Gladiators and Nottingham City were relegated to the National Conference League.

Winners

	Club	Wins	Winning years
1	Hunslet	1	1997
2	Keighley Cougars	1	1992-93
3	Hull Kingston Rovers	2	1995–96, 1996
6	Huddersfield Giants	1	1991-92
5	Chorley §	1	1998

• § Denotes club now defunct

See also

• Rugby Football League Championship
• Rugby Football League Championship Second Division