2010 RFL Championship
Introduction The '''2010 Rugby Football League Championship''' is known as '''Co-operative Championship''' due to sponsorship by The Co-operative Group.The '''2010 Co-operative Championship''' is a semi-professional rugby league football competition played in the United Kingdom and France one tier below the first tier Super League. The two worst performing teams during the season, with the exception of Toulouse Olympique, will be relegated to Championship 1.There is 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 license in the next round of applications for the 2012–14 period.All of the teams in the 2010 Co-operative Championship will also compete in the 2010 Challenge Cup where they will enter in the third round. All of the teams, with the exception of Toulouse Olympique will compete in the 2010 Northern Rail Cup which starts before the Co-operative Championship with the finals held mid season.Featherstone Rovers finished the league in first place after the regular season but were beaten by Halifax in the grand final 23-22
Teams This competition features mostly the same teams as it did in 2009.The Dewsbury Rams and Keighley Cougars were promoted from the 2009 Championship One. The Leigh Centurions and Doncaster were meant to be relegated. However, the chairman of Gateshead Thunder wound up the club and they were reformed by the community. This breach of insolvency laws caused them to be relegated and allowed Leigh to stay in the Co-operative Championship.Legend  Reigning champions  Defending Northern Rail Cup Champions Team & Current Season Stadium Capacity Location Barrow Raiders Craven Park 7,600 Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria 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 Keighley Cougars RLFC Cougar Park 6,800 Keighley, West Yorkshire Leigh Centurions Leigh Sports Village 12,700 Leigh, Greater Manchester Sheffield Eagles Bramall Lane 32,702 Sheffield, South Yorkshire Toulouse Olympique XIII (2010 Toulouse Olympique season) Stade des Minimes 4,066 Toulouse, Midi-Pyrénées, France Whitehaven Recreation Ground 7,500 Whitehaven, Cumbria Widnes Vikings (2010 Widnes Vikings season) Stobart Stadium Halton 13,500 Widnes, Cheshire
Rule changes === Player safety in tackle ===The RFL announced two new rule interpretations intended to increase player safety in the tackle:* Referees will now call "held" if one of the ball-carrier's legs is lifted by a defender in a tackle in which the participants are stood upright. Previously, a referee would only declare the tackle complete if both legs had been lifted. * Referees will now call held as soon as they see the ball carrier being dragged by more than one defender. This will prevent groups of defenders dragging an opponent into touch or the in-goal area.=== Salary cap ===* The salary cap for the 2010 Co-Operative Championship has been reduced from £400,000 to £300,000
Fair Play Index The Fair Play Index was launched in 2007 as part of The RFL's new Official partnership with Frontline Bathrooms. The Fair Play Index (known as the '''Frontline Fair Play Index''' through sponsorship) will be putting standards of discipline under the spotlight throughout the 2010 Co-operative Championship campaign.At the end of the regular season the teams that finish top of the Frontline Fair Play Index will be presented with a specially engraved trophy and £5,000 prize from Frontline Bathrooms.=== 2010 Fair Play Index === 2010 Frontline Fair Play Index  Team      1    Widnes 45  0  0  0  '''45''' 2   Leigh Centurions 46  0  0  0  '''46''' 3    Sheffield Eagles 44  2  0  0  '''50''' 4   Keighley Cougars 53  0  0  0  '''53''' 4    Featherstone Rovers 50  1  0  0  '''53''' 6    Whitehaven 57  0  1  0  '''61''' 7    Batley Bulldogs 61  1  0  0  '''65''' 7    Halifax 59  2  0  0  '''65''' 7    Dewsbury Rams 62  1  0  0  '''65''' 10    Toulouse Olympique 66  0  0  1  '''71''' 11    Barrow Raiders 61  1  0  4  '''84'''
Disciplinary record The following table lists all incidents that were reviewed by the Rugby Football League during 2010 Co-Operative Championship, which were later deemed '''guilty''' and resulted in disciplinary action. The offenses were graded, depending on severity, in alphabetical order, "A" being less severe than "B".Disc dateName of playerGradeOffenseSuspensionFineSource 23 March 2010 Gareth Haggerty C Use of forearm on player not in possession of the ball in 56th minute (Barlow). 4 matches £50  Report 31 March 2010 Brendan Worth B Head butting in 20th minute. 1 match £50  Report
Notable moments '''December 2009'''* '''18 Dec''' - Keighley Cougars (Cougars (2001) Ltd) appeared in court in Leeds after an unpaid tax bill of £183,000 forced them into administration. However, the club was saved from being wound up after local businessmen sealed a deal to purchase the club and restart under the name of Keighley Cougars (2010) Ltd.'''February 2010'''* '''18 Feb''' - Coronation Street actresses Michelle Keegan, Helen Flanagan and Lucy-Jo Hudson, joined a host of current players in the Manchester Evening News Arena to officially launch the 2010 Co-Operative Championship. * '''20 Feb''' - Keighley Cougars will start the 2010 season on minus nine points after being deducted nine points by the RFL for going into administration. * '''28 Feb''' - Widnes Vikings recorded the biggest win of the season so far after defeating Keighley Cougars 72-10 at the Stobart Stadium Halton. '''March 2010'''* '''15 Mar''' - All Co-Operative championship clubs agree to a special Easter Bank Holiday weekend family ticket that gives matchday admission to two adults and two children for just £25. * '''17 Mar''' - The Co-operative Group announced that Jamie Rooney has signed alongside Paul Sculthorpe to form part of their 2010 ambassador line-up. * '''18 Mar''' - Widnes Vikings set a new highest attendance record for the 2010 Co-Operative Championship season. 3,686 fans were in attendance to witness the Widnes Vikings take on Halifax RLFC at the Stobart Stadium Halton. * '''19 Mar''' - A new record low attendance for the 2010 Co-Operative Championship season is set. Only 835 fans attended the round 3 fixture between Sheffield Eagles and Dewsbury Rams at the Don Valley Stadium. * '''23 Mar''' - Gareth Haggerty is suspended for 4 matches and fined £50 by the RFL disciplinary panel. Haggerty was found guilty of a category C offence for "use of forearm on a player not in possession of the ball". Haggerty was put on report during the clash between Sheffield Eagles and Widnes Vikings at the Don Valley Stadium when an off the ball incident between Haggerty and Sam Barlow was not witnessed by the referee. '''May 2010'''* '''6 May''' - Featherstone Rovers 100% unbeaten record for the 2010 Co-Operative Championship season came to an end when they were beaten at home 24 - 26 by Touoluse. Featherstone has started the season by winning 8 consecutive league games.
League table  2010 Co-operative Championship  Team          1   Featherstone Rovers 20  18  0  2  735  334  +401  2  '''56''' 2   Halifax 20  16  0  4  684  509  +175  2 '''50''' 3   Leigh Centurions 20  12  1  7  580  403  +177  5  '''43''' 4   Barrow Raiders 20  12  1  7  607  449  +158  1  '''39''' 5   Widnes Vikings 20  11  0  9  619  488  +131  5  '''38''' 6   Sheffield Eagles 20  10  1  9  503  555  -52  1  '''35''' 7   Batley Bulldogs  20  7  0  13  479  488  -9  8  '''29''' 8   Toulouse Olympique 20  8  0  12  486  649  -163  3  '''27''' 9  Dewsbury Rams 20  6  0  14  454  503  −49  8  '''26''' 10   Whitehaven 20  4  0  16  281  707  −426  4  '''16''' 11   Keighley Cougars 20  4  1  15  362  703  -341  5  '''10'''  Teams qualifying for the Play-offs  Teams in relegation position
Play-offs alt=The 2010 Co-Operative Championship play-off structure.The play-offs commence following the conclusion of 22 round regular season and include the top six sides from the league.The 2010 play-offs culminate in a grand final to be held at Halliwell Jones Stadium in Warrington, home of Super League side Warrington Wolves.The Co-operative Championship uses a top-6 play-off system.=== Preliminary semi-finals ===HomeScoreAwayMatch informationDate and timeVenueRefereeAttendance  Leigh Centurions24 – 26  Sheffield Eagles2 September, 19:30 GMTLeigh Sports Village  1,516  Barrow Raiders 38 – 0  Widnes Vikings5 September, 15:00 GMTCraven Park 2,434 === Qualifying and minor semi-final ===HomeScoreAwayMatch informationDate and timeVenueRefereeAttendance  Featherstone Rovers 46 – 16  Halifax9 September, 19:30 BSTPost Office Road Robert Hicks 2,553  Barrow Raiders 14 – 21  Sheffield Eagles10 September, 20:00 BSTCraven Park Gareth Hewer 2,231 === Major semi-final ===HomeScoreAwayMatch informationDate and timeVenueRefereeAttendance  Halifax 42 – 16  Sheffield Eagles16 September 2010, 19:30 BSTThe ShayRobert Hicks 1,490 === Grand final ===HomeScoreAwayMatch informationDate and timeVenueRefereeAttendance  Featherstone Rovers 22 – 23*  Halifax26 September, 17:30 BSTHalliwell Jones Stadium Robert Hicks 9,443 Halifax won in extra time via the golden point rule.
Attendances TeamPlayedHighestLowestTotalAverage120px Widnes Vikings103,6862,65930,2053,021220px Halifax104,7951,72525,0902,509320px Leigh Centurions103,3921,26520,1802,018420px Featherstone Rovers102,3531,35319,1201,912520px Barrow Raiders102,0721,32817,1701,717620px Toulouse Olympique102,50085014,3801,438720px Sheffield Eagles102,87183513,0801,308820px Dewsbury Rams101,93585011,9501,195920px Keighley Cougars101,60273610,8301,0831020px Batley Bulldogs101,83768910,5801,0581120px Whitehaven101,5805049990999 Playoffs69,4431,49019,6673,278 '''Total''''''116''''''9,443''''''504''''''202,242''''''1,743'''
See also * 2010 RFL Championship Results* Co-operative Championship* 2010 Championship 1* British rugby league system* Super League* Rugby League Conference* Northern Ford Premiership* National League Cup* Rugby League Reserve Team Championship
References