2009–10 RFU Championship
The 2009–10 RFU Championship was the 1st season (of the professionalised format) of the second division of the English domestic rugby union competitions, played between August 2009 and May 2010. The league had been restructured from the 16 teams of the previous season down to just 12. New teams included Bristol who had been relegated from the Guinness Premiership 2008–09 and Birmingham and Solihull who had been promoted from National Division Two 2008–09. As well as a decrease in teams, the league would now consist of three parts - a standard league section, promotion/relegation pools and then playoffs to determine who would go up as champions.
| 2009–10 RFU Championship | |
|---|---|
| Countries | England |
| Champions | Exeter Chiefs |
| Runners-up | Bristol |
| Relegated | Coventry |
| Attendance | 402,209 (average 2,260 per match) |
| Highest attendance | 11,550 Bristol at home to Exeter Chiefs on 26 May 2010 |
| Lowest attendance | 200 Birmingham & Solihull at home to Doncaster Knights on 17 February 2010 |
| Top point scorer | Gareth Steenson (Exeter Chiefs) 280 points |
| Top try scorer | Blair Cowan (Cornish Pirates) Errie Claassens (London Welsh) Matthew Jess (Exeter Chiefs) 14 tries |
During this season, Exeter Chiefs won promotion to the Aviva Premiership 2010–11 by beating Bristol in the playoff final. This marked Exeter's first ever promotion to the Premiership, which they would later win in 2017.
Despite finishing 11th of 12 after the first stage Coventry were relegated to the 2010–11 National League 1 as they finished bottom of the relegation pool.