2013 RFL Championship
The 2013 Rugby Football League Championship, which will be known as Kingstone Press Championship due to sponsorship by Kingstone Press Cider, is a semi-professional rugby league football competition played in the UK, one tier below the first tier Super League. The 2013 season is the first season to consist of a 14-team division. This was achieved by scrapping relegation for the 2012 season and having four teams promoted from the Championship 1.
| Kinstone Press Championship 2013 | |
|---|---|
| League | Championship |
| Duration | 26 Rounds (Followed by 4 round playoffs) |
| Teams | 14 |
| Highest attendance | 3,890 Featherstone Rovers v Sheffield Eagles (28 August 2013) |
| Lowest attendance | 375 Hunslet Hawks v Whitehaven (10 March 2013) |
| Average attendance | 1,199 |
| Attendance | 187,103 |
| Broadcast partners | Premier Sports |
| 2013 Season | |
| Grand Final winners | Sheffield Eagles |
| League Leaders Shield | Featherstone Rovers |
| Runners-up | Sheffield Eagles |
| Top point-scorer(s) | Liam Finn (308) |
| Top try-scorer(s) | Menzie Yere (30) |
| Promotion and relegation | |
| Relegated to Championship 1 | Hunslet Hawks York City Knights |
Relegation to Championship 1 is restored for the 2013 but as in previous years, 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 a licence in the next round of applications for the 2015–17 seasons.
All of the teams in the 2013 Co-operative Championship will also compete in the 2013 Challenge Cup where they will enter in the third round. All of the teams will also compete in the 2013 National League Cup which starts before the Co-operative Championship with the finals held mid season.