South Premier

South Premier
Current season or competition:
2015 South Premier season
Sport Rugby league
Formerly known as Rugby League Conference South Premier Division
Instituted 2005
Country  England
Champions South West London Chargers (2015)
Related competition London League, London & South East Men's League

The South Premier, also known as the London Premier, is a division in rugby league's tier 4. It was the highest level of amateur rugby league in the South of England until the creation in 2013 of Conference League South. It was first contested in 2005 as the South Premier division of the Rugby League Conference but is currently a standalone league run by London Rugby League.

Many of the clubs run juniors in the London Junior League.

History

The Rugby League Conference was born in 1997 as the Southern Conference.

The Premier Division was set up in 2005 for teams who had achieved a certain playing standard and were able to travel further afield to find stronger opposition. The new Premier Divisions included the North Premier, the South Premier, the Central Premier and the Welsh Premier.

Prior to the 2005 season National League Three side South London Storm announced that they were joining the South Premier; the other founder members came from the Conference regional divisions.

After the 2006 season with other teams withdrawing from National League Three, St Albans Centurions also decided to join the Premier South.

In 2012 it became a standalone league and St Albans Centurions returned to playing nationally in National Conference League division three

Community game pyramid

Above the London Premier is the Conference League South and the National Conference League. Below is the London, South East and East Entrance League.

2014 Structure

Club Founded Location RLC Honours
Eastern Rhinos 1992 Colchester, Essex Eastern Division: 1999, 2001
Hemel Stags A 1981 Hemel Hempstead
London Skolars A 1995 Wood Green, Haringey Harry Jepson Trophy: 1997
Eastern Division: 1997
RLC Challenge Cup: 2004
St Albans Centurions 1997 St Albans South Premier 2007, 2010
Harry Jepson Trophy 2007, 2010
South West London Chargers 2013 Clapham Common South Premier: 2013, 2014
Harry Jepson Trophy: 2013, 2014

Teams play each other on a home-and-away basis. Each Premier division then has its own play-off series to determine the champion with the five divisional winners entering the national play-offs. The winner of the national play-offs is awarded the Harry Jepson Trophy.

Past League Standings

Teams 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Bedford Tigers xxxx6thxxxx
Eastern Rhinos3rd2nd5th3rd4th4th3rd3rd4th
Elmbridge Eagles 2 x5th6th7th 9th x x 5th 6th
Essex Eels xDNFxxxx x xx
Greenwich Admirals6thxxxx x x xx
Hainault Bulldogs xxxx8th6th DNF xx
Hammersmith Hills Hoists xxxxx2nd1st2nd1st
Hemel Stags A xxxxxxxx5th
Kent Ravensxx7thDNFxx x xx
London Skolars A 3 4th4th3rd6th7th8th 5th51st3rd
Luton Vipers 5thDNFxxxx x xx
Portsmouth Navy Seahawks xxx5th5th7th x xx
St Albans Centurionsxx1st4th3rd1st2nd xx
South London Storm1st1st2nd2nd1st5th 6th4thx
South West London Chargers4xxxxxxxx2nd
West London Sharks2nd3rd4th1st2nd3rd4th DNFx

Key

DNF Did not complete the season
x Did not participate
Divisional winner
Qualified for divisional play-off
Finished bottom

Grand Finals

Year Winner Defeated Score Venue
2005 South London Storm West London Sharks 24–8 Storm Park
2006 South London Storm Ipswich Rhinos 52–10 Storm Park
2007 St Albans Centurions South London Storm 18–10 Twickenham Stoop
2008 West London Sharks South London Storm 24–20 Grasshoppers RFC
2009 West London Sharks South London Storm 26–16 Storm Park
2010 St Albans Centurions West London Sharks 54–4 Cotlandswick
2011 Hammersmith Hills Hoists St Albans Centurions 18-16 Hemel Hempstead
2012 Hammersmith Hills Hoists Eastern Rhinos 46-8
2013 South West London Chargers Hammersmith Hills Hoists 20-10

Titles

London Cup

National Play-offs

Year Team Opponent Result Game Venue
2005 South London Storm Bridgend Blue Bulls 18–34 National Semi-final Cheltenham
2006 South London Storm Bridgend Blue Bulls 32–12 National Semi-final Hemel
2006 South London Storm East Lancs Lions 30–0 Grand Final Coventry
2007 St Albans Centurions Bridgend Blue Bulls 42–16 National Semi-final
2007 St Albans Centurions Coventry Bears 28–20 Grand Final
2008 West London Sharks Valley Cougars 32–30 National Semi-final
2008 West London Sharks Nottingham Outlaws 8–28 Grand Final Derby

See also

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 7/13/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.