Yorkshire Men's League

Yorkshire Men's League
Founded	2009
Country	England
Number of teams	98 (2024)
Level on pyramid	5
Current champions	Stanley Rangers A (1st title)
Website	[1]
	Current: 2023

The Yorkshire Men's League is a summer rugby league competition for amateur teams in Yorkshire.

The competition was formed in 2009 as the RLC Yorkshire Premier by splitting the RLC North Premier into two competitions - this and the RLC North West Premier. The league was renamed to its current name following the 2012 restructure of amateur rugby league in Great Britain.

History

Following the formation of the British Amateur Rugby League Association in 1973 clubs from local leagues in both Yorkshire and Lancashire formed the Pennine League. A solely based Yorkshire competition was not formed until 1978 when the CMS Yorkshire League was established.

Following the formation of the National Leagues in 2003, the Conference League South was expanded to include Northern clubs and renamed National League Three, becoming the highest level of amateur rugby league played in the summer. In 2008 National League Three was rebranded to the Rugby League Conference and expanded to include several regional competitions including the RLC Yorkshire Premier, which grew to three divisions.

Many clubs playing in the traditional winter leagues began to switch to the summer RLC, which contributed to its rapid growth. As a result of this, in 2011 the National Conference League, the largest winter league in the country, voted to switch to summer. Subsequently the RLC National Division became NCL Division Three in 2012.

Following the switch to summer the CMS Yorkshire League folded with clubs wanting to continue playing in winter joining the Pennine League. Yorkshire based clubs who wished to play summer rugby were entered into the newly formed Yorkshire Men's League.^[1]^[2]

Structure

The Yorkshire Men's League currently runs seven divisions with promotion and relegation between them:

Premier Division
Division 1
Division 2
Division 3
Division 4
Division 5
Division 6

They also runs two separate leagues separate from the main competition:^{[citation needed]}

NCL Alliance
Hull Division

Clubs

2024 Clubs

Almondbury Spartans
Batley Boys
Beverley
Bradford Dudley Hill
Bentley
Beverley
Bramley Buffaloes
Birkenshaw Blue Dogs
Brighouse Rangers
Birstall Victoria
Castleford Panthers
Cottingham Tigers
Criggleston
Cutsyke Raiders
Dewsbury Moor
Derby Elks
Dearne Valley Bulldogs
Dodworth Miners
Doncaster Toll Bar
East Hull
East Leeds
Elland/ Greetland
Farnley Falcons
Featherstone Lions
Fryston Warriors
Garforth Tigers
Goole
Harrogate Hawks
Hemsworth Dragons
Heworth
Hull Dockers
Hull Wyke
Hunslet ARLFC
Illingworth
Keighley Albion
King Cross Park
Kirkburton
Moldgreen A
Myton Warriors
Newsome Panthers
Normanton Knights
Odsal and Sedberg
Ossett Trinity Tigers
Oulton Raiders A
Rycroft Hammers
Saddleworth Rangers
Scunthorpe Steel Sharks
Seacroft Sharks
Sharleston Rovers
Shaw Cross Sharks
Sheffield Forges
Sheffield Hawks
Sherburn Bears
Siddal Academy
Skirlaugh
Stanley Rangers A
Stanningley A
Thornhill Trojans A
Underbank Rangers
Upton
West Bowling A
West Craven
West Hull
Westgate Common
Wibsey Warriors
Wyke
York Acton A
York Barbarians

Results

Source:^[3]

RLC era

2009 Kippax Knights
2010 East Leeds
2011 ????