2013–14 RFU Championship

2013–14 Greene King IPA Championship
Countries	England  Jersey
Date	14 September 2013 – 4 June 2014
Champions	London Welsh
Runners-up	Bristol
Relegated	Ealing Trailfinders
Matches played	138
Attendance	289,423 (average 2,097 per match)
Highest attendance	10,905 Bristol at home to London Welsh on 4 June 2014
Lowest attendance	473 Ealing Trailfinders at home to Nottingham on 12 April 2014
Tries scored	807 (average 5.8 per match)
Top point scorer	Juan Pablo Socino (Rotherham) 300 points[1]
Top try scorer	Miles Mantella (London Scottish) 19 tries[2]
← 2012–13 2014–15 →

The 2013–14 RFU Championship, known for sponsorship reasons as the Greene King IPA Championship, was the fifth season of the professionalised format of the RFU Championship, the second tier of the English rugby union league system run by the Rugby Football Union. It was held between 14 September 2013 and 4 June 2014. It was contested by eleven English clubs and one from Jersey in the Channel Islands. It was also the first Championship season with a title sponsor, as the Rugby Football Union and Greene King Brewery reached a deal by which the brewery would become the competition's main sponsor from 2013–14 through to 2016–17.^[3]

After being promoted after an appeal in the previous season, London Welsh were relegated back into the RFU Championship after finishing last in the 2012-13 English Premiership.^[4] As a result of relegation, they remained at the Kassam Stadium in Oxford instead of returning to their home ground of Old Deer Park in London in order to strengthen their support base.^[5] London Welsh replaced Newcastle Falcons who were promoted into the English Premiership after winning the play-off final against Bedford Blues.^[6] Doncaster Knights were relegated to the 2013–14 National League 1^[7] and were replaced by the champions of National League 1, Ealing Trailfinders who played in the RFU Championship for the first time.^[8]

The twelve clubs in the 2013–14 RFU Championship also participated in the 2013–14 edition of the British and Irish Cup along with clubs from Wales, Scotland and Ireland.^[9] Matches in the RFU Championship were broadcast on Sky Sports.^[10]

The Championship's structure had all the teams playing each other on a home and away basis. In a change to previous years, this season commenced with an extra round of games in the "Greene King IPA Big Rugby Weekend". Matches were played on the weekend of 14 and 15 September with three double headers at neutral grounds: Saracens' Allianz Park, Doncaster's Castle Park and Exeter's Sandy Park.^[11]

The play–off structure remained the same as the previous year.^[12] The top four teams at the end of the home–and–away season qualified for the promotion play–offs, which followed a 1 v 4, 2 v 3 system. The winners had to meet the RFU's Minimum Standards Criteria in order to be promoted to the Premiership. If they had failed to meet the criteria, then there would have been no promotion from the RFU Championship.^[13] However, on 9 May 2014, the RFU announced that all four play-off participants had met the Minimum Standards Criteria, assuring that the champion would indeed be promoted to the 2014–15 Premiership.^[14] There was no relegation play–off; the bottom team was automatically relegated.^[12] Following an agreement with the RFU in 2012, each RFU Championship club received £355,000 in funding from the RFU for the season.^[15]

Club	Stadium	Capacity	Area
Bedford Blues	Goldington Road	6,000	Bedford, Bedfordshire
Bristol	Memorial Stadium	12,100	Bristol
Cornish Pirates	Mennaye Field	4,000 (2,200 Seats)	Penzance, Cornwall
Ealing Trailfinders	Trailfinders Sports Ground	3,020 (1,200 seats)	West Ealing, London
Jersey	St. Peter	5,000	Saint Peter, Jersey
Leeds Carnegie	Headingley Rugby Stadium	20,250	Leeds, West Yorkshire
London Scottish	Athletic Ground, Richmond	4,500	Richmond, London
London Welsh	Kassam Stadium	12,500	Oxford, Oxfordshire[n 1]
Moseley	Billesley Common	3,000+	Birmingham, West Midlands
Nottingham	Meadow Lane	19,588	Nottingham, Nottinghamshire
Plymouth Albion	The Brickfields	8,500	Plymouth, Devon
Rotherham Titans	Clifton Lane Abbeydale Park[n 2]	2,500 3,200	Rotherham, South Yorkshire Sheffield, South Yorkshire

Notes

2013–14 Greene King IPA Championship Table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	TB	LB	Pts	Qualification
1	Bristol (RU)	23	19	0	4	786	505	+281	18	3	96[a]	Promotion play-off
2	London Welsh (CH)	23	19	0	4	724	348	+376	10	2	88
3	Leeds Carnegie (SF)	23	18	0	5	700	387	+313	10	2	84
4	Rotherham Titans (SF)	23	17	0	6	718	474	+244	11	1	80
5	London Scottish	23	14	0	9	554	423	+131	10	2	68
6	Cornish Pirates	23	10	2	11	456	554	−98	4	3	51
7	Moseley	23	9	1	13	449	575	−126	4	2	44
8	Plymouth Albion	23	6	1	16	467	588	−121	5	9	40
9	Bedford Blues	23	7	0	16	472	624	−152	5	5	38
10	Nottingham	23	5	1	17	413	610	−197	3	9	34
11	Jersey	23	6	0	17	423	629	−206	1	6	29[b]
12	Ealing Trailfinders (R)	23	5	1	17	365	810	−445	5	1	28	Relegation

The 2013–14 RFU Championship kicked off on the weekend of 14 and 15 September with the "Greene King IPA Big Rugby Weekend", an extra round of matches played as three double headers at neutral grounds.^[11] Thereafter, each team played the other twice on a home and away basis with the top four qualifying for the promotion phase.

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• This match was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.^[21][22] It was rescheduled to 23 February.^[23]

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• This match was postponed, as the surface of many parts of the pitch is under water.^[24] It has been rescheduled to 21 February.^[25]

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• This match was postponed as the pitch was deemed unplayable. It has been rescheduled to 22 February.^[26]

• This match was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.^[27]

• This match was postponed after a pitch inspection at The Mennaye.^[28] It has been rescheduled to 16 March.^[29]

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• This match – originally scheduled to be played in Round 15 on 7 February 2014 – was postponed as many parts of the pitch was under water.^[24]

• This match – originally scheduled to be played in Round 16 on 14 February 2014 – was postponed as the pitch was deemed unplayable.^[30] The match was again postponed due to an unplayable pitch.^[26] It will now be played on 15 March.^[31]

• This match – originally scheduled to be played in Round 13 on 26 January 2014 – was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.^[21][22]

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• This match – originally scheduled to be played in Round 16 on 14 February 2014 – was postponed as the pitch was deemed unplayable.^[30] The pitch was again found to be unplayable on the new date of 22 February, and the match was postponed for the second time.^[26]

• This match – originally scheduled to be played in Round 16 on 15 February 2014 – was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.^[27]

• This match – originally scheduled to be played in Round 16 on 16 February 2014 – was postponed after a pitch inspection at The Mennaye.^[28]

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• This result means that London Welsh will finish in the top four and therefore are into the playoffs.

• This result means that Bristol will finish in the top four and therefore are into the playoffs.

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The semi–finals followed a 1 v 4, 2 v 3 system - with the games being played over two legs and the higher placed team deciding who played at home in the first leg.^[3]

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• Bristol won 39 — 25 on aggregate

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• London Welsh won 60 — 58 on aggregate

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• London Welsh won 48–28 on aggregate and were promoted to Premiership Rugby

• Note attendance statistics include 1st round with each team playing at the neutral venue considered the 'home team' as well as playoff games

Club	Home Matches	Total	Average	Highest	Lowest	% Capacity
Bedford Blues	12	27,137	2,261	2,754	1,550	37%
Bristol	14	79,261	5,662	10,905	3,752	47%
Cornish Pirates	12	21,558	1,797	3,752	1,127	40%
Ealing Trailfinders	12	10,085	840	1,571	473	25%
Jersey	12	27,184	2,265	3,752	1,592	42%
Leeds Carnegie	13	30,028	2,310	3,902	1,098	13%
London Scottish	12	15,269	1,272	2,155	797	27%
London Welsh	14	24,121	1,723	5,021	999	16%
Moseley	12	11,363	947	1,437	626	29%
Nottingham	12	15,843	1,320	1,614	1,098	9%
Plymouth Albion	12	22,999	1,917	3,752	1,036	22%
Rotherham Titans	13	22,872	1,759	3,267	1,050	66%

^[32][33]

• 2013–14 British and Irish Cup

• RFU Championship news