UK Clubs/Counties Ranked : 1961-2018

Trainspotting doesn't get any better than this. Going back to 1960/61 season, points are allocated accordingly. The top four in the league (6,3,2,1) and grand finals (6,4,2,1), all cup finalists (CC 6,3), (League Cup 4,2), (all others 3,1). Also World Club Challenge winners in any match 4 points the winner (in their own column).

In the chart below, the left side has rank, club, total points (including WCC) and WCC (separated for no reason I can come up with). Then on the right side the same data but divided by county. So what do we learn?

1) That Wigan and Saints are the most successful teams, both from Lancashire.

2) That Yorkshire is the most successful county (45.3% of the total) due to having the most clubs.

3) That Cheshire has the highest average considering there are only two clubs from there on the list.

4) If the WCC games are excluded, only one point separates Wigan and St Helens, over 59 years of competition.

	Clubs Ranked 1961-2018
	Rk	Club	Tot	WCC		Rk	Club	Tot	WCC	Area
	1	Wigan	448	16		3	Leeds	351	12	Yorks	1144
	2	St Helens	439	8		4	Bradford	187	12	45.3
	3	Leeds	351	12		7	Hull FC	128
	4	Bradford	187	12		8	Castleford	125
	5	Warrington	173	4		9	Hull KR	112
	6	Widnes	172	4		10	Wakefield	77
	7	Hull FC	128			11	Featherstone	51
	8	Castleford	125			12	Halifax	46
	9	Hull KR	112			14	Huddersfield	35
	10	Wakefield	77			18	Dewsbury	11
	11	Featherstone	51			19	Sheffield	10
	12	Halifax	46			22	Hunslet	7
	13	Salford	40			26	Bramley	3
	14	Huddersfield	35			28	York City	1
	15	Leigh	31			1	Wigan	448	16	Lancs	999
	16	Swinton	30			2	St Helens	439	8	39.5
	17	Catalan	17			13	Salford	40
	18	Dewsbury	11			15	Leigh	31
	19	Sheffield	10			16	Swinton	30
	20	London Br	9			24	Rochdale	5
	21	Barrow	8			25	Oldham	4
	22	Hunslet	7			27	Blackpool	2
	23	Workington	6			5	Warrington	173	4	Chesh	345
	24	Rochdale	5			6	Widnes	172	4	13.6
	25	Oldham	4			17	Catalan	17		Franc	17
	26	Bramley	3			21	Barrow	8		Cumb	14
	27	Blackpool	2			23	Workington	6
	28	York City	1			20	London Br	9		South	9
			2528	56				2528	56		2528

UK League One (Division 3) 2018 : Teams Rated

This was a competition I took no interest until the Toronto Wolfpack entered the division last year. They moved on after a season but I have continued to follow it, now that I know the teams. It probably needs some revision because teams traveling around England (or Canada etc) isn't easy for amateurs. Some of the lower ranked sides struggle to compete.

There were 14 sides in 2018, two down on the year before. They played a 26 round series, the winner given automatic promotion. Teams from 2nd to 5th played off for one more guaranteed place for the winner. The second-placed play-off side also had a one-off match to make it three promoted, which they failed to do. Here my ranking list, from bottom to top.

14th - West Wales 0/26. Totally out of their depth, they amazingly played all their games but got hammered repeatedly. No wins and a points difference of -1930 says it all. Hopefully, they have learned much.

13th - Hemel 2/24. Not much better with two wins and a -932. Another team not up to standard.

12th - London Skolars 6/1/19. Not overly good but the teams below them gave their win/loss record some respectability.

11th - Coventry 7/19. Despite the poor win record, the side showed promise toward the end of the season. Progress is being made.

10th - North Wales 9/1/16. I thought they may have finished higher and they had some good wins but not consistent enough yet.

9th - Keighley 13/13. The first of the clubs from the traditional RL area in England, they started quite promisingly but as the season progressed, seem to drop off the pace somewhat.

8th - Newcastle 14/12. They had some good wins but didn't beat the better teams often enough. There is tremendous potential here and the club seems well run.

7th - Hunslet 15/11. Started well and had some wins over the better sides while struggling at times against lesser ones. The last few rounds were disappointing.

6th - Whitehaven 16/10. A club with ambitions to make the playoffs but just missed out. Lack of consistency was an issue.

5th - Oldham 16/10. Seemed to lose games narrowly and win well, giving the club the best points differential in the competition. Having said that, they were well beaten in the first round of the playoffs.

4th - Workington 17/9. A well-coached side that could have finished higher but for some losses they didn't need. Defeated Doncaster in the first playoff game, lost to Bradford for the automatic second promotion place, they also lost the deciding play-off with Swinton of the Championship second division. Almost but not quite.

3rd - Doncaster 19/7. Had a good season and finished a creditable third, but fell at the first playoff hurdle. The finish was a letdown.

2nd - Bradford 23/3. My pick to win the league and led for some time but were run down by York. Two wins in the play-offs and promotion. Had the best points differential and the biggest average attendance.

1st - York 24/2. Deserved winner of the league and were rewarded with automatic promotion without the stress of play-offs. The crowds are returning in droves and the club is very well run.

UK Championship (Division 2) 2018 : Review & Teams Rated

The second division of pro/semi pro RL in the UK is an unusual one. The top sides are good enough to challenge the best but the lower sides are well off the pace. It creates a 'haves and have nots' scenario. After 23 rounds, all the teams in the top six had at least 32 points, none of the rest could better 16 points. It's a shame that the top six cannot go into SL and the lower six into the division below. Money is the problem. Half the division is fully professional, the other half semi-pro.

What teams wanted was to make the top four and challenge for division 1 (Super League) status.  The four that did are in pale blue below, left. The top four went into the Qualifiers with confidence although Halifax was only ever going to make up the numbers, being the only semi-pro side there. London got the SL spot, which looking at performance over the course of the season, should have gone to Toronto.

The other eight played off for the Championship Shield. Points were unfortunately carried over which meant the shield finalists were known before a game was played. The only issue was the shield winner (of those two) and who faced relegation to division three (League 1). The Shield side took its predictable course, with Featherstone defeating Leigh 42-10 in the final. Barrow was relegated and Swinton avoided the same fate with a 33-20 victory over Workington, the challenging League 1 side.

							SL Qualifiers
							1	Salford	10
							2	Leeds	10
	Championship						3	Hull KR	10
	1	Toronto	41				4	Toronto	10
	2	London	33				5	London (W)	8
	3	Toulouse	33				6	Toulouse	6
	4	Halifax	33				7	Widnes	2
	5	Featherstone	32				8	Halifax	0
	6	Leigh	32
	7	Batley	16
	8	Sheffield	14				Championship Shield
	9	Dewsbury	13				1	Featherstone	46
	10	Barrow	13				2	Leigh	40
	11	Swinton	8				3	Batley	28
	12	Rochdale	8				4	Dewsbury	21
							5	Barrow	19
							6	Sheffield	16
							7	Swinton	12
							8	Rochdale	10

Rankings:

12th - Rochdale 4/19 & 1/6. The club struggled, earning just five wins from 30 matches says it all. They came up from  League 1 two years ago and now return.

11th - Swinton 3/2/18 & 2/5. Not much better but managed to survive another year. They were promoted three years ago and are finding this level tough. Treading water. 

10th - Sheffield 7/16 & 1/6. The team does well considering its had issues with finding a local ground. Seems to have one now, so hopefully things can move forward. Not a great season though.

9th - Barrow 5/3/15 & 3/4. The first year after promotion and did enough to stay. 

8th - Dewsbury 6/1/16 & 4/3. Battles in the lower half of the division and did better in the Shield.

7th - Batley 8/15 & 6/1. Was the best of the 'have nots' and had a very good Shield run.

6th - Leigh 16/7 & 4/3. Having arrived down from Super League, the club was determined to go straight back but it wasn't to be. Once that realisation came to fruition, it seems the heads went down. Will they pick themselves up for 2019? They did make the quarterfinals of the Challenge Cup, when their heads were in a better place.

5th - Featherstone 16/7 & 7/0. They too had aspirations of a Qualifiers berth, if not expecting promotion. They missed out but got on with things and finished the Shield and final unbeaten.

4th - Halifax 16/1/6 & 0/7. Twice in consecutive years they have made the Qualifiers, on both occasions not able to register a victory. Did their fans proud getting as far as they did. They came up short in a tough competition, losing all seven.

3rd - Toulouse 16/1/6 & 3/4. The team from France only got promoted two seasons ago and at its second attempt made the playoffs. Even went close to making the Million Pound game. It would be nice to see them in the Super League, sooner rather than later.

2nd - London 16/1/6 & 4/3. This side made Houdini look like an amateur. They scrapped into the Qualifiers when they it seemed they would miss out, then squeaked into the Million Pound game. They went to Toronto and doggedly fought for a 4-2 victory. A team that has good fighting spirit. They will need it in Super League in 2019.

1st - Toronto 20/1/2 & 5/2. How does a team that lost the Million Pound game get rated top? It was clearly the best in the league and was best finishing Million Pound team. It had won five more games that London going into the vital clash and had earned home ground advantage. However, at the final hurdle it wasn't able to produce the performance that would reflect the season as a whole.