French Rugby League Championship

Sport	Rugby league
Founded	1934
No. of teams	20
Country	France
Most recent champion(s)	XIII de Limouxin
Most titles	AS Carcassonne XIII Catalan (11 titles)
TV partner(s)	Sport en France, vià

The French rugby league championship (French: Le Championnat de France de Rugby à XIII) has been the major rugby league tournament for semi-professional and professional clubs in France since the sport was introduced to the country in the 1930s.

Except for the first season, a play-off structure leading to a championship final has always been used to determine the fate of the championship. Because the French rugby league championship has several divisions where the teams will change each year depending on final standings and relegation/promotion there have been many teams in the French rugby league championship since its inception.

The championship is divided into several divisions; the top league is currently titled Elite One Championship (French: Le Championnat de France Elite).^[1][2]

Divisions

Elite One Championship

Elite 1
Team	Stadium	Location
Albi Tigers	Stade Mazicou	Albi, Tarn
SO Avignon	Parc des Sports (Avignon)	Avignon, Vaucluse
AS Carcassonne	Stade Albert Domec	Carcassonne, Aude
FC Lézignan	Stade du Moulin	Lézignan-Corbières, Aude
Limoux Grizzlies	Stade de l'Aiguille	Limoux, Aude
Baroudeurs de Pia XIII	Stade Daniel-Ambert	Pia, Pyrénées-Orientales
Saint-Estève Catalan	Stade Municipal	Perpignan, Pyrénées-Orientales
Saint-Gaudens Bears	Stade Jules Ribet	Saint-Gaudens, Haute-Garonne
Toulouse Olympique Broncos	Stade des Minimes	Toulouse, Haute-Garonne
Villeneuve Leopards	Stade Max Rousie	Villeneuve-sur-Lot, Lot-et-Garonne

Elite Two Championship

Club	Stadium	Capacity	City/Area
RC Baho XIII	Stade Municipal de Baho	2,000	Baho, Pyrenees-Orientales
RC Carpentras XIII	Stade de la Roseraie	5,000	Carpentras, Vaucluse
US Entraigues XIII	Stade Georges Mauro	2,000	Entraigues-sur-la-Sorgue, Vaucluse
Ille-sur-Tet XIII	Stade Jean Galia	2,000	Ille-sur-Tet, Pyrenees Orientales
RC Lescure-Arthes XIII	Stade de Lescure d'Albigeois	2,000	Lescure-d'Albigeois, Tarn
Lyon Villeurbanne XIII	Stade Georges Lyvet	5,000	Lyon, Rhone-Alps
RC Salon XIII	Stade Marcel Roustan	2,000	Salon-de-Provence, Bouches-du-Rhône
Toulon XIII Métropole	Delaune Stadium	2,000	Toulon, Var
Villefranche XIII Aveyron	Stade Henri Lagarde	2,700	Villefranche-de-Rouergue, Aveyron
Villegailhenc-Aragon XIII	Stade Municipal Conques sur Orbiel	2,000	Villegailhenc, Aude

Lower Leagues

Below the Championship Divisions, the National Division 1 and National Division 2 are the third and fourth tier respectively.^[3][4]

List of finals

Toulouse Olympique celebrating victory in 1973 and 1975

Season	Winners	Score	Runner-up	Venue	Attendance
1934–35	Villeneuve 1	No final played. League leaders were awarded the title
1935–36	Catalan	25–14	Bordeaux XIII	Parc de Suzon, Bordeaux	14,150
1936–37	Bordeaux XIII	23–10	Catalan		14,300
1937–38	Albi	8–5	Villeneuve		14,880
1938–39	Roanne	9–0	Villeneuve	Stade Velodrome de Lescure, Bordeaux	19,788
1939–40	Catalan	20–16	Pau XIII	Stade des Minimes, Toulouse	10,000
1940-44: Rugby league outlawed by Vichy regime
1944–45	Carcassonne	13–12	Toulouse	Stade Jean Laffon, Perpignan
1945–46	Carcassonne	12–0	Toulouse	Stade de Gerland, Lyon
1946–47	Roanne	19–0	Carcassonne		15,000
1947–48	Roanne	3–2	Carcassonne	Marseille	20,000
1948–49	Marseille	12–5	Carcassonne	Stade Albert Domec, Carcassonne	23,500
1949–50	Carcassonne	21–7	Marseille	Perpignan	18,000
1950–51	Lyon	15–10	Catalan	Stade Chapou, Toulouse	21,933
1951–52	Carcassonne	18–6	Marseille		16,645
1952–53	Carcassonne	19–12	Lyon		22,000
1953–54	Bordeaux XIII	7–4	Marseille		8,000
1954–55	Lyon	7–6	Carcassonne		12,000
1955–56	Albi	13–5	Carcassonne		15,850
1956–57	Catalan	14–9	Avignon		9,000
1957–58	Albi	8–6	Carcassonne		16,163
1958–59	Villeneuve	24–16	Lézignan		13,000
1959–60	Roanne	31–24	Albi		13,800
1960–61	Lézignan	7–4	Roanne		6,998
1961–62	Albi	14–7	Villeneuve		12,068
1962–63	Lézignan	20–13	St Gaudens		12,200
1963–64	Villeneuve	4–3	Toulouse		5,166
1964–65	Toulouse	47–15	Villeneuve		8,837
1965–66	Carcassonne	45–20	St Gaudens		11,244
1966–67	Carcassonne	39–15	St Gaudens		10,779
1967–68	Limoux	13–12	Carcassonne		14,432
1968–69	Catalan	12–11	St Gaudens		8,326
1969–70	St Gaudens	32–10	Catalan		21,300
1970–71	St Estève	13–4	St Gaudens		8,179
1971–72	Carcassonne	21–9	St Gaudens		11,566
1972–73	Toulouse	18–0	Marseille		13,827
1973–74	St Gaudens	21–8	Villeneuve		5,696
1974–75	Toulouse	10–9	St Estève		5,015
1975–76	Carcassonne	14–6	Lézignan		14,000
1976–77	Albi	19–10	Carcassonne	Stadium Municipal d'Albi, Albi	18,325
1977–78	Lézignan	3–0	Catalan	Toulouse	10,358
1978–79	Catalan	17–2	Carcassonne		13,202
1979–80	Villeneuve	12–7	St Estève		10,029
1980–81 Villeneuve v Catalan abandoned after six minutes due to fighting; no championship awarded.
1981–82	Catalan	21–8	St Estève	Toulouse	8,504
1982–83	Catalan	10–8	Villeneuve		10,628
1983–84	Catalan	30–6	Villeneuve		8,182
1984–85	Catalan	26–6	Le Pontet XIII		8,797
1985–86	Le Pontet XIII	19–6	Catalan		8,000
1986–87	Catalan	11–3	Le Pontet XIII		4,350
1987–88	Le Pontet XIII	14–2	Catalan		9,950
1988–89	St Estève	23–4	Le Pontet XIII	Parc des Sports Et de l'Amitie, Narbonne	9,936
1989–90	St Estève	24–23	Carcassonne		8,000
1990–91	St Gaudens	10–8	Villeneuve	Toulouse	6,031
1991–92	Carcassonne	11–10	St Estève		6,000
1992–93	St Estève	9–8	Catalan		10,000
1993–93	Catalan	6–4	Pia	Stade des Sports Et de l'Amitie, Narbonne	12,000
1994–95	Pia	12–10	St Estève		13,200
1995–96	Villeneuve	27–26	St Estève		10,000
1996–97	St Estève	28–24	Villeneuve		12,000
1997–98	St Estève	15–8	Villeneuve		12,000
1998–99	Villeneuve	33–20	St Gaudens	Paris	7,592
1999–00	Toulouse	20–18	St Estève		6,500
2000–01	Villeneuve	32–20	Toulouse	Toulouse	9,000
2001–02	Villeneuve	17–0	Union Treiziste Catalane	Stade de la Mediterranee, Béziers	8,000
From the 2002-03 season, the French Rugby League Championship split into two divisions: Elite One Championship and Elite Two Championship.
2002–03	Villeneuve Leopards	31 – 18	Saint-Gaudens Bears	Parc des sports et de l'amitié, Narbonne	8,000
2003–04	Saint-Gaudens Bears	14 – 10	Union Treiziste Catalane	Perpignan	7,500
2004–05	Union Treiziste Catalane	66 – 16	Toulouse Olympique XIII	Parc des sports et de l'amitié, Narbonne	5,000
2005–06	Baroudeurs de Pia XIII	21 – 18	Toulouse Olympique XIII	Toulouse	5,462
2006–07	Baroudeurs de Pia XIII	20 – 16	FC Lézignan	Stade Michel-Bendichou, Colomiers	7,882
2007–08	FC Lézignan	26 – 16	Baroudeurs de Pia XIII	Stade de la Mediterranee, Béziers	9,550
2008–09	FC Lézignan	40 – 32	Limoux Grizzlies	Stade Albert Domec, Carcassonne	11,263
2009–10	FC Lézignan	32 – 22	Baroudeurs de Pia XIII	Altrad Stadium, Montpellier	6,612
2010–11	FC Lézignan	17 – 12	Limoux Grizzlies	Parc des sports et de l'amitié, Narbonne	11,874
2011–12	AS Carcassonne	26 – 20	Baroudeurs de Pia XIII		8,980
2012–13	Baroudeurs de Pia XIII	33 – 26	Saint-Estève Catalan	Stade Gilbert Brutus, Perpignan	6,732
2013–14	Toulouse Olympique XIII	38 – 12	FC Lézignan		7,245
2014–15	Toulouse Olympique XIII	20 – 12	AS Carcassonne	Stade Michel-Bendichou, Colomiers	5,800
2015–16	Limoux Grizzlies	26 – 24	AS Carcassonne	Stadium municipal d'Albi, Albi	5,420
2016–17	Limoux Grizzlies	24 – 22	FC Lézignan	Parc des sports et de l'amitié, Narbonne	8,270
2017–18	Sporting Olympique Avignon	30 – 28	Limoux Grizzlies	Stadium municipal d’Albi, Albi	5,000
2018–19	Saint-Estève Catalan	32 – 24	AS Carcassonne		1,500
2019–20	Competition abandoned due to the COVID-19 pandemic in France[5]
2020–21	FC Lézignan	16 – 12	AS Carcassonne	Stade Ernest-Wallon, Toulouse	3,200
2021–22	AS Carcassonne	20 – 16	Limoux Grizzlies	Parc des Sports et de l'Amitié, Narbonne	8,231
2022–23	Limoux Grizzlies	34 – 24	AS Carcassonne	Parc des Sports et de l'Amitié, Narbonne	8,221

Champions by club

	Club	Wins	Runners up	Winning Years
1	AS Carcassonne	11	13	1944-45, 1945-46, 1949-50, 1951-52, 1952-53, 1965-66, 1966-67, 1971-72, 1975-76, 1991-92, 2011-12, 2021-22
2	XIII Catalan	11	7	1935-36, 1939-40, 1956-57, 1968-69, 1978-79, 1981-82, 1982-83, 1983-84, 1984-85, 1986-87, 1993-94
3	Villeneuve Leopards	9	10	1934-35, 1958-59, 1963-64, 1979-80, 1995-96, 1998-99, 2000-01, 2001-02, 2002-03
4	Lézignan Sangliers	7	5	1960-61, 1962-63, 1977-78, 2007-08, 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11
5	Toulouse Olympique	6	6	1964-65, 1972-73, 1974-75, 1999-00, 2013-14, 2014-15
6	AS Saint Estève	6	6	1970-71, 1988-89, 1989-90, 1992-93, 1996-97, 1997-98
7	RC Albi	5	1	1937-38, 1955-56, 1957-58, 1961-62, 1976-77
8	St Gaudens	4	8	1969-70, 1973-74, 1990-91, 2003-04
9	Pia XIII	4	4	1994-95, 2005-06, 2006-07, 2012-13
10	Limoux Grizzlies	4	3	1967-68, 2015-16, 2016-17, 2022-23
11	RC Roanne XIII	4	1	1938-39, 1946-47, 1947-48, 1959-60
12	Le Pontet XIII	2	3	1985-86, 1987-88
13	Lyon Villeurbanne XIII	2	1	1950-51, 1954-55
14	Bordeaux XIII	2	1	1936-37, 1953-54
15	Marseille XIII	1	4	1948-49
16	Saint-Estève XIII Catalan	1	2	2018-19
17	Union Treiziste Catalane	1	1	2004-05
18	SO Avignon	1	1	2017-18

Footnotes

1. Won title on points: no play-off was used
2. Match abandoned after six minutes after the beginning due to fighting; no championship awarded.

Books

• Le Rugby à XIII le plus français du monde −1934 to 1996– by Louis Bonnery,
• The Forbidden game by Mike Rylance.