Elite One Championship

Sport	Rugby League
Founded	2002
No. of teams	10
Country(ies)	France
Most recent champion(s)	Lezignan Sangliers

The Elite One Championship (French: Le Championnat de France Elite) is a semi-professional top-tiered, exclusively French, rugby league domestic competition.

The French Rugby League Championship began in 1934 but the current name and format were adopted in 2002 when the first game commenced in April. Currently the league is in its fifth year and features 11 clubs.

Since then the league has strengthened both on and off the pitch with members of the French national team playing in the league and growing attendances - some derby matches now get crowds of 3,000. Recently the league has grown internationally too with players from Morocco, Serbia, Russia and Algeria. The season usually runs from October to April so that fans can also attend Catalans Dragons matches. Racing Club Albi have withdrawn from the 2008/9 season following financial problems and Toulouse Olympique have accepted an invitation to play in the British National League 1 from the 2009 season. Sporting Olympique Avignon have been promoted from LER2 to make up a league of 10 teams.

Contents 1 Media 2 Teams 3 Winners 4 See also 5 External links

[edit] Media

Selected games from the Elite Championship are broadcast live on Orange TV and summaries of each match Elite 1 are available to subscribers.

[edit] Teams

Elite One Championship
Team	Stadium	City/Area
Sporting Olympique Avignon	Stade Saint Ruf	Avignon, Vaucluse, Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur
AS Carcassonne	Stade Albert-Domec	Carcassonne, Aude, Languedoc-Roussillon
Carpentras XIII	Stade de la Roseraie	Carpentras, Vaucluse, Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur
Lézignan Sangliers	Stade du Moulin	Lézignan-Corbières, Aude, Languedoc-Roussillon
Limoux Grizzlies	Stade de l'Aiguille	Limoux, Aude, Languedoc-Roussillon
Lyon Villeurbanne	Stade Georges Lyvet	Lyon, Rhône, Rhône-Alpes
Pia Donkeys	Stade Daniel Ambert	Pia, Pyrénées-Orientales, Languedoc-Roussillon
Saint-Gaudens Bears	Stade Jules Ribet	Saint-Gaudens, Haute-Garonne, Midi-Pyrénées
UTC	Stade Gilbert Brutus	Perpignan, Pyrénées-Orientales, Languedoc-Roussillon
Villeneuve Leopards	Stade de la Myre Mory	Villeneuve-sur-Lot, Lot-et-Garonne, Aquitaine

[edit] Winners

Year	Winners	Score	Runner-up	Venue
2002	Villeneuve Leopards	17 - 0	UTC	Béziers
2003	Villeneuve Leopards	34 - 18	Saint-Gaudens Bears	Béziers
2004	Saint-Gaudens Bears	14 - 10	UTC	Béziers
2005	UTC	66 - 16	Toulouse Olympique	Toulouse
2006	Pia Donkeys	21 - 18	Toulouse Olympique	Toulouse
2007	Pia Donkeys	20 - 16	Lezignan Sangliers	Colomiers
2008	Lézignan Sangliers	26-16	Pia Donkeys	Béziers
2009	Lézignan Sangliers	40-32	Limoux Grizzlies	Carcassonne

[edit] See also

• Elite One Championship V (current season)
• Elite Two Championship
• French Rugby League Championship
• French rugby league system
• Fédération Française de Rugby à XIII
• Lord Derby Cup
• Rugby league in France

[edit] External links

• Google map showing location of Elite One sides
• French rugby league federation
• Infostreize
• Le monde du rugby à XIII

v • d • e Rugby League in France Federation Fédération Française de Rugby à XIII National Team France les Chanteclairs Club Competitions Super League · Elite One Championship · Elite Two Championship · Lord Derby Cup Super League Teams Paris Saint Germain (defunct) · Catalans Dragons Co-operative Championship Teams Toulouse Olympique Elite One Championship Teams Former Teams RC Albi · AS Carcassonne · Carpentras XIII · Les Catalans · Lézignan Sangliers · Limoux Grizzlies · Lyon Villeurbanne · Pia Donkeys · Saint-Gaudens Bears · Toulouse Olympique · Villeneuve Leopards Seasons I · II · III · IV · V