# 2016 League 1

The 2016 League 1, known as the Kingstone Press League 1 for sponsorship reasons, was a semi-professional rugby league football competition played in England, the third tier of the sport in the country.
The 2016 League 1 season was expanded to 15 teams with Toulouse Olympique rejoining the British game. At the end of the weekly rounds the top 8 teams played each other once more in the League 1 Super 8s after which the top 5 teams competed in the play-offs. The bottom 7 teams played each other once more with the top two teams competing for the inaugural League 1 Shield.

## Teams

| Club | City | Stadium | Capacity* |
| Barrow Raiders | Barrow, Cumbria | Craven Park | 7,600 |
| Coventry Bears | Coventry, West Midlands | Butts Park Arena | 4,000 |
| Doncaster | Doncaster, South Yorkshire | Keepmoat Stadium | 15,231 |
| Gloucestershire All Golds | Cheltenham, Gloucestershire | Prince of Wales Stadium | 480 |
| Hemel Stags | Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire | Pennine Way | 2,000 |
| Hunslet Hawks | Leeds, West Yorkshire | South Leeds Stadium | 4,000 |
| Keighley Cougars | Keighley, West Yorkshire | Cougar Park | 7,800 |
| London Skolars | Haringey, London | New River Stadium | 5,000 |
| Newcastle Thunder | Newcastle, Tyne and Wear | Kingston Park | 10,200 |
| North Wales Crusaders | Wrexham, Wales | Racecourse Ground | 10,771 |
| Oxford Rugby League | Oxford, Oxfordshire | Iffley Road | 500 |
| Rochdale Hornets | Rochdale, Greater Manchester | Spotland | 10,000 |
| South Wales Scorpions | Caerphilly, Glamorgan Wales | Virginia Park | 5,000 |
| Toulouse Olympique | Toulouse, Haute-Garonne, Occitania | Stade Ernest-Argelès | 4,066 |
| York City Knights | York, North Yorkshire | Bootham Crescent | 8,256 |
*capacity for rugby league games may differ from official stadium capacity.

## Standings
### Regular season

| Pos | Club | P | W | D | L | For | Ag | Diff | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Toulouse Olympique | 14 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 702 | 184 | +518 | 27 | League 1 Super 8s |
| 2 | Rochdale Hornets | 14 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 547 | 252 | +295 | 25 | League 1 Super 8s |
| 3 | York City Knights | 14 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 482 | 256 | +226 | 21 | League 1 Super 8s |
| 4 | Doncaster | 14 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 499 | 304 | +195 | 20 | League 1 Super 8s |
| 5 | Barrow Raiders | 14 | 9 | 1 | 4 | 529 | 253 | +276 | 19 | League 1 Super 8s |
| 6 | Keighley Cougars | 14 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 520 | 368 | +152 | 18 | League 1 Super 8s |
| 7 | Hunslet Hawks | 14 | 8 | 0 | 6 | 383 | 374 | +9 | 16 | League 1 Super 8s |
| 8 | London Skolars | 14 | 8 | 0 | 6 | 354 | 376 | –22 | 16 | League 1 Super 8s |
| 9 | Newcastle Thunder | 14 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 404 | 368 | +36 | 15 | League 1 Shield |
| 10 | North Wales Crusaders | 14 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 336 | 355 | –19 | 12 | League 1 Shield |
| 11 | Coventry Bears | 14 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 289 | 460 | –171 | 9 | League 1 Shield |
| 12 | Gloucestershire All Golds | 14 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 334 | 479 | –145 | 6 | League 1 Shield |
| 13 | South Wales Scorpions | 14 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 176 | 582 | –406 | 2 | League 1 Shield |
| 14 | Oxford Rugby League | 14 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 176 | 582 | –406 | 2 | League 1 Shield |
| 15 | Hemel Stags | 14 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 190 | 718 | –528 | 2 | League 1 Shield |
(Q) = Qualified for Play-offs (S) = Secured spot in 2017 Championship

### Super 8s

| Pos | Club | P | W | D | L | For | Ag | Diff | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Toulouse Olympique | 21 | 20 | 1 | 0 | 990 | 276 | +714 | 41 | Promotion Final |
| 2 | Rochdale Hornets | 21 | 16 | 1 | 4 | 709 | 440 | +269 | 33 | Promotion Final |
| 3 | Barrow Raiders | 21 | 15 | 1 | 5 | 769 | 375 | +394 | 31 | Playoffs |
| 4 | Doncaster | 21 | 14 | 0 | 7 | 683 | 526 | +157 | 28 | Playoffs |
| 5 | York City Knights | 21 | 12 | 1 | 8 | 618 | 461 | +157 | 25 | Playoffs |
| 6 | Keighley Cougars | 21 | 11 | 0 | 10 | 658 | 514 | +144 | 22 | Season Complete |
| 7 | Hunslet Hawks | 21 | 11 | 0 | 10 | 544 | 550 | –6 | 22 | Season Complete |
| 8 | London Skolars | 21 | 8 | 0 | 13 | 470 | 650 | –180 | 16 | Season Complete |
(Q) = Qualified for Play-offs

### League 1 Shield

| Pos | Club | P | W | D | L | For | Ag | Diff | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Newcastle Thunder | 20 | 13 | 1 | 6 | 686 | 460 | +226 | 27 | League 1 Shield Final |
| 2 | North Wales Crusaders | 20 | 9 | 2 | 9 | 505 | 469 | +36 | 20 | League 1 Shield Final |
| 3 | Coventry Bears | 20 | 8 | 1 | 11 | 446 | 590 | –144 | 17 | |
| 4 | Gloucestershire All Golds | 20 | 5 | 0 | 15 | 515 | 644 | –129 | 10 | |
| 5 | Oxford Rugby League | 20 | 4 | 0 | 16 | 356 | 843 | –487 | 8 | |
| 6 | South Wales Scorpions | 20 | 2 | 0 | 18 | 274 | 723 | –449 | 4 | |
| 7 | Hemel Stags | 20 | 2 | 0 | 18 | 274 | 976 | –702 | 4 | |
League 1 Shield Final :
| Date | Winner | Score | Runner up | Venue |
| 18 September 2016 | Newcastle Thunder | 31–26 | North Wales Crusaders | Kingston Park |

## Playoffs

Promotion Final
| Final | Final |
| Toulouse Olympique | 22 |
| Rochdale Hornets | 24 |
* Rochdale Hornets are promoted to the Championship.
Playoffs
| Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Final | Final | Final |
| 1 | Toulouse Olympique | 62 | | | |
| 4 | York City Knights | 10 | | | |
| 4 | York City Knights | 10 | Toulouse Olympique | Toulouse Olympique | 32 |
| | | | Barrow Raiders | Barrow Raiders | 22 |
| 2 | Barrow Raiders | 46 | Barrow Raiders | Barrow Raiders | 22 |
| 3 | Doncaster | 6 | | | |
* Toulouse Olympique are promoted to the Championship.