2009 RFL Championship

The 2009 Co-operative Championship is a semi-professional rugby league football competition played in the United Kingdom and France one tier below the first tier Super League. The two worst performing teams during the season, with the exception of Toulouse Olympique, will be relegated to Championship 1.

Co-operative Championship 2009
League	Co-operative Championship
Teams	11
Attendance	217,362 (average 1,874)
2009 Season
Season Champions	Barrow Raiders
League Leaders	Barrow Raiders
Runners-up	Halifax
Promotion and relegation
Relegated to Championship 1	Leigh Centurions(Subsequently Reprieved) Doncaster Gateshead Thunder(Subsequently Disqualified)

There is no automatic promotion from this league to Super League, which uses a licensing system renewed every three years. Qualifying for the Grand Final is a prerequisite for Championship clubs to be able to apply for license in the next round of applications for the 2012–14 period.

The competition was very close with most teams having a chance of making the top 6 going into the final round. In the end Barrow Raiders topped the standings followed by Halifax. The Leigh Centurions were relegated on the final day of competition despite finishing only third to last and Doncaster were also relegated but their fate had been sealed for some time. In the weeks following the competitions completion, Gateshead Thunder were eliminated following salary cap breaches and subsequently relegated to the Championship 1 for 2010, Leigh Centurions were therefore reprieved from relegation and remained in the Championship for 2010.

In the playoffs, Widnes Vikings and Featherstone Rovers advance from the first week to play each other. Featherstone won this game which gave them the chance to take on Halifax, who lost their game to Barrow, for a spot in the grand final. Halifax won and went on to play Barrow in the final but lost 26-18.