2017 League 1

2017 League 1
LeagueLeague 1
Duration22 matches
Teams16
Highest attendance8,546 (Toronto v Doncaster
Super 8s round 7)
Lowest attendance65 (Oxford v South Wales Ironmen
Shield round 4)
2017 Season
Champions Toronto Wolfpack
Runners-up Barrow Raiders
Biggest home win92–6 Keighley Cougars v Oxford
Regular season, round 15
Biggest away win6–82 Doncaster v Toronto Wolfpack
Regular season, round 4
Top point-scorer(s)Craig Hall
(Toronto Wolfpack) 436
Top try-scorer(s)Liam Kay
(Toronto Wolfpack) 27

The 2017 League 1, known as the Kingstone Press League 1 for sponsorship reasons, was a professional rugby league football competition played in England, Wales and Canada, the third tier of the sport for RFL affiliated clubs.

The 2017 League 1 season was expanded to 16 teams with the first professional Canadian team Toronto Wolfpack joining the British game.

The fixture list was first issued in October 2016 when the inclusion of York City Knights in the league was in doubt so the Knights were omitted from the fixture list.[1] York's inclusion in the league was confirmed at the beginning of December and the fixture list was re-issued to include the club.[2]

The format of the season was a regular season of 15 games where every team played each other once. After 15 games the top eight teams played each other once more in the League 1 Super 8s. The team finishing top of the Super 8s won automatic promotion to the 2018 Championship and named league champions for 2017. The teams finishing second to fifth met in two play-off semi-finals with the semi-final winners meeting in the promotion play-off final.

The league title was won by Toronto who only dropped three points all season (a defeat to York and a draw with Keighley in the Super 8s) and had a 100% winning record at home. The other promotion place was taken by Barrow Raiders who defeated Cumbrian rivals, Whitehaven in the promotion play-off final.

The clubs finishing in the lower half of the table after the regular season played in the League 1 Shield Super 8s with the top two clubs competing in the League 1 Shield final. The shield was won by Hunslet.

  1. ^ "The 2017 season begins here". Rugby Leaguer & League Express. No. 3042. 24 October 2016. p. 13.
  2. ^ "On the plane again! York City Knights' 2017 League One fixture list confirmed". The Press. 4 December 2016. Retrieved 21 December 2016.