East Midlands Derby
The heart of amateur rugby league in the Midlands.
The Midlands Rugby League is a series of summer rugby league competitions for amateur teams in the Midlands. The competition was formed in 2006 as the RLC Midlands Premier. Its name changed following the 2012 restructure of amateur rugby league in Great Britain. At current the league operates the Midlands Rugby League Premier Division and Midlands Rugby League Championship, in addition to a Midlands Cup and Plate.
- participants
- Leicester City vs. Nottingham Forest
- region
- East Midlands, England
- primary_competition
- Premier League & EFL Leagues
- key_historical_era
- 1970s to Present
- notable_league_meetings
- Frequent fixtures in top two tiers
Verified Timeline
Lore & Background
The Rugby League Conference (RLC) was born in 1997, then known as the Southern Conference. The RLC Midlands Division (now Midlands Rugby League Championship) was first created in 2001 and lasted until 2003 as the league was split in two parallel divisions due to it being oversubscribed. The RLC Premier Divisions were set up in 2005 for teams who had achieved a certain playing standard and were able to travel further afield to find stronger opposition. The Midlands Premier was created one season later in 2006, and placed between the existing RLC Midlands Division and the RLC National Division. In 2012 the Rugby League Conference was disbanded and all divisions adopting the name Midlands Rugby League.
In Their Own Story
The source does not provide any narrative or story about the East Midlands Derby. It contains no descriptions of matches, players, or specific events involving Leicester City or Nottingham Forest. The only competition mentioned is the Midlands Rugby League, with details about its formation, divisions, and title winners from 2001 to 2024.
Reader's Guide
Position in Pyramid: 1: Super League, 2: Championship, 3–5: National Community Rugby League, 6: Midlands Rugby League Premier Division, 7: Midlands Rugby League Championship. Clubs as of 2024: Birmingham Bulldogs, Coventry Bears, Leamington Royals, Oxford Cavaliers, Nottingham Outlaws, Sherwood Wolf Hunt, Swindon St George, Telford Raiders.
Did You Know?
- The founder members of the Midlands Premier in 2006 were Coventry Bears, Telford Raiders, Nottingham Outlaws, Derby City, Birmingham Bulldogs, Leicester Phoenix and Wolverhampton Wizards.
- A Midlands Merit League (now defunct) was founded in late 2005 as a feeder league for the RLC Midlands Division.
- The 2020 and 2021 seasons were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
More in Great Rivalries
Elsewhere in the Premier League universe
Spotted an error? Know more?
This is a living reference — every entry is fact-audited, and reader corrections feed straight into our audit queue. Suggest an edit · See this site's audit record
