Premiership Rugby
Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition, consisting of 10 clubs, and is the top division of the English rugby union system.
| Current season, competition or edition: 2023–24 Premiership Rugby | |
| Sport | Rugby union |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1987 |
| CEO | Simon Massie-Taylor |
| Administrator | RFU |
| No. of teams | 10 |
| Country | England |
| Most recent champion(s) | Saracens (6th title) (2022–23) |
| Most titles | Leicester Tigers (11 titles) |
| TV partner(s) | TNT Sports ITV |
| Level on pyramid | Level 1 |
| Relegation to | RFU Championship |
| Domestic cup(s) | Premiership Rugby Cup |
| International cup(s) | European Rugby Champions Cup European Rugby Challenge Cup |
| Official website | premiershiprugby.com |
Premiership clubs qualify for Europe's two main club competitions, the European Rugby Champions Cup and the European Rugby Challenge Cup. The winner of the second division, the RFU Championship is promoted to the Premiership and until 2020, the team finishing at the bottom of the Premiership each season was relegated to the Championship. The competition is regarded as one of the three top-level professional leagues in the Northern and Western hemispheres, along with the Top 14 in France, and the cross-border United Rugby Championship for teams from Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Italy and South Africa.
The competition has been played since 1987, and has evolved into the current Premiership system. The current champions and most recently promoted side are Saracens, who returned to the top flight in 2021 and won the league in 2023.