Qualifying for the Grand Final or winning the Northern Rail Cup is a prerequisite for Championship clubs to be able to apply for a licence in the next round of applications for the 2015–17 seasons.

All of the teams in the 2013 Co-operative Championship will also compete in the 2013 Challenge Cup where they will enter in the third round.

All of the teams will also compete in the 2013 National League Cup which starts before the Co-operative Championship with the finals held mid season.

The regular league season sees the 14 teams play each other twice (one home, one away) over 26 matches.

The top eight teams at the end of the regular season goes through to the play-offs to determine the winners of the Championship.