BARLA merged the Leigh, Manchester, St Helens, Warrington, Widnes and Wigan districts into a new North West Counties league and created an elite National Conference League, this saw a revitalisation of the game in heartland areas of the North West of England.

In contrast, the Rugby League Conference (RLC) was born in 1997 as the Southern Conference, a 10-team pilot league for teams in the South of England and English Midlands taking place in the summer time rather than the traditional winter season.

Following a big expansion to the Rugby League Conference in 2003, the North West got its own regional division.

By 2008, there were enough sides for a higher level North West Premier division to be created and in 2010, a North West Merit League was created out of existing merit leagues.

However, in 2011, the National Conference League, voted to switch to a summer season and most of the reserve teams followed.