Counties 1 Kent

Counties 1 Kent

Current season or competition: 2025–26 Counties 1 Kent
Sport	Rugby union
Number of teams	12
Country	England
Holders	Canterbury Pilgrims (2024–25)
Most titles	Canterbury Pilgrims (2 titles)
Website

Counties 1 Kent is an English level 7 rugby union regional league for rugby clubs in London and the south-east of England including sides from Kent, Greater London and East Sussex. Administration of the leagues is divided between Kent Rugby, ^[1] Sussex Rugby ^[2] and the London & SE RFU. ^[3] (The locations in Greater London are all in areas that were historically part of Kent.)

The current champions are Canterbury Pilgrims.

Structure and format

The twelve teams play home and away matches from September through to April, making a total of twenty-two matches each. The results of the matches contribute points to the league as follows:

• 4 points are awarded for a win.
• 2 points are awarded for a draw.
• 0 points are awarded for a loss.

In addition:

• 1 losing (bonus) point is awarded to a team that loses a match by 7 points or fewer
• 1 additional (bonus) point is awarded to a team scoring 4 tries or more in a match

Promotion is to Regional 2 South East and relegation is to either Counties 2 Kent or Counties 2 Sussex depending on location.

2025–26

Departing were Canterbury II and Bromley, both promoted to Regional 2 South East.

Team Ground Capacity City/Area Previous season Ashford Kinney's Field Ashford, Kent 10th Beccehamian Sparrow's Den West Wickham, London 5th Charlton Park Broad Walk Kidbrooke, London 12th Cranbrook Tomlin Ground Cranbrook, Kent 11th Crowborough Steel Cross Crowborough, East Sussex 4th Deal & Betteshanger The Drill Field Deal, Kent 9th Dover Crabble Athletic Ground Dover, Kent 6th Gillingham Anchorians Darland Banks Gillingham, Kent Promoted from Counties 2 Kent (2nd) Heathfield & Waldron Hardy Roberts Recreational Ground Cross In Hand, Heathfield, East Sussex 7th Old Elthamians Hospital Ground Chislehurst, London Promoted from Counties 2 Kent (champions) Park House Barnet Wood Road Hayes, London 8th Sevenoaks II Knole Paddock 1,000 Sevenoaks, Kent 3rd

Beccehamian Charlton Park Elthamians Park House class=notpageimage| Locations of the 2025–26 Counties 1 Kent teams in London Ashford Cranbrook Crowborough D & B Dover Anchorians H & W London Sevenoaks II class=notpageimage| Locations of the 2025–26 Counties 1 Kent teams in Kent and East Sussex

2024–25

Canterbury Pilgrims finished top but owing to league regulations were not permitted to be promoted to level 6. ^[4] Departing were Dartfordians promoted to Regional 2 South East as runner-up with Thanet being relegated to Counties 2 Kent. ^{[5] [6]} With no team coming down from Regional 2 South East there was a reprieve for Charlton Park who finished 11th and would ordinarily have been relegated to Counties 2 Kent. Joining were Sevenoaks 2XV andj Park House from Counties 2 Kent. ^[7]

Team Ground Capacity City/Area Previous season Ashford Kinney's Field Ashford, Kent 9th Beccehamian Sparrow's Den West Wickham, London 3rd Bromley Barnet Wood Road Hayes, London 4th Canterbury II Marine Travel Ground Canterbury, Kent 1st (not promoted) Charlton Park Broad Walk Kidbrooke, London 11th Cranbrook Tomlin Ground Cranbrook, Kent 10th Crowborough Steel Cross Crowborough, East Sussex 5th Deal & Betteshanger The Drill Field Deal, Kent 8th Dover Crabble Athletic Ground Dover, Kent 6th Heathfield & Waldron Hardy Roberts Recreational Ground Cross In Hand, Heathfield, East Sussex 7th Park House Barnet Wood Road Hayes, London Promoted from Counties 2 Kent (2nd) Sevenoaks II Knole Paddock 1,000 Sevenoaks, Kent Promoted from Counties 2 Kent (champions)

Beccehamian Bromley Charlton Park Park House class=notpageimage| Locations of the 2024–25 Counties 1 Kent teams in London Ashford Canterbury II Cranbrook Crowborough D & B Dover H & W London Sevenoaks II class=notpageimage| Locations of the 2024–25 Counties 1 Kent teams in Kent and East Sussex

League table

Counties 1 Kent 2024–25
	Team	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points for	Points against	Points diff	Try bonus	Loss bonus	Points	Adjust
1	Canterbury Pilgrims (P)	22	20	0	2	740	309	431	15	1	99	+2
2	Bromley (P)	22	18	1	3	748	419	329	13	3	90
3	Sevenoaks II	22	16	0	6	698	448	250	15	4	85	+2
4	Crowborough	22	12	0	10	486	419	67	13	5	67	+1
5	Beccehamian	22	12	0	10	607	450	157	12	5	66	+1
6	Dover	22	12	1	9	510	524	−14	9	4	64	+1
7	Heathfield & Waldron	22	11	0	11	571	457	114	11	5	60
8	Park House	22	8	0	14	532	605	−73	9	7	48
9	Deal & Betteshanger	22	9	0	13	418	726	−308	6	2	44
10	Ashford	22	7	0	15	364	598	−234	6	4	38
11	Cranbrook	22	3	0	19	297	715	−418	4	3	9	−10
12	Charlton Park	22	3	0	19	284	585	−301	4	1	2	−15
If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order: Number of matches won Number of draws Difference between points for and against Total number of points for Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled
Green background are the promotion places. Pink background are the relegation places. Updated: 12 January 20264 Source: [8]

Teams for 2023–24

Departing were Old Alleynians ^[9] promoted to Regional 2 South East with Folkestone ^[10] and Aylesford Bulls relegated to Counties 2 Kent. In their place In their place came Dover and Canterbury Pilgrims promoted as 'joint champions' ^[11] from Counties 2 Kent whilst Dartfordians were relegated from Regional 2 South East.

Team Ground Capacity City/Area Previous season Ashford Kinney's Field Ashford, Kent 9th Beccehamian Sparrow's Den West Wickham, London 3rd Bromley Barnet Wood Road Hayes, London 4th Canterbury II Marine Travel Ground Canterbury, Kent Promoted from Counties 2 Kent (joint champions) Charlton Park Broad Walk Kidbrooke, London 5th Cranbrook Tomlin Ground Cranbrook, Kent 10th Crowborough Steel Cross Crowborough, East Sussex 5th Dartfordians Bourne Road Bexley, London Relegated from Regional 2 South East (11th) Deal & Betteshanger The Drill Field Deal, Kent 8th Dover Crabble Athletic Ground Dover, Kent Promoted from Counties 2 Kent (joint champions) Heathfield & Waldron Hardy Roberts Recreational Ground Cross In Hand, Heathfield, East Sussex 7th Thanet Wanderers St Peter's Recreation Ground Broadstairs, Kent 10th

Beccehamian Bromley Charlton Park Dartfordians class=notpageimage| Locations of the 2023–24 Counties 1 Kent teams in London Ashford Canterbury II Cranbrook Crowborough D & B Dover H & W London Thanet class=notpageimage| Locations of the 2023–24 Counties 1 Kent teams in Kent and East Sussex

League table

Counties 1 Kent 2023–24
	Team	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points for	Points against	Points diff	Try bonus	Loss bonus	Points	Adjust
C	Canterbury Pilgrims	22	20	0	2	846	439	+407	18	0	98
2	Dartfordians	22	17	1	4	692	444	+248	19	1	90
3	Beccehamian	22	18	1	3	839	299	+540	16	1	86	−5
4	Bromley	22	15	1	6	621	416	205	13	3	79
5	Crowborough	22	14	2	6	530	463	+67	9	1	70
6	Dover	22	9	1	12	466	548	-82	9	3	50
7	Heathfield & Waldron	22	8	2	12	459	469	-10	7	6	50
8	Deal & Betteshanger	22	8	0	14	403	582	-179	6	4	42
9	Ashford	22	6	0	16	345	518	−173	3	3	30
10	Cranbrook	22	4	1	17	388	756	−368	4	4	26
11	Charlton Park	22	5	0	17	371	684	−313	5	3	23	−5
12	Thanet Wanderers (R)	22	3	1	18	378	720	−342	4	3	21
If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order: Number of matches won Number of draws Difference between points for and against Total number of points for Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled
Green background is the promotion place. Pink background are the relegation places. Updated: 25 June 2024 Source: [8]

2022–23

This was the first season following the RFU Adult Competition Review. The league was substantially similar to London 2 South East with the teams placed 5th to 12th returning. The teams finishing 1st to 4th were promoted to Regional 2 South East (level 6) with the top four teams promoted from London 3 South East (level 8). ^[12]

Team Ground Capacity City/Area Previous season Ashford Kinney's Field Ashford, Kent 11th L2SE Aylesford Bulls Jack Williams Ground Aylesford, Kent Promoted from L3SE (2nd) Beccehamian Sparrow's Den West Wickham, London 10th L2SE Bromley Barnet Wood Road Hayes, London Promoted from L3SE (champions) [13] Charlton Park Broad Walk Kidbrooke, London 8th L2SE Cranbrook Tomlin Ground Cranbrook, Kent Promoted from L3SE (3rd) Crowborough Steel Cross Crowborough, East Sussex 9th L2SE Deal & Betteshanger The Drill Field Deal, Kent 7th L2SE [14] Folkestone New Burlington Ground Newington, Folkestone, Kent 12th L2SE Heathfield & Waldron Hardy Roberts Recreational Ground Cross In Hand, Heathfield, East Sussex Promoted from L3SE (4th) Old Alleynians Dulwich Common Dulwich, London 5th L2SE Thanet Wanderers St Peter's Recreation Ground Broadstairs, Kent 6th L2SE

Beccehamian Bromley Charlton Park Alleynian class=notpageimage| Locations of the 2022–23 Counties 1 Kent teams in London Ashford Aylesford Cranbrook Crowborough D & B Folkestone H & W London Thanet class=notpageimage| Locations of the 2022–23 Counties 1 Kent teams in Kent and East Sussex

League table

Counties 1 Kent 2022–23
	Team	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points for	Points against	Points diff	Try bonus	Loss bonus	Points	Adjust
C	Old Alleynians	22	20	0	2	890	257	+633	16	1	97
2	Bromley	22	16	0	6	575	316	+259	12	1	77
3	Beccehamian	22	14	0	8	596	381	+215	11	4	71
4	Heathfield & Waldron	22	14	0	8	468	486	-18	9	3	68
5	Charlton Park	22	14	0	8	525	537	-12	10	1	67
6	Cranbrook	22	12	0	10	538	511	27	10	1	59
7	Ashford	22	12	0	10	440	399	41	4	4	56
8	Deal & Betteshanger	22	11	0	11	448	507	-39	7	3	55
9	Crowborough	22	8	0	14	443	552	−109	7	1	35	−5
10	Thanet Wanderers	22	7	0	15	309	593	−284	5	0	33
R	Folkestone	22	3	0	19	346	797	−451	5	4	21
R	Aylesford Bulls	22	1	0	21	341	603	−262	3	6	13
If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order: Number of matches won Number of draws Difference between points for and against Total number of points for Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled
Green background is the promotion place. Pink background are the relegation places.

See also

• London & SE Division RFU
• Kent RFU
• Sussex RFU
• English rugby union system
• Rugby union in England

References

1. "RFU Leagues". Surrey Rugby. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
2. "Mens [sic] Leagues". Sussex Rugby. Retrieved 12 August 2024.
3. "RFU League Statistics". L&SE RFU. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
4. "PILGRIMS ARE CHAMPIONS". Canterbury RFC. 18 March 2024. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
5. "Dartfordians RFC celebrating 100th anniversary season with promotion and a lunch in support of the IPF". RFU Injured Players Foundation. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
6. "Relegation looks certain for Wanderers". Isle of Thanet News. 25 March 2024.
7. "Sevenoaks 2s are Kent Champions!". Local Sports News. 25 April 2024. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
8. "Counties 1 Kent". Rugby England. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
9. "Old Alleynians 1XV win the League with a record win!". Old Alleynians. 19 March 2023.
10. "RELEGATION LOOMS FOR FOLKESTONE AFTER ANOTHER LOSS". Folkestone RFC. 12 February 2023.
11. "Player-coach Martyn Beaumont on Dover Rugby Club being named 'joint-champions' of Kent 2 with Canterbury 2nds". Kent Online. 9 April 2023.
12. "Rugby union competition structure gets overhaul ahead of the 2022/23 season". Kent Online. 28 May 2022.
13. "Addition to the coaching team for next season". Bromley RFC. 9 June 2022. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
14. "Deal & Betteshanger coach Danny Vaughan reacts to news the club will be playing in new Counties 1 Kent Division following Rugby Football Union's restructure". Kent Online. 11 June 2022.