Founded | 1987 |
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Country | England |
Number of teams | 14 |
Level on pyramid | Level 4 |
Promotion to | National League 1 |
Relegation to |
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Current champions | Sedgley Park (1st title) (2022–23 (promoted to National One) |
Most championships | Hull Ionians, Macclesfield (3 titles) |
Website | |
Current: 2024–25 National League 2 North |
National League 2 North is one of three level four leagues in the English rugby union system and provides semi-professional competition for teams in Northern England. The remainder of England is covered by the two counterpart leagues National League 2 East and National League 2 West. The champion club is promoted to National One. Relegation is to either the Regional 1 Midlands, Regional 1 North East or Regional 1 North West, depending on their location. Sedgley Park are the current champions.
Before September 2009, it was known as National Division Three North. From 2009 to 2010 the Rugby Football Union (RFU) expanded the league from fourteen to sixteen teams. Each team played thirty league games on a home and away basis. The 2019–20 season ended before all the matches were completed because of the coronavirus pandemic and the RFU used a best playing record formula to decide the final table. [1]
The RFU approved a new structure for the National Leagues from the 2022–23 season. The league is reduced to fourteen teams, there will be a two-week break over Christmas and protected weekend breaks through the season. The competition structure will be reviewed every three years. [2]
The league consists of fourteen teams and each play the others on a home and away basis, to make a total of 26 matches each. The champions are promoted to National League 1. The RFU will release details of relegation in the summer.
The results of the matches contribute points to the league as follows:
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | TB | LB | Pts | Qualification |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Leeds Tykes | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 223 | 92 | +131 | 6 | 0 | 30 | Promotion place |
2 | Lymm | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 261 | 143 | +118 | 6 | 0 | 30 | |
3 | Sheffield | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 231 | 109 | +122 | 5 | 0 | 29 | |
4 | Fylde | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 170 | 189 | −19 | 4 | 0 | 20 | |
5 | Wharfedale | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 158 | 176 | −18 | 5 | 0 | 17 | |
6 | Billingham | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 138 | 133 | +5 | 2 | 0 | 16 | |
7 | Otley | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 154 | 146 | +8 | 2 | 2 | 16 | |
8 | Preston Grasshoppers | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 168 | 187 | −19 | 3 | 2 | 15 | |
9 | Hull Ionians | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 181 | 175 | +6 | 4 | 1 | 13 | |
10 | Hull | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 156 | 205 | −49 | 3 | 2 | 13 | |
11 | Chester | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 169 | 197 | −28 | 3 | 1 | 12 | |
12 | Harrogate | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 137 | 236 | −99 | 3 | 2 | 9 | |
13 | Tynedale | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 122 | 206 | −84 | 2 | 2 | 8 | Relegation place |
14 | Sheffield Tigers | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 117 | 191 | −74 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
Until the 2018–19 season, there was a play-off between the league runners-up of National League 2 North and National League 2 South, for the third and final promotion place to National League 1. The team with the superior league record having home advantage in the tie. Southern teams have been more successful with fourteen wins to the northern teams four, while the home side has won thirteen teams to the away sides five.
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Season | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Attendance | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2000–01 [16] | Sedgley Park (N) | 40–23 | Launceston (S) | Park Lane, Whitefield, Greater Manchester | 1,500 | |||||||||
2001–02 [17] | Launceston (S) | 26–0 | Dudley Kingswinford (N) | Polson Bridge, Launceston, Cornwall | 2,500 | |||||||||
2002–03 [18] | Lydney (S) | 21–7 | New Brighton (N) | Regentsholme, Lydney, Gloucestershire | ||||||||||
2003–04 [19] [20] | Halifax (N) | 16–18 | Launceston (S) | Ovenden Park, Halifax, West Yorkshire | ||||||||||
2004-05 [21] | Redruth (S) | 33–14 | Macclesfield (N) | The Recreation Ground, Redruth, Cornwall | 4,000 | |||||||||
2005–06 [22] [23] | North Walsham (S) | 5–15 | Nuneaton (N) | Norwich Road, Scottow, Norfolk | 1,302 | |||||||||
2006–07 [24] [25] | Westcombe Park (S) | 36–20 | Tynedale (N) | Goddington Dene, Orpington, Greater London | 1,700 [26] | |||||||||
2007–08 [27] [28] | Cinderford (S) | 15–14 | Darlington Mowden Park (N) | Dockham Road, Cinderford, Gloucestershire | 2,800 | |||||||||
2008–09 | No promotion play-offs this season due to the restructuring of the English rugby union league system, with only the champions of each division promoted. [29] | |||||||||||||
2009–10 [30] [31] | Loughborough Students (N) | 21–43 | Rosslyn Park (S) | Loughborough University Stadium, Loughborough, Leicestershire | 1,000 | |||||||||
2010–11 [32] [33] | Jersey (S) | 30–5 | Loughborough Students (N) | St. Peter, Saint Peter, Jersey | 3,100 | |||||||||
2011–12 [34] [35] | Richmond (S) | 20–13 (aet) | Caldy (N) | Athletic Ground, Richmond, Greater London | 1,600 | |||||||||
2012–13 [36] | Stourbridge (N) | 26–28 | Worthing Raiders (S) | Stourton Park, Stourbridge, West Midlands | 925 | |||||||||
2013–14 [37] | Darlington Mowden Park (N) | 30–28 (aet) | Ampthill (S) | The Northern Echo Arena, Darlington, County Durham | 975 | |||||||||
2014–15 [38] [39] | Ampthill (N) | 19–10 | Bishop's Stortford (S) | Dillingham Park, Ampthill, Bedfordshire | 1,253 | |||||||||
2015–16 [40] [41] | Old Albanian (S) | 24–0 | Sedgley Park (N) | Woollam Playing Fields, St Albans, Hertfordshire | 473 | |||||||||
2016–17 | Sale FC (N) | 14–19 | Old Elthamians (S) | Heywood Road, Sale, Greater Manchester | 1,297 | |||||||||
2017–18 | Chinnor (S) | 40–31 | Sedgley Park (N) | Kingsey Road, Thame, Oxfordshire | 1,378 | |||||||||
2018–19 | Canterbury (S) | 19–10 | Chester (N) | The Marine Travel Ground, Canterbury, Kent | 1,114 | |||||||||
2019–20 | Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom. Best ranked runner-up – Tonbridge Juddians (S) promoted. | |||||||||||||
2020–21 | Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom. | |||||||||||||
2021–22 | Cancelled due the reorganisation of tier three and four national leagues. | |||||||||||||
Green background represent the promoted teams. (N) stands for the northern teams and (S) stands for the southern teams. |
When club rugby began in 1987 this division was called Area 4 North and contained the following teams:
| |||||||||||||
Year | Name | No of teams | No of matches | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1987–93 | Area League North Area League South | 11 | 10 | ||||||||||
1993–96 | National Division Four | 10 | 18 | ||||||||||
1996–97 | National Four North National Four South | 14 | 26 | ||||||||||
1997–00 | National Division 2 North National Division 2 South | 14 | 26 | ||||||||||
2000–09 | National Division Three North National Division Three South | 14 | 26 | ||||||||||
2009–22 | National League 2 North National League 2 South | 16 | 30 | ||||||||||
2022– | National Two East National Two North National Two West | 14 | 26 |
Note that all records are from 1996–97 season onwards as this is widely held as the dawn of professionalism across the English club game. It also offers a better comparison between seasons as the division team numbers are roughly equal (for example when league rugby union first started in 1987–88 the northern league had only 11 teams playing 10 games each, compared to 14 teams in 1996–97 playing 26 games (home & away), going up to 16 teams in 2009–10 playing 30 games each). Attendance records are from 2000 onwards unless otherwise specified. All records are up to date up till the end of the 2019–20 season.
Rank | Nat | Name | Years | Club(s) | Points | Apps | Ratio |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Jon Boden | 2006–18 | Leicester Lions | 2,059 | 277 | 7.4 | |
2 | Chris Johnson | 2008–12, 2018–19 2016–18 | Huddersfield Sale | 1,927 | 187 | 10.3 | |
3 | Mark Ireland | 2009–12 2013–14 2017– | Kendal Otley Sheffield Tigers | 1,479 | 159 | 9.3 | |
4 | Stephen Collins | 2010–11 2013– | Fylde Sedgley Park | 1,470 | 159 | 9.2 | |
5 | Richard Vasey | 2009–17 | Caldy | 1,449 | 158 | 9.2 | |
6 | Ross Winney | 2005–10 | Macclesfield | 1,290 | 126 | 10 | |
7 | Gavin Roberts | 2007–17, 2019– | Caldy | 1,284 | 232 | 5.5 | |
8 | Rickie Aley | 2008–09 2015–18 2018– | Nuneaton South Leicester Stourbridge | 1,126 | 110 | 10.2 | |
9 | Phillip Belgian | 2001–08 | Tynedale | 1,070 | 116 | 9 | |
10 | Mark Bedworth | 2001–05 2010–12 | Darlington Mowden Park Westoe | 1,052 | 120 | 9 | |
(Bold denotes players still playing in National League 2 North.)
Rank | Nat | Name | Years | Club(s) | Tries | Apps | Ratio |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Nick Royle | 2003–04 2005–11 2014–17, 2019– | Liverpool St Helens Fylde Caldy | 193 | 212 | 0.9 | |
2 | Jamie Broadley | 2009–11 2011–12, 2016– 2014-15 | Harrogate Sheffield Tigers Hull | 157 | 190 | 0.8 | |
3 | Gareth Collins | 2004–05 2005–14 | Rugby Lions Leicester Lions | 152 | 229 | 0.7 | |
4 | Andrew Riley | 2013– | Sedgley Park | 122 | 171 | 0.7 | |
5 | Gavin Roberts | 2007–17 | Caldy | 114 | 232 | 0.5 | |
6 | Oliver Brennand | 2004–11 | Fylde | 96 | 102 | 0.9 | |
7 | Devon Constant | 2014–19 | Leicester Lions | 88 | 135 | 0.7 | |
8 | Andrew Soutar | 2006–-08 2008–17 | West Park St Helens Caldy | 83 | 281 | 0.3 | |
9 | Peter Swatkins | 2011– | Sheffield Tigers | 82 | 148 | 0.6 | |
Craig Ross | 2007–08, 2009–11, 2013–14 2014– | Caldy Chester | 82 | 165 | 0.5 | ||
Nicholas Sharpe | 2006–07 2008–13, 2014–16, 2017– | Rugby Lions Huddersfield | 82 | 261 | 0.3 | ||
(Bold denotes players still playing in National League 2 North.)
North Premier was a level five league in the English rugby union system, with the fourteen teams drawn from across Northern England. The other leagues at this level were London & South East Premier, Midlands Premier and South West Premier. The RFU reorganised the level five leagues for season 2022–23, with an increase from four to six and reducing the teams in each from fourteen to twelve. The teams in this league now play in either Regional 1 North East or Regional 1 North West.
The 2007–08 National Division Three North was the eighth season of the fourth division (north) of the English domestic rugby union competition using the name National Division Three North. New teams to the division included Bradford & Bingley and Harrogate who were relegated from the 2006–07 National Division Two, while promoted teams included Caldy (champions) and Beverley (playoffs), both coming up from North Division 1, with no team from Midlands Division 1 as the winners of that league, Luton, went into National Division Three South instead. The league system was 4 points for a win, 2 points for a draw and additional bonus points being awarded for scoring 4 or more tries and/or losing within 7 points of the victorious team. In terms of promotion the league champions would go straight up into National Division Two while the runners up would have a one-game playoff against the runners up from National Division Three South for the final promotion place.
The 2006–07 National Division Three North was the seventh season of the fourth division (north) of the English domestic rugby union competition using the name National Division Three North. New teams to the division included Orrell who were relegated from the 2005–06 National Division Two while promoted teams included Rugby Lions who came up as champions of Midlands Division 1 as well as Morley (champions) and West Park St Helens who came up from North Division 1. The league system was 4 points for a win, 2 points for a draw and additional bonus points being awarded for scoring 4 or more tries and/or losing within 7 points of the victorious team. In terms of promotion the league champions would go straight up into National Division Two while the runners up would have a one-game playoff against the runners up from National Division Three South for the final promotion place.
The 2008–09 National Division Three North was the tenth and last season of the fourth division (north) of the English domestic rugby union competition using the name National Division Three North. The division was set to be re-branded National League 2 North for the following season due to an RFU reshuffle of the entire league system. New teams to the division included Halifax and Nuneaton who were relegated from the 2007–08 National Division Two while promoted sides included Loughborough Students who came up as champions of Midlands Division 1 along with Kendal (champions) Huddersfield (playoffs) coming up from North Division 1. A further, final change to the division saw Rugby Lions transfer across to 2008–09 National Division Three South as the most southerly side in the division in order to address a team imbalance between the two leagues. The league system was 4 points for a win, 2 points for a draw and additional bonus points being awarded for scoring 4 or more tries and/or losing within 7 points of the victorious team. In terms of promotion the league champions would go straight up into what would be known as National League 1 from 2009-10 but unlike previous years, there would be no promotion playoff between the runners up of the division and the runners up of National Division Three South due to the league restructuring.
The 2009–10 National League 2 North was the first season of the fourth tier (north) of the English domestic rugby union competitions since the professionalised format of the second division was introduced. Previously known as National Division 3 North, it had been renamed due to widespread changes to the league system by the RFU with National One becoming the Championship, National 2 becoming National 1 and so on. The league system was 4 points for a win, 2 points for a draw and additional bonus points being awarded for scoring 4 or more tries and/or losing within 7 points of the victorious team. In terms of promotion the league champions would go straight up into National League 1 while the runners up would have a one-game playoff against the runners up from National League 2 South for the final promotion place. A further change to the league system would see the division increase from 14 to 16 teams.
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The 2011–12 National League 1 is the third season of the third division of the English domestic rugby union competitions since the professionalised format of the second division was introduced. Birmingham & Solihull find themselves playing in this league following their relegation from the 2010–11 RFU Championship in the play-offs, whilst other newcomers to the league in this season are Ealing Trailfinders and Jersey, and Fylde, who won promotion to the league from the 2010–11 National League 2 South and 2010–11 National League 2 North respectively.
The 2012–13 National League 1 was the fourth season of the third tier of the English domestic rugby union competitions since the professionalised format of the second division was introduced. New teams to the division included Esher who were relegated from the 2011–12 RFU Championship, Loughborough Students who were promoted as champions from the 2011–12 National League 2 North along with Old Albanian (champions) and Richmond (playoffs) who came up from the 2011–12 National League 2 South.
The 2013–14 National League 2 North was the fourth season of the fourth tier (north) of the English domestic rugby union competitions since the professionalised format of the second division was introduced. The league system was 4 points for a win, 2 points for a draw and additional bonus points being awarded for scoring 4 or more tries and/or losing within 7 points of the victorious team. In terms of promotion the league champions would go straight up into National League 1 while the runners up would have a one-game playoff against the runners up from National League 2 South for the final promotion place.
The 2004–05 National Division Three North was the fifth season of the fourth division (north) of the English domestic rugby union competition using the name National Division Three North. New teams to the division included Rugby Lions who were relegated from the 2003–04 National Division Two while Bedford Athletic were promoted as champions of Midlands Division 1 along with Bradford & Bingley (champions) and Cleckheaton (playoffs) who both came up from North Division 1. The season would also see the introduction of a new points system with 4 points being awarded for a win, 2 points being awarded for a draw with the addition of a bonus point being given for scoring 4 or more tries as well as a bonus point given if you manage to lose a game within 7 points of the victorious team. In terms of promotion the league champions would go straight up into National Division Two while the runners up would have a one-game playoff against the runners up from National Division Three South for the final promotion place.
The 2005–06 National Division Three North was the sixth season of the fourth division (north) of the English domestic rugby union competition using the name National Division Three North. New teams to the division included Nuneaton who were relegated from the 2004–05 National Division Two while Leicester Lions came up as champions of Midlands Division 1 along with Preston Grasshoppers (champions) and Hull Ionians (playoffs) who were promoted from North Division 1. The league system was 4 points for a win, 2 points for a draw and additional bonus points being awarded for scoring 4 or more tries and/or losing within 7 points of the victorious team. In terms of promotion the league champions would go straight up into National Division Two while the runners up would have a one-game playoff against the runners up from National Division Three South for the final promotion place.
The 2010–11 National League 2 North was the second season of the fourth tier (north) of the English domestic rugby union competitions since the professionalised format of the second division was introduced. The league system was 4 points for a win, 2 points for a draw and additional bonus points being awarded for scoring 4 or more tries and/or losing within 7 points of the victorious team. In terms of promotion the league champions would go straight up into National League 1 while the runners up would have a one-game playoff against the runners up from National League 2 South for the final promotion place.
The 2011–12 National League 2 North was the third season of the fourth tier (north) of the English domestic rugby union competitions since the professionalised format of the second division was introduced. The league system was 4 points for a win, 2 points for a draw and additional bonus points being awarded for scoring 4 or more tries and/or losing within 7 points of the victorious team. In terms of promotion the league champions would go straight up into National League 1 while the runners up would have a one-game playoff against the runners up from National League 2 South for the final promotion place.
The 2016–17 National League 1, known for sponsorship reasons as the SSE National League 1 was the eighth season of the third tier of the English rugby union system, since the professionalised format of the second tier RFU Championship was introduced; and was the 30th season since league rugby began in 1987.
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The 2018–19 National League 2 North is the tenth season of the fourth tier (north) of the English domestic rugby union competitions since the professionalised format of the second division was introduced.
The 2018–19 National League 1, known for sponsorship reasons as the SSE National League 1, is the tenth season of the third tier of the English rugby union system, since the professionalised format of the second tier RFU Championship was introduced; and is the 32nd season since league rugby began in 1987.
The 2019–20 National League 2 North was the eleventh season of the fourth tier (north) of the English domestic rugby union competitions since the professionalised format of the second division was introduced.
The 2021–22 National League 2 North was the twelfth season of the fourth tier (north) of the English domestic rugby union competitions since the professionalised format of the second division was introduced.
The 2022–23 National League 2 North was the 35th season of the fourth tier (north) of the English domestic rugby union competitions; one of three at this level. The others are, the newly formed, National League 2 East and National League 2 West. Previously, there were two leagues at level four; this league and National League 2 South.