North West 1

Last updated

North West 1
SportRugby Union
Instituted1987;38 years ago (1987)
Ceased2000;25 years ago (2000)
CountryFlag of England.svg  England
Website clubs.rfu.com

North West 1 (not to be confused with North 1 West) was an English Rugby Union league at the seventh tier of the domestic competition and was available to teams in North West England. Promoted teams moved up to North 2 West, while relegated teams dropped to North West 2. The division was abolished at the end of the 1999–00 season due to RFU restructuring with teams being transferred to either North 2 West or their relevant regional leagues, such as South Lancs/Cheshire 1 or North Lancs/Cumbria.

Contents

Original teams

When league rugby began in 1987 this division contained the following teams:

North West 1 Honours

North West 1 (1987–1993)

The original North West 1 was a tier 7 league with promotion up to North Division 2 and relegation down to North West 2.

North West 1 Honours
SeasonNo of TeamsChampionsRunners–upRelegated Teams
1987–8811 Carlisle Wirral Blackburn, Netherall, Southport
1988–8911 Wigan Egremont Wilmslow, Manchester
1989–9011 Sandbach Egremont Chester
1990–9111 Northwich Manchester Rochdale
1991–9211 Manchester Macclesfield No relegation [b]
1992–9313 Macclesfield New Brighton Egremont, Wirral
Green backgrounds are promotion places.

North West 1 (1993–1996)

The creation of National 5 North for the 1993–94 season meant that North West 1 dropped from being a tier 7 league to a tier 8 league for the years that National 5 North was active.

North West 1 Honours
SeasonNo of TeamsChampionsRunners–upRelegated Teams
1993–9413 New Brighton Oldershaw Kirkby Lions, Merseyside Police, St Edward's Old Boys
1994–9513 Sedgley Park Lymm Wigan, Stockport
1995–9613 Lymm Penrith Multiple teams [c]
Green backgrounds are promotion places.

North West 1 (1996–2000)

The cancellation of National 5 North at the end of the 1995–96 season meant that North West 1 reverted to being a tier 7 league. At the end of the 1999–00 season a further restructure of the leagues saw North West 1, North West 2 and North West 3 cancelled, along with their counterparts North East 1, North East 2 and North East 3.

North West 1 Honours
SeasonNo of TeamsChampionsRunners–upRelegated Teams
1996–9710 Blackburn West Park St Helens Netherall
1997–9810 Chester West Park St Helens Wilmslow
1998–99 [2] 10 Aldwinians West Park St Helens Vagabonds
1999–00 [3] 10 West Park St Helens Stockport [d] Ashton-on-Mersey [e]
Green backgrounds are promotion places.

Number of league titles

Notes

  1. Mid-Cheshire College were renamed to Northwich RUFC from the 1990–91 season onward. [1]
  2. There was no relegation at the end of 1991–92 season due to the restructuring of the northern leagues by the RFU for the following season, which would see North West 1 expand from 11 to 13 teams.
  3. Due to restructuring caused by the creation of North West 3, five clubs were relegated into North West 2, including Sandbach, Northwich, Carlisle, Ashton-on-Mersey and Leigh. Bottom place Cockermouth were also relegated, but this time two levels down into the new North West 3.
  4. As this was the last season for North West 1 a larger than usual number of teams were promoted to North 2 West.
  5. Due to North West 2 being abolished Ashton-on-Mersey, Aspull, Oldershaw and Birkenhead Park were relegated/transferred to South Lancs/Cheshire 1 while Kirkby Lonsdale went into North Lancs/Cumbria.

References

  1. "Celebrating 50 Years of Northwich RUFC" (PDF). RFU. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  2. "1998-99 Northern Division". England Rugby. RFU. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
  3. "1999-00 Northern Division". England Rugby. RFU. Retrieved 30 April 2017.

See also