National League 2 North

National League 2 North
Current season or competition:
2014–15 National League 2 North
Sport Rugby union
Instituted 1987
Number of teams 16
Country  England
Holders Hull Ionians (2014-15)
Most titles Hull Ionians
Macclesfield
Nuneaton (2 titles)
Website clubs.rfu.com

National League 2 North, (which before September 2009 was known as National Division Three North) is a level four league in the English rugby union system and provides mostly amateur competition for teams in the Northern half of England. From 2009–10 the RFU have restructured the league system in England, and this league was expanded from 14 to 16 teams. Participating clubs are from the English Midlands and Northern England. Each team plays 30 league games on a home and away basis. The champion club is promoted to National League 1 and the runner-up participates in a one-off play-off with the runner-up of National League 2 South for promotion. Relegation is to either the National League 3 Midlands or National League 3 North leagues depending on where the teams are based.

Participating teams in 2014–15 season

At the end of the 2013–14 season, Macclesfield won promotion. Darlington Mowden Park were runners-up and won the playoff against Ampthill. Ampthill were subsequently level transferred back to their home league from National League 2 South. Sheffield Tigers, Bromsgrove and Dudley Kingswinford were demoted to National League 3 North or National League 3 Midlands.

Team Ground Capacity Location Notes
Ampthill Dillingham Park Ampthill, Bedfordshire level transferred from National League 2 South
Birmingham & Solihull Damson Park 3,050 Solihull, West Midlands
Broadstreet The Ivor Preece Field 250 (seated) Coventry, West Midlands promoted from National League 3 Midlands
Caldy Paton Field 4,000 Thurstaston, Wirral, Merseyside
Chester Hare Lane Chester, Cheshire
Harrogate Claro Road Harrogate, North Yorkshire
Huddersfield Lockwood Park 1,500 Huddersfield, West Yorkshire promoted from National League 3 North
Hull Ferens Ground Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire
Hull Ionians Brantingham Park 240 (seated) Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire relegated from National League 1
Leicester Lions Westleigh Park 2,000 Blaby, Leicestershire
Luctonians Mortimer Park 300 (Seated) Kingsland, Herefordshire
Otley Cross Green 5,000 Otley, Leeds, West Yorkshire
Preston Grasshoppers Lightfoot Green 5,000 Preston, Lancashire
Sedgley Park Park Lane 3,000 Whitefield, Bury, Greater Manchester
Stockport The Memorial Ground 500 Stockport, Greater Manchester promoted from National League 3 North
Stourbridge Stourton Park Stourbridge, West Midlands

Current standings

2014–15 National League 2 North Table
Club Played Won Drawn Lost Points For Points Against Points Difference Try Bonus Losing Bonus Points
1 Hull Ionians (C) 30 27 0 3 976 407 569 25 1 134
2 Ampthill 30 26 1 3 1113 440 673 23 2 131
3 Sedgley Park 30 18 1 11 881 666 215 16 4 89
4 Harrogate 30 17 3 10 720 652 68 11 4 89
5 Chester 30 16 1 13 706 595 111 12 6 84
6 Caldy 30 16 1 13 696 720 -24 11 7 84
7 Broadstreet 30 17 0 13 773 687 86 11 4 83
8 Otley 30 13 1 16 676 682 -6 13 8 75
9 Huddersfield 30 14 2 14 586 658 -72 7 4 71
10 Stourbridge 30 12 1 17 740 803 -63 12 7 69
11 Leicester Lions 30 13 0 17 612 804 -192 10 2 64
12 Preston Grasshoppers 30 11 0 19 621 664 -43 10 10 64
13 Luctonians 30 11 1 18 599 766 -167 10 5 61
14 Birmingham & Solihull (R) 30 9 2 18 724 809 -85 8 10 58
15 Hull (R) 30 10 1 19 543 836 -293 9 3 54
16 Stockport (R) 30 2 1 27 444 1221 -777 5 4 19
  • If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:
  1. Number of matches won
  2. Difference between points for and against
  3. Total number of points for
  4. Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams
  5. 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. Blue background is the play-off place. Pink background are relegation places.
Updated: 11 June 2014
Source: "National League 2 North". NCA Rugby.

Participating clubs 2012–13

National Two North Honours

List of National Two North Honours
Season No of teams Champions Runners–up Relegated Teams League Name
1987–88 11 Rugby Durham City Derby, Solihull and Birkenhead Park Area League North
1988–89 11 Roundhay Broughton Park Birmingham Area League North
1989–90 11 Broughton Park Morley No relegation Area League North
1990–91 13 Otley Lichfield Stoke-on-Trent and Birmingham & Solihull National 4 North
1991–92 13 Aspatria Hereford Vale of Lune and Northern National 4 North
1992–93 13 Harrogate Rotherham Towcestrians National 4 North
1993–94 10 Clifton Harrogate Sheffield (to 5 North) and Sudbury RFC (to 5 South) Courage National League 4[n 1]
1994–95 10 Rotherham Reading Askeans (to 5 South) and Broughton Park (to 5 North) Courage National League 4
1995–96 10 Exeter London Welsh[n 2] Aspatria (to 4 North) and Plymouth Albion (to 4 South) Courage National League 4
1996–97 14 Worcester Birmingham & Solihull Hereford and Stoke-on-Trent National 4 North
1997–98 14 Birmingham & Solihull Manchester No relegation National 2 North
1998–99 14 Preston Grasshoppers Stourbridge Hinckley, Lichfield and Winnington Park National 2 North
1999–00 14 Kendal Stourbridge Sheffield National 2 North
2000–01 14 Stourbridge Sedgley Park Walsall and Aspatria National 3 North
2001–02 14 Doncaster Dudley Kingswinford Whitchurch, Morley, Sandal and West Hartlepool National 3 North
2002–03 14 Nuneaton New Brighton Bedford Athletic, Broadstreet, Hull Ionians and Scunthorpe National 3 North
2003–04 14 Waterloo Halifax Preston Grasshoppers, Liverpool St Helens and Longton National 3 North
2004–05 14 Halifax Macclesfield Rugby Lions, Dudley Kingswinford and Bedford Athletic National 3 North
2005–06 14 Bradford & Bingley Nuneaton New Brighton and Kendal National 3 North
2006–07 14 Blaydon Tynedale Darlington, Cleckheaton and Orrell National 3 North
2007–08 14 Tynedale Darlington Mowden Park Morley, West Park St Helens and Beverley National 3 North
2008–09 14 Nuneaton Caldy Darlington Mowden Park and Halifax National 3 North
2009–10 16 Macclesfield Loughborough Students Waterloo and Bradford & Bingley National League 2 North
2010–11 16 Fylde Loughborough Students Morley, Rugby Lions and Manchester National League 2 North
2011–12 16 Loughborough Students Caldy Harrogate, Nuneaton and Kendal National League 2 North
2012–13 16 Hull Ionians Stourbridge Westoe,Stockport and Huddersfield National League 2 North
2013–14 16 Macclesfield Darlington Mowden Park Sheffield Tigers, Bromsgrove and Dudley Kingswinford National League 2 North
2014–15 16 Hull Ionians Ampthill Birmingham & Solihull, Hull and Stockport National League 2 North
Green backgrounds are promotion places.
  1. ↑ This year there was a league restructure with a new league (Courage National League 4) becoming the new tier 4. Courage National 4 would contain the previous season's top teams from National 4 North and National 4 South with the remaining teams joining lower tier teams as part of Courage League Division 5 (which retained the North/South divisions). This structure would continue for several years before being abolished at the end of 1996 where the league would revert back to the old system.
  2. ↑ The top eight teams were all promoted to the re-organised, sixteen team, Courage League Division 3 for season 1996–97

Original teams

When club rugby began in 1987 this division was called Area 4 North and contained the following teams:

League format since 1987

Format of fourth tier rugby union leagues in England
Year Name No of teams No of matches
1987–93 Courage National Division Four North and Courage National Division Four South 11 10
1993–96 Courage National Division Four 10 18
1996–97 National Four North and
National Four South 		14 26
1997–99 Jewson National Division 2 North and
Jewson National Division 2 South		 14 26
1999–2009 National Division Three North and
National Division Three South 		14 26
2009– National League 2 North and
National League 2 South 		16 30

See also

References

    External links