2000–01 National Division Two

2000–01 National Division Two
Countries	England
Champions	Bracknell
Runners-up	Rugby Lions (also promoted)
Relegated	West Hartlepool, Lydney, Camberley
Attendance	38,518 (average 363 per match)[a 1]
Highest attendance	1,000 Rosslyn Park at home to Rugby Lions on 24 February 2001
Lowest attendance	50 West Hartlepool at home to Camberley on 31 March 2001
Top point scorer	Mike Scott Kendal 290 points
Top try scorer	Ed Smithies Harrogate 17 tries
← 1999–00 2001-02 →

The 2000–01 National Division Two was the fourteenth full season of rugby union within the third tier of the English league system currently known as National League 1. New teams to the division included West Hartlepool and Rugby Lions who were relegated from the 1999–2000 Allied Dunbar Premiership Two while promoted teams included Kendal and Esher who were promoted as champions of National Division Three North and National Division Three South respectively.^[1][2] The league system was 2 points for a win and 1 point for a draw.

The league champions were Bracknell who won the title by five points and gained promotion to the 2001–02 National Division One. They would be joined by runners up Rugby Lions (making an instant return to the division) who squeaked past Rosslyn Park despite being level on points due to a better points for/conceded record.^[3] At the other end of the table West Hartlepool, Lydney and Camberley would be the unfortunate teams to be relegated.^[3] West Hartlepool were easily the worse team in the division, failing to win a single game all season and suffering their second successive relegation in a row (part of a slide that would see them drop out of the national league system into regional rugby) while Lydney went down having only played 22 games due to fixture congestion/cancellations – although even if the Gloucestershire-based side won these remaining fixtures it would not have been enough to keep them up. West Hartlepool would drop to the 2001–02 National Division Three North while Camberley and Lydney would drop to the 2001–02 National Division Three South.^[4][5]

Participating teams and locations

Team	Stadium	Capacity	City/Area
Bracknell	Lily Hill Park	1,250 (250 seats)	Bracknell, Berkshire
Camberley	Watchetts Recreation Ground		Camberley, Surrey
Esher	Molesey Road	3,000	Hersham, Surrey
Fylde	Woodlands Memorial Ground	9,000	Lytham St. Annes, Lancashire
Harrogate	Claro Road		Harrogate, North Yorkshire
Kendal	Mint Bridge		Kendal, Cumbria
Lydney	Regentsholme	1,500	Lydney, Gloucestershire
Newbury Blues	Monk's Lane	8,000	Newbury, Berkshire
Nottingham	Ireland Avenue	4,950	Beeston, Nottinghamshire
Preston Grasshoppers	Lightfoot Green	5,000	Preston, Lancashire
Rosslyn Park	Priory Lane	2,000	Roehampton, London
Rugby Lions	Webb Ellis Road	1,000	Rugby, Warwickshire
West Hartlepool	Brinkburn	1,000 (76 seats)	Hartlepool, County Durham
Wharfedale	Threshfield	2,000	Threshfield, Craven, North Yorkshire

Final league table

2000-2001 National Division Two Table
Position	Club	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points for	Points against	Points Diff	Points
1	Bracknell (C)	26	22	0	4	752	310	442	44
2	Rugby Lions (P)	25	19	2	4	888	320	568	40
3	Rosslyn Park	25	19	2	4	752	439	313	40
4	Kendal	26	16	1	9	622	467	155	33
5	Harrogate	26	14	2	10	617	442	175	30
6	Wharfedale	25	14	0	11	594	475	119	28
7	Preston Grasshoppers	26	12	2	12	569	517	52	26
8	Esher	26	11	1	14	577	484	93	23
9	Newbury Blues	25	10	1	14	437	502	-65	21
10	Fylde	26	11	1	14	377	594	-217	21
11	Nottingham	26	10	0	16	544	584	-40	20
12	Camberley (R)	26	8	0	18	426	738	-312	16
13	Lydney (R)	22	6	0	16	308	565	-257	12
14	West Hartlepool (R)	26	0	0	26	240	1266	-1026	0
Reference englandrugby.com: Updated 28-04-2001

Results

Some of the early-season scores from Rugby Statbunker are incorrect (possibly due to an automatic scoring system used on that website) as they are different from those reported in the Telegraph. I have used scores from the England Rugby website to ensure that they are accurate with reports from Statbunker primarily used to show scorers, attendances and referees were relevant. Statbunker scores are consistent with rest of sources from 16 December 2000 onwards.^[3]

Round 1

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Round 2

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Round 3

• Postponed. Game rescheduled to 3 February 2001.

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Round 4

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Round 5

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Round 6

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Round 7

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Round 8

• Postponed. Game rescheduled to 30 December 2000.

• Postponed. Game rescheduled to 30 December 2000.

• Postponed. Game rescheduled to 30 December 2000.

• Postponed. Game rescheduled to 30 December 2000.

• Postponed. Game rescheduled to 30 December 2000.

• Postponed. Game rescheduled to 30 December 2000.

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Round 9

• Postponed. Game rescheduled to 3 February 2001.

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Round 10

• Postponed. Game rescheduled to 17 February 2001.

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Round 11

• Postponed. Game rescheduled to 3 February 2001.

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Round 12

• Postponed. Game rescheduled to 3 February 2001.

• Postponed. Game rescheduled to 17 February 2001.

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Round 13

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Round 14

• Postponed. Game rescheduled to 17 February 2001.

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Round 15

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Round 8 (rescheduled games)

• Game originally rescheduled from 4 November 2000 but postponed once again. Game rescheduled to 3 March 2001.

• Game originally rescheduled from 4 November 2000 but postponed once again. Game rescheduled to 3 March 2001.

• Game originally rescheduled from 4 November 2000 and was initially postponed once again - eventually being cancelled due to fixture congestion and the result being irrelevant to Lydney's eventual relegation.

• Game originally rescheduled from 4 November 2000 but postponed once again. Game rescheduled to 3 March 2001.

• Game originally rescheduled from 4 November 2000 but postponed once again. Game rescheduled to 3 March 2001.

• Game originally rescheduled from 4 November 2000 but postponed once again. Game rescheduled to 17 February 2001.

^[8]

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Round 16

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Round 17

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Round 18

• Postponed. Game rescheduled to 8 April 2001.

• Postponed. Game rescheduled to 3 February 2001.

• Postponed. Game rescheduled to 7 April 2001.

• Postponed. Game rescheduled to 7 April 2001.

• Postponed. Game rescheduled to 7 April 2001.

• Postponed. Game rescheduled to 6 April 2001.

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Round 19

• Postponed. Game rescheduled to 21 April 2001.

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Rounds 3, 9, 11, 12 & 18 (rescheduled games)

• Game rescheduled from 16 September 2000.

• Game rescheduled from 25 November 2000.

• Game rescheduled from 20 January 2001.

• Game rescheduled from 2 December 2000.

• Game rescheduled from 11 November 2000.

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Round 20

• Postponed. Game rescheduled to 21 April 2001.

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Rounds 8, 10, 12 & 14 (rescheduled games)

• Game rescheduled from 18 November 2000.

• Game rescheduled from 16 December 2000.

• Game rescheduled from 30 December 2000.

• Game rescheduled from 2 December 2000.

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Round 21

• Postponed. Game rescheduled to 21 April 2001.

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Round 8 (rescheduled games)

• Game rescheduled from 30 December 2000.

• Game rescheduled from 30 December 2000.

• Game rescheduled from 30 December 2000.

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Round 22

• Postponed. Game rescheduled to 28 April 2001.

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Round 23

• Game was initially postponed but would eventually be cancelled due to fixture congestion and the result being irrelevant to Lydney's eventual relegation.

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Round 24

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Round 25

• Game was initially postponed but would eventually be cancelled due to fixture congestion and the result being irrelevant to Lydney's eventual relegation.

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Round 18 (rescheduled games)

• Game rescheduled from 20 January 2001.

• Game rescheduled from 20 January 2001.

• Game rescheduled from 20 January 2001.

• Game rescheduled from 20 January 2001.

• Game rescheduled from 20 January 2001.

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Round 26

• Game was initially postponed but would eventually be cancelled due to fixture congestion and the result being irrelevant to Lydney's eventual relegation.

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Rounds 19, 20 & 21 (rescheduled games)

• Game rescheduled from 27 January 2001.

• Game rescheduled from 10 February 2001.

• Game rescheduled from 24 February 2001.

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Rounds 8 & 23 (rescheduled games)

• Game rescheduled from 4 November 2000.

• Game rescheduled from 10 March 2001.

Total season attendances

Club	Home Games	Total	Average	Highest	Lowest	% Capacity
Bracknell	3[a 2]	1,000	333	600	200	27%
Camberley	13	2,180	168	250	80
Esher	13	4,000	308	500	150	10%
Fylde	4[a 3]	1,800	450	500	400	5%
Harrogate	13	5,200	400	600	250
Kendal	9[a 4]	4,940	549	850	400
Lydney	7[a 5]	2,760	394	580	200	23%
Newbury Blues	5[a 6]	2,210	442	500	300	6%
Nottingham	7[a 7]	1,963	280	420	145	6%
Preston Grasshoppers	11[a 8]	4,230	385	630	220	8%
Rosslyn Park	5[a 9]	3,250	650	1,000	200	33%
Rugby Lions	6[a 10]	2,000	333	450	200	33%
West Hartlepool	6[a 11]	985	164	285	50	16%
Wharfedale	4[a 12]	2,000	500	700	350	25%

Individual statistics

• Note if players are tied on tries or points the player with the lowest number of appearances will come first. Also note that points scorers includes tries as well as conversions, penalties and drop goals.

Season records

See also

• English Rugby Union Leagues
• English rugby union system
• Rugby union in England

References

External links

• NCA Rugby