2003–04 National Division Two

2003–04 National Division Two
Countries	England
Champions	Sedgley Park
Runners-up	Nottingham (also promoted)
Relegated	Lydney, Rugby Lions
Attendance	15,663 (average 448 per match)[a 1]
Highest attendance	1,495 Nottingham at home to Lydney on 10 April 2004
Lowest attendance	150 Bracknell at home to Rugby Lions on 6 September 2003
Top point scorer	Rob Liley Doncaster 268 points
Top try scorer	James Aston Moseley 18 tries
← 2002-03 2004-05 →

The 2003–04 National Division Two was the fourth version (seventeenth overall) of the third division of the English rugby union league system using the name National Division Two. New teams to the division included Moseley and Rugby Lions who were relegated from the 2002–03 National Division One while promoted teams included Nuneation who came up as champions of the 2002–03 National Division Three North with Rosslyn Park (champions) and Lydney (playoffs) coming up from the 2002–03 National Division Three South.^[1][2][3][4] This season would be the last using the league points system of 2 points for a win and 1 point for a draw.

In what was a very tight title race, Sedgley Park Park pipped Nottingham to the league championship by just one point – with both sides winning promotion to the 2004–05 National Division One.^[5] It was quite a turn around in Nottingham's case as the club had gone from just escaping relegation the previous season to gaining promotion as the league's runner up. At the other end of the table, promoted Lydney finished bottom with easily the worst record of just two wins and a draw from their twenty-six games.^[6] Joining them in the second relegation spot were Rugby Lions who went down on the last day of the season by losing heavily to champions Sedgley Park whilst relegation rivals Rosslyn Park stayed up by virtue of their win against Newbury Blues.^[7] Lydney would go into the 2004–05 National Division Three South while Rugby Lions dropped to the 2004–05 National Division Three North in what would be the Lions second successive relegation.^[8][9]

Participating teams and locations

Team	Stadium	Capacity	City/Area
Bracknell	Lily Hill Park	1,250 (250 seats)	Bracknell, Berkshire
Doncaster	Castle Park	3,075	Doncaster, South Yorkshire
Esher	Molesey Road	3,000	Hersham, Surrey
Harrogate	Claro Road		Harrogate, North Yorkshire
Lydney	Regentsholme	1,500	Lydney, Gloucestershire
Moseley	Bournbrook		Birmingham, West Midlands
Newbury Blues	Monk's Lane	8,000	Newbury, Berkshire
Nottingham	Ireland Avenue	4,950	Beeston, Nottinghamshire
Nuneaton	Liberty Way	4,314 (514 seats)	Nuneaton, Warwickshire
Rosslyn Park	Priory Lane	2,000	Roehampton, London
Rugby Lions	Webb Ellis Road	1,000	Rugby, Warwickshire
Sedgley Park	Park Lane	3,000	Whitefield, Greater Manchester
Stourbridge	Stourton Park	3,500 (499 seats)	Stourbridge, West Midlands
Wharfedale	Threshfield	2,000	Threshfield, Craven, North Yorkshire

Final league table

2003-2004 National Division Two Table
Position	Club	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points for	Points against	Points Diff	Points
1	Sedgley Park (P)	26	20	1	5	658	487	171	41
2	Nottingham (P)	26	19	2	5	761	535	226	40
3	Nuneaton	26	17	1	8	655	405	250	35
4	Doncaster	26	17	0	9	692	487	205	34
5	Wharfedale	26	13	0	13	484	505	-21	26
6	Esher	26	12	1	13	641	612	29	25
7	Bracknell	26	12	1	13	494	605	-111	25
8	Newbury Blues	26	12	0	14	589	546	43	24
9	Stourbridge	26	12	0	14	614	655	-41	24
10	Harrogate	26	11	2	13	668	578	90	24
11	Moseley	26	11	2	13	535	524	11	24
12	Rosslyn Park	26	9	1	16	672	646	26	19
13	Rugby Lions (R)	26	9	0	17	511	697	-186	18
14	Lydney (R)	26	2	1	23	352	1044	-692	5
Reference Rugby Statbunker: Updated 24-04-2004

Results

Round 1

---

Round 2

---

Round 3

---

Round 4

---

Round 5

---

Round 6

---

Round 7

---

Round 8

---

Round 9

---

Round 10

---

Round 11

---

Round 12

---

Round 13

---

Round 14

---

Round 15

---

Round 16

---

Round 17

---

Round 18

• Postponed. Game rescheduled to 21 February 2004.

---

Round 19

---

Round 20

---

Round 18 (rescheduled game)

• Game rescheduled from 31 January 2004.

---

Round 21

• Postponed. Game rescheduled to 5 March 2004.

• Postponed. Game rescheduled to 6 March 2004.

---

Round 21 (rescheduled games)

• Game rescheduled from 28 February 2004.

• Game rescheduled from 28 February 2004.

---

Round 22

---

Round 23

• Postponed. Game rescheduled to 27 March 2004.

---

Round 23 (rescheduled game)

• Game rescheduled from 20 March 2004.

---

Round 24

---

Round 25

---

Round 26

Total season attendances

Club	Home Games	Total	Average	Highest	Lowest	% Capacity
Bracknell	1	150	150	150	150	12%
Doncaster	1	500	500	500	500	16%
Esher	6	2,100	350	500	150	12%
Harrogate	2	1,300	650	1,000	300
Lydney	0	0	N/A	N/A	N/A
Moseley	8	2,686	336	506	263
Newbury Blues	1	275	275	275	275	3%
Nottingham	4	3,192	798	1,495	435	16%
Nuneaton	1	500	500	500	500
Rosslyn Park	1	500	500	500	500	25%
Rugby Lions	2	865	433	560	305	43%
Sedgley Park	4	1,795	449	640	320	15%
Stourbridge	1	400	400	400	400	11%
Wharfedale	3	1,400	467	550	400	23%

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