National League 2 North

National League 2 North
Current season or competition:
2015–16 National League 2 North
Sport Rugby union
Instituted 1987 (1987)
Number of teams 16
Country  England
Holders Macclesfield (2015–16)
Most titles Macclesfield (3 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 restructured the league system in England, and this league was expanded from fourteen to sixteen teams. Participating clubs are from the English Midlands and Northern England. Each team plays thirty 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.

Current season

Participating teams and locations

Eleven of the teams listed below participated in the 2014–15 National League 2 North season; Macclesfield and Tynedale were relegated from National League 1, Sale and Sandal (via play-off) were promoted from National League 3 North while South Leicester were promoted from National League 3 Midlands.

Team Ground Capacity City/Area Previous season
Broadstreet Ivor Preece Field 250 (seated) Coventry, West Midlands 7th
Caldy Paton Field 4,000 Thurstaston, Wirral, Merseyside 6th
Chester Hare Lane Chester, Cheshire 5th
Harrogate Rudding Lane Harrogate, North Yorkshire 4th
Huddersfield Lockwood Park 1,500 Huddersfield, West Yorkshire 9th
Leicester Lions Westleigh Park 2,000 Blaby, Leicestershire 11th
Luctonians Mortimer Park 300 (seated) Kingsland, Herefordshire 13th
Macclesfield Priory Park Macclesfield, Cheshire Relegated from National League 1 (16th)
Otley Cross Green 5,000 Otley, Leeds, West Yorkshire 8th
Preston Grasshoppers Lightfoot Green 5,000 Preston, Lancashire 12th
Sedgley Park Park Lane 3,000 Whitefield, Bury, Greater Manchester 3rd
Sale Heywood Park 5,400 Sale, Greater Manchester promoted from National League 3 North (1st)
Sandal Milnthorpe Green Sandal Magna, Wakefield, West Yorkshire Promoted from National League 3 North via play-off
South Leicester Welford Road Ground Leicester, Leicestershire Promoted from National League 3 Midlands (1st)
Stourbridge Stourton Park 3,500 (499 seats) Stourbridge, West Midlands 10th
Tynedale Tynedale Park 400 (seated) Corbridge, Northumberland Relegated from National League 1 (15th)

Current standings

2015–16 National League 2 North Table
Club Played Won Drawn Lost Points For Points Against Points Difference Try Bonus Losing Bonus Points
1 Macclesfield (C) 29[b 1] 25 0 4 907 507 400 22 1 123
2 Sedgley Park 30 21 0 9 951 562 389 18 6 108
3 Leicester Lions 30 19 1 10 595 485 110 7 5 90
4 Stourbridge 30 18 1 11 626 530 96 8 7 89
5 Caldy 30 17 2 11 642 547 95 8 7 87
6 Luctonians 30 15 2 13 661 714 -53 11 4 79
7 Harrogate 29[b 2] 16 0 13 612 605 7 7 6 77
8 Otley 30 14 0 16 584 644 -60 9 8 73
9 Preston Grasshoppers 30 12 3 15 591 627 -36 7 7 68
10 Tynedale 30 12 1 17 659 746 -87 10 8 68
11 Chester 30 12 0 18 599 662 -63 9 9 66
12 South Leicester 30 11 3 16 659 732 -73 11 5 66
13 Sale 30 12 2 16 617 738 -121 7 6 65
14 Sandal (R) 30 12 1 17 506 666 -160 3 7 60
15 Broadstreet (R) 30 8 0 22 554 736 -182 4 9 45
16 Huddersfield (R) 30 7 0 23 509 771 -262 3 7 38
  • 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: 7 May 2016
Source: "National League 2 North". NCA Rugby. 
Notes
  1. ↑ Macclesfield's final (rescheduled) game at home to Harrogate was cancelled as it was a 'dead rubber' and would not adversely affect the final league standings.
  2. ↑ Harrogate's final (rescheduled) game away to Macclesfield was cancelled as it was a 'dead rubber' and would not adversely affect the final league standings.

National Two North honours

List of National Two North Honours
Season No of teams Champions Runner–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 (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
2015–16 16 Macclesfield Sedgley Park Huddersfield, Broadstreet, Sandal National League 2 North
2016–17
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 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 Area League North and
Area League South		 11 10
1993–96 National Division Four 10 18
1996–97 National Four North and
National Four South 		14 26
1997–00 National Division 2 North and
National Division 2 South		 14 26
2000–09 National Division Three North and
National Division Three South 		14 26
2009– National League 2 North and
National League 2 South 		16 30

Records

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 2014-15 season.

League records

Match records

Player records

Attendance records

[a 1]

  1. ↑ Note that due to poor attendance keeping by press and online sources means that only seasons from 2004-05 onwards are included (apart from playoff games).
  2. ↑ Note that promotion playoff games include stats for northern clubs only. Southern club attendances will be covered at the National League 2 South page.
  3. ↑ This attendance is the lowest recorded but may not actually be the lowest as a couple of playoff games involving northern clubs have no attendance figures due to poor coverage. It is also worth noting than many Stourbridge fans felt the crowd was twice this large but this is the figure given in The Rugby Paper.

National League 2 North top 10 point scorers, all time

As of the end of the games of December 25, 2015. Stats taken from 1998-99 season onwards and include regular league games only in National League 2 North (no promotion playoff games). Points scored includes tries, drop kicks, penalties and conversions.[34]
Rank Nat Name Years Club(s) Points Apps Ratio
1 England Jon Boden 2006-Leicester Lions1,7612079
2 England Richard Vasey 2009-Caldy1,41314610
3 England Chris Johnson 2008-12Huddersfield1,32410712
4 England Ross Winney 2005-10Macclesfield1,29012610
5 England Gavin Roberts 2007-Caldy1,1802096
6 England Phillip Belgian 2001-08Tynedale1,0701169
7 England Mark Bedworth 2001-05
2010-12		Darlington Mowden Park
Westoe		1,0521209
8 England Mark Ireland 2009-12
2013-14		Kendal
Otley		9851049
9 England Simon Worsley 1999-04
2005-06		Liverpool St Helens
Preston Grasshoppers		8731356
10 England James Cameron 2009-15Hull8541217

(Bold denotes players still playing in National League 2 North.)

National League 2 North top 10 try scorers, all time

As of the end of the games of December 25, 2015. Stats taken from 1998-99 season onwards and include regular league games only in National League 2 North (no promotion playoff games).[35]
Rank Nat Name Years Club(s) Tries Apps Ratio
1 England Gareth Collins 2004-05
2005-14		Rugby Lions
Leicester Lions		1522290.7
2 England Nicholas Royle 2003-04
2005-11
2014-		Liverpool St Helens
Fylde
Caldy		1491660.9
3 England Gavin Roberts 2007-Caldy1122090.5
4 England Ollie Brennand 2004-11Fylde961020.9
5 England Jamie Broadley 2009-11
2011-12
2014-15		Harrogate
Sheffield Tigers
Hull		851040.8
6 England Andrew Soutar 2006-08
2008-		West Park St Helens
Caldy		812540.3
7 England Oliver Viney 2002-04, 2005-08, 2015-Preston Grasshoppers781320.6
8 England Nicholas Sharpe 2006-07
2008-13, 2014-		Rugby Lions
Huddersfield		692040.3
9 England Craig Aikman 2002-04
2007-11
2012-14		Waterloo
Fylde
Preston Grasshoppers		671640.4
10 England Sam Bottomley 2007-Harrogate631550.4

(Bold denotes players still playing in National League 2 North.)

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Jewson National League 2 1999/00". rugbyarchive.net. 1 December 2015.
  2. 1 2 "Blaydon proving a point". Chronicle Live. 27 March 2007.
  3. ↑ "Orrell 0, Fylde RU 106". Blackpool Gazette. 2 April 2007.
  4. ↑ "National 3 North 06/07 Most tries in a match (Team)". Rugby Statbunker. 28 April 2007.
  5. ↑ "National 2 North 10/11 Most tries in a match (Team)". Rugby Statbunker. 21 May 2011.
  6. ↑ "National 3 North 06/07 Most conversions in a match (Team)". Rugby Statbunker. 28 April 2007.
  7. ↑ "National 2 North 14/15 Most penalties in a match (Team)". Rugby Statbunker. 25 April 2015.
  8. ↑ "National 3 North 05/06 Most drop goals in a match (Team)". Rugby Statbunker. 6 May 2006.
  9. ↑ "National 3 North 08/09 Most drop goals in a match (Team)". Rugby Statbunker. 16 May 2009.
  10. ↑ "National 3 North 08/09 Most drop goals in a match (Player)". Rugby Statbunker. 16 May 2009.
  11. ↑ "National Three North 04/05 Leading top scorers". Rugby Statbunker. 30 April 2005.
  12. ↑ "National Three North 05/06 Leading top scorers". Rugby Statbunker. 6 May 2006.
  13. ↑ "National Two North 10/11 Leading top scorers". Rugby Statbunker. 21 May 2011.
  14. ↑ "National Two North 11/12 Leading top scorers". Rugby Statbunker. 28 April 2012.
  15. ↑ "National Three North 08/09 Leading try scorers". Rugby Statbunker. 16 May 2009.
  16. 1 2 "National Two North 10/11 Leading try scorers". Rugby Statbunker. 21 May 2011.
  17. ↑ "National Two North 09/10 Leading top scorers". Rugby Statbunker. 8 May 2010.
  18. ↑ "National Two North 13/14 Leading try scorers". Rugby Statbunker. 9 May 2014.
  19. ↑ "National 2 North 09/10 Most points in a match (Player)". Rugby Statbunker. 15 May 2010.
  20. ↑ "National 3 North 06/07 Most conversions in a match (Team)". Rugby Statbunker. 28 April 2007.
  21. ↑ "National 3 North 01/02 Most tries in a match (Player)". Rugby Statbunker. 27 April 2002.
  22. ↑ "National 3 North 06/07 Most tries in a match (Player)". Rugby Statbunker. 28 April 2007.
  23. ↑ "National 2 North 11/12 Most tries in a match (Player)". Rugby Statbunker. 28 April 2012.
  24. ↑ "National 2 North 14/15 Most penalties in a match (Player)". Rugby Statbunker. 25 April 2015.
  25. ↑ "National 3 North 05/06 Most drop goals in a match (Player)". Rugby Statbunker. 6 May 2006.
  26. ↑ "National 3 North 08/09 Most drop goals in a match (Player)". Rugby Statbunker. 16 May 2009.
  27. ↑ "Darlington Mowden Park 28 Macclesfield 24". The Northern Echo. 28 April 2014.
  28. ↑ "National 3 North 07/08 Home attendance". Rugby Statbunker. 19 April 2008.
  29. ↑ "Sedgley Park VS Launceston National Two Playoff". Rugby Statbunker. 26 May 2001.
  30. ↑ "Stourbridge v Worthing". rolling-maul.com. 4 May 2013.
  31. ↑ "National 2 North 10/11 Home attendance". Rugby Statbunker. 21 May 2011.
  32. 1 2 "National 3 North 07/08 Home attendance". Rugby Statbunker. 19 April 2008.
  33. ↑ "National 2 North 13/14 Home attendance". Rugby Statbunker. 26 April 2014.
  34. ↑ "National Two North All time leading scorers". Rugby Statbunker. 25 December 2015.
  35. ↑ "National Two North All time try scorers". Rugby Statbunker. 25 December 2015.

External links

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