National League 1


National League 1,, is the third level of domestic rugby union competition in England. It was known as Courage League National Division Three when founded in 1987. This is the lowest level of the English rugby union league system which is nationwide. The league consists of sixteen teams with all the teams playing each other on a home and away basis to make a total of thirty matches each. There is one promotion place and three relegation places. The champions are promoted to the Greene King IPA Championship and the bottom three teams are relegated to either National League 2 North or National League 2 South depending on the geographical location of the team.

Current season

Participating teams and locations

Twelve of the sixteen teams participated in the preceding season's competition. The 2019–20 champions, Richmond, were promoted to the 2020–21 RFU Championship, swapping places with bottom club, Leeds, who were relegated from the 2019–20 RFU Championship. Sides relegated from the 2019–20 National League 1 were; Canterbury, Hull and Rotherham Titans.
Teams promoted into the division were; Caldy and Taunton Titans, champions of 2019–20 National League 2 North and 2019–20 National League 2 South respectively, along with south runners up Tonbridge Juddians, who had a higher points average than the north's runner up Fylde. Caldy, Taunton Titans and Tonbridge Juddians all make their National League 1 debuts.
TeamGroundCapacityCity/AreaPrevious season
Birmingham MoseleyBillesley Common5,000 Birmingham, West Midlands13th
Bishop's StortfordSilver Leys1,600Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire11th
BlackheathWell Hall1,650 Eltham, London5th
CaldyPaton Field4,000Thurstaston, Wirral, MerseysidePromoted from N2N
CambridgeGrantchester Road1,250 Cambridge, Cambridgeshire10th
ChinnorKingsey Road2,000Thame, Oxfordshire4th
CinderfordDockham Road2,500Cinderford, Gloucestershire8th
Darlington Mowden ParkNorthern Echo Arena25,500Darlington, County Durham7th
Old ElthamiansCollege Meadow1,800Eltham, London9th
Plymouth AlbionThe Brickfields8,500Plymouth, Devon6th
RamsOld Bath Road1,250Sonning, Reading, Berkshire2nd
Rosslyn ParkThe Rock2,000Roehampton, London3rd
Sale FCHeywood Road3,387Sale, Greater Manchester12th
Taunton TitansTowergate Stadium2,000 Taunton, SomersetPromoted from N2S
Tonbridge JuddiansThe Slade1,500Tonbridge, KentPromoted from N2S
LeedsHeadingley Carnegie Stadium21,062Leeds, West YorkshireRelegated from Championship

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League table

History

When the Rugby union leagues were introduced in 1987 the division was known as Courage League National Division Three. Ten years later, in 1997, the league was restructured and the Premiership was introduced, which consisted of the top two divisions. Therefore, National 3 became the top league outside of the Premiership structure, and was renamed as National 1. In 2000–01 the Premiership was reduced to a single division and National 1 was renamed National 2. Following the formation of the professional RFU Championship in 2009 the league, once again, became known as National League One, and is currently the lowest tier that is nationwide. The league previously consisted of fourteen clubs, but from 2009–10 increased to sixteen. Only one team is now promoted to the RFU Championship and since 2009–10 three teams are relegated to National League 2 North and/or National League 2 South depending on geographical location.

Summary of tier three format

Original teams

When the league system was formed in 1987, the following teams participated in the league, which was known as National 3. Twenty-nine years on only two teams, Fylde and Plymouth Albion are currently playing at this level.

National Division Three

National League One

National Division Two

National League One

Number of league titles

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. Attendance records are from 2000 onwards unless otherwise specified. All records are up to date up till the end of the 2019–20 season.

League records

RankNatNameYearsClubPointsAppsRatio
1Andrew Baggett2001–08
2008–17		Wharfedale
Blaydon		1,7074094.2
2Neil Hallett1999–02
2002–04
2004–10
2011–12		Rosslyn Park
Bracknell
Esher
Ealing Trailfinders		1,4401818.0
3Alastair Bressington2004–05
2005–10, 2010–12
2010		Moseley
Stourbridge
Cinderford		1,2011478.2
4Lee Cholewa1996–97
1998–99, 2000–05
2005–07
2010–11		Rotherham
Harrogate
London Welsh
London Scottish		1,1681468.0
5Chris Johnson2012–16
2019, 2019-		Fylde
Sale FC		1,0751199.0
6Clifford Hodgson2012–2017
2019–		Coventry
Birmingham Moseley		1,024
109
9.4
6Mark Bedworth2005–10Wharfedale1,0241149.0
7Ben Harvey1996–97
1999–00
2000–01
2001–05		Richmond
Worcester Warriors
Moseley
Stourbridge		9871188.4
8Jonathon Gregory1996–97
2000–04		Richmond
Esher		9708411.5
9Jonathon Davies1997–07Wharfedale9461984.8

Top ten try scorers

RankNatNameYearsClubTriesAppsRatio
1David Allen2004–17Blackheath1472770.5
2Oliver Brennand2011–17Fylde1171610.7
3Hugo Ellis2012–Rosslyn Park1071550.7
4Phil Chesters2011–13, 2014–15Ealing Trailfinders105821.3
5Jason Smithson2007–17Blaydon962240.4
6Chris Malherbe1998–99
2001–02
2002–11		Camberley
Kendal
Wharfedale		952220.4
6Andrew Hodgson1997–99, 2000–04, 2005–13, 2014–16Wharfedale952640.4
7Christoff Lombaard2006–07, 2008–10
2012–15, 16-17		Cambridge
Old Albanian		811510.5
8Nigel Baker2009-12
2013-15, 2016
2015
2016-19		Stourbridge
Cinderford
Coventry
Ampthill		791490.5
9Spencer Sutherland2011-12
2012-18
2018-19		Coventry
Esher
Ampthill		781480.5