London 3 Essex

London 3 Essex is an English rugby union league that is at the eighth level of the English rugby union system and is available to club sides based in Essex and north-east London. Promoted teams move up to London 2 North East with league champions going up automatically and the runners up playing a playoff against the runners up from London 3 Eastern Counties, while demoted teams usually drop down to Essex Canterbury Jack 1, with new teams also coming up from this league. Each year all clubs in the division also take part in the RFU Senior Vase - a level 8 national competition.

London 3 Essex

Current season or competition: 2019–20 London 3 Essex
Sport	Rugby union
Instituted	2017 (2017)
Number of teams	12
Country	England
Holders	Chelmsford (1st title) (2019–20) (promoted to London 2 North East)
Most titles	Basildon, Chelmsford, Epping Upper Clapton (1 title)
Website	englandrugby.com

The division was created for the 2017-18 as part of an RFU reorganization of the London & South East regional league. Originally there had been a London 3 North East league which had involved teams from Essex and north-east London along with teams from the Eastern Counties (Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk). Due to the distances involved for teams travelling potentially from London to Norfolk and vice versa, at the end of the 2016–17 season this league was discontinued. Teams in Essex and north-east London who had played in London 3 North East were transferred into the new look London 3 Essex along with additional promoted teams from the Essex regional leagues, while the Eastern Counties sides went into another new division called London 3 Eastern Counties.

Participating Teams 2019-20

Team Ground Capacity City/Area Previous season Barking Goresbrook 1,000 Becontree, London 9th Basildon Gardiners Close Basildon, Essex Relegated from London 2 NE (12th) Braintree Robbswood Braintree, Essex 3rd Campion Cottons Park Romford, London 8th Chelmsford Coronation Park Chelmsford, Essex 4th East London Memorial Park West Ham, London Runners up (lost playoff) Harlow Latton Park Harlow, Essex Relegated from London 2 NE (11th) Ilford Wanderers Ilford Wanderers Sports Ground Ilford, London 5th Kings Cross Steelers Memorial Park 500 Plaistow, London 6th Mavericks Warley Playing Field Warley, Brentwood, Essex Promoted from Essex 1 (runners up) Old Cooperians Coopers' Company & Corborn School Upminster, London 7th Upminster Hall Lane Upminster, London Promoted from Essex 1 (champions)

Basildon Barking Braintree Campion Chelmsford E London Ilford Harlow KCS Mavericks Cooperians Upminster Locations of the 2019–20 London 3 Essex teams

Participating Teams 2018-19

Team Ground Capacity City/Area Previous season Barking Goresbrook 1,000 Becontree, London Relegated from London 2 SE (12th) Braintree Robbswood Braintree, Essex 3rd Campion Cottons Park Romford, London 7th Canvey Island Tewkes Creek Canvey Island, Essex 5th Chelmsford RFC Coronation Park Chelmsford, Essex Relegated from London 2 NE (10th) East London Memorial Park West Ham, London 4th Epping Upper Clapton Upland Road Thornwood, Epping, Essex Relegated from London 2 NE (11th) Ilford Wanderers Ilford Wanderers Sports Ground Ilford, London Promoted from Essex 1 (runners up) Kings Cross Steelers Memorial Park 500 Plaistow, London Promoted from Essex 1 (champions) Maldon Drapers Farm Playing Fields Heybridge, Essex 6th Millwall Millwall Park Isle of Dogs, London Runners up (lost playoff) Old Cooperians Coopers' Company & Corborn School Upminster, London Relegated from London 2 NE (12th)

Barking Braintree Campion Canvey Island Chelmsford E London Epping Ilford KCS Maldon Millwall Cooperians Locations of the 2018–19 London 3 Essex teams

Participating Teams 2017-18

Team Ground Capacity City/Area Previous season Basildon Gardiners Close Basildon, Essex 8th (London 3 North East) Braintree Robbswood Braintree, Essex Promoted from Essex Canterbury Jack 1 (champions) Campion Cottons Park Romford, Havering, London Relegated from London 2 North East (12th) Canvey Island Tewkes Creek Canvey Island, Essex Promoted from Essex Canterbury Jack 1 (runners up) Clacton Valley Road Clacton-on-Sea, Essex Promoted from Essex Canterbury Jack 1 (4th) East London Memorial Park West Ham, London 3rd (London 3 North East) Maldon Drapers Farm Playing Fields Heybridge, Essex Promoted from Essex Canterbury Jack 1 (3rd) Mavericks Warley Playing Field Warley, Brentwood, Essex Invited from Essex Merit Leagues Millwall Millwall Park Isle of Dogs, London Promoted from Essex Canterbury Jack 1 (5th) Upminster Hall Lane Upminster, London 7th (London 3 North East)

Basildon Braintree Campion Canvey Island Clacton East London Maldon Mavericks Millwall Upminster Locations of the 2017–18 London 3 Essex teams

London 3 Essex Honours

London 3 Essex Counties Honours
Season	No of teams	Champions	Runners–up	Relegated Teams	League Name
2017–18[1]	10	Basildon	Millwall	Mavericks, Upminster, Clacton	London 3 Essex
2018–19[2]	12	Epping Upper Clapton	East London	Millwall, Maldon, Canvey Island	London 3 Essex
2019–20[3]	12	Chelmsford	Harlow	Barking, Ilford, Basildon,	London 3 Essex
2020–21	12
Green backgrounds are promotion places.

Promotion play-offs

Since the 2017–18 season there has been a play-off between the runners-up of London 3 Eastern Counties and London 3 Essex for the third and final promotion place to London 3 North East. The team with the superior league record has home advantage in the tie. At the end of the 2019–20 season the London 3 Eastern Counties have been the most successful with two wins to the London 3 Essex teams none; and the home team has won promotion on two occasions compared to the away teams none.

London 3 (Eastern Counties v Essex) promotion play-off results
Season	Home team	Score	Away team	Venue	Attendance
2017–18[4]	Southwold (EC)	49-3	Millwall (EX)	The Common, Southwold, Suffolk	300[5]
2018–19[6]	Holt (EC)	31-22	East London (EX)	Bridge Road, Holt, Norfolk
2019–20	Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom. Best ranked runner up - Cantabrigian (EC) - promoted instead.
2020–21
Green background is the promoted team. EC = London 3 Eastern Counties and EX = London 3 Essex

Number of league titles

• Chelmsford (1)
• Basildon (1)
• Epping Upper Clapton (1)

Notes

See also

• Essex RFU
• English rugby union system
• Rugby union in England

References

1. "2017–18 London South-East Division". England Rugby. RFU. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
2. "2018-2019 London & South-East Division". England Rugby. RFU. Retrieved 13 April 2019.
3. "Men's London & South East Level 8 and below leagues 2019–20" (PDF). England Rugby. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
4. "Wold Simply Blow Their London Rivals Away To Gain Promotion". Southwold RFC (Pitchero). Retrieved 21 April 2018.
5. "Rare smiles indeed from Buster and Fossett - it must have been a special day!". Southwold RFC (Pitchero). Retrieved 21 April 2018.
6. "Holt earn promotion to London 2NE". Holt RFC (Pitchero). Retrieved 21 April 2018.