Midlands 1 East

Midlands 1 East is an English semi-professional level 6 rugby union regional league for rugby clubs in the eastern region of the Midlands, including sides from Bedfordshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire and occasionally Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Oxfordshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire.

Midlands 1 East

Current season or competition: 2019–20 Midlands 1 East
Sport	Rugby union
Number of teams	14
Country	England
Holders	Syston (3rd title) (2019–20 (promoted to Midlands Premier))
Most titles	Bedford Athletic, Kettering, Syston (3 titles)
Website	England RFU

The champions are promoted to Midlands Premier (formerly National League 3 Midlands) and the runner-up plays against the second-placed team from Midlands 1 West for the second promotion place. The last three teams are relegated teams to either Midlands 2 East (North) or Midlands 2 East (South), depending on geographic location.[1]

Teams 2019–20

Team Ground Capacity City/Area Previous season Derby Haslams Lane Derby, Derbyshire Relegated from Midlands Premier (14th) Lutterworth Ashby Lane Lutterworth, Leicestershire 6th Market Harborough The Rugby Ground Market Harborough, Leicestershire Promoted from Midlands 2 East (South) (playoff) Melbourne Cockshut Lane 2,000 Melbourne, Derbyshire Promoted from Midlands 2 East (North) (champions) Oadby Wyggestonians Oval Park Oadby, Leicestershire 3rd Olney East Street Olney, Buckinghamshire Promoted from Midlands 2 East (South) (champions) Old Northamptonians Sir Humphrey Cripps Pavilion Northampton, Northamptonshire 8th Oundle Occupation Road Oundle, Northamptonshire 5th Peterborough Fortress Fengate Peterborough, Cambridgeshire 4th Rugby Lions Webb Ellis Road 1,000 Rugby, Warwickshire 11th Syston Barkby Road Queniborough, Leicestershire Relegated from Midlands Premier (12th) Towcestrians Greens Norton Road Towchester, Northamptonshire 7th Wellingborough Cut Throat Lane Great Doddington, Wellingborough, Northamptonshire 10th West Bridgford The Memorial Ground West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire 9th

Derby Lutterworth M Harborough Melbourne Oadby Northamptonians Olney Oundle Peterborough Rugby Syston Towcestrians Wellingborough West Bridgford Locations of the 2019–20 Midlands 1 East teams

Teams 2018–19

Team Ground Capacity City/Area Previous season Kettering Waverley Road 2,000 Kettering, Northamptonshire 3rd Leighton Buzzard Wright's Meadow Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire 11th Lutterworth Ashby Lane Lutterworth, Leicestershire 5th (Midlands 1 West - level transfer) Melton Mowbray Melton Sports Village Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire 8th Northampton Old Scouts Rushmore Road Northampton, Northamptonshire 9th Old Northamptonians Sir Humphrey Cripps Pavilion Northampton, Northamptonshire 5th Oadby Wyggestonians Oval Park Oadby, Leicestershire Promoted from Midlands 2 East (South) (champions) Oundle Occupation Road Oundle, Northamptonshire 7th Paviors The Ron Rossin Ground Nottingham, Nottinghamshire 5th Peterborough Fortress Fengate Peterborough, Cambridgeshire 6th Rugby Lions Webb Ellis Road 1,000 Rugby, Warwickshire Level transfer from Midlands 1 West (11th) Towcestrians Greens Norton Road Towchester, Northamptonshire Relegated from London & SE Premier (14th) Wellingborough Cut Throat Lane Great Doddington, Wellingborough, Northamptonshire 10th West Bridgford The Memorial Ground West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire Promoted from Midlands 2 East (North) (champions)

Kettering Leighton B Lutterworth Melton Mowbray Oadby Oundle Paviors Peterborough Northampton OS/Northamptonians Rugby Lions Towcestrians Wellingborough West Bridgford Locations of the 2018–19 Midlands 1 East teams

Teams 2017–18

Team Ground Capacity City/Area Previous season Bedford Athletic Putnoe Woods 500 Bedford, Bedfordshire Relegated from National 3 Midlands (13th) Bugbrooke Camp Close Bugbrooke, Northamptonshire 9th Huntingdon & District Huntingdon Racecourse Brampton, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire 5th Kettering Waverley Road 2,000 Kettering, Northamptonshire 2nd (lost playoff) Leighton Buzzard Wright's Meadow Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire 10th Market Rasen & Louth Willingham Road Market Rasen, Lincolnshire 7th Melton Mowbray Melton Sports Village Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire 6th Northampton Old Scouts Rushmore Road Northampton, Northamptonshire 11th Old Northamptonians Sir Humphrey Cripps Pavilion Northampton, Northamptonshire 3rd Oundle Occupation Road Oundle, Northamptonshire Promoted from Midlands 2 East (South) (playoffs) Paviors The Ron Rossin Ground Nottingham, Nottinghamshire 8th Peterborough Fortress Fengate Peterborough, Cambridgeshire Promoted from Midlands 2 East (South) (champions) Syston Barkby Road Queniborough, Leicestershire Relegated from National 3 Midlands (14th) Wellingborough Cut Throat Lane Great Doddington, Wellingborough, Northamptonshire 12th (reprieve from RFU)

Bedford A Bugbrooke Huntingdon Kettering Leighton B Market Rasen Melton Mowbray Oundle Paviors Peterborough Northampton OS/Northamptonians Syston Wellingborough Locations of the 2017–18 Midlands 1 East teams

2016-17

• Bugbooke
• Dronfield (promoted from Midlands 2 East (North))
• Huntingdon & District
• Ilkeston
• Kettering
• Leighton Buzzard
• Lutterworth (promoted from Midlands 2 East (North))
• Market Rasen & Louth
• Melton Mowbray (promoted from Midlands 2 East (North))
• Newbold-on-Avon (promoted from Midlands 2 West (South))
• Northampton Old Scouts
• Old Northamptonians (relegated from National League 3 Midlands)
• Paviors
• Wellingborough

2015–16

• Bedford Athletic
• Bugbooke
• Derby
• Huntingdon & District
• Ilkeston
• Kettering
• Market Rasen & Louth
• Matlock (promoted from Midlands 2 East (North))
• Newark
• Newbold-on-Avon (promoted from Midlands 2 West (South))
• Northampton Old Scouts (promoted from Midlands 2 East (North))
• Old Laurentians (promoted from Midlands 2 West (South))
• Paviors
• Wellingborough (promoted from Midlands 2 East (South))

2014–15

• Bedford Athletic (relegated from National League 3 Midlands)
• Belgrave (promoted from Midlands 2 East (North))
• Bugbrooke
• Derby
• Huntingdon & District
• Ilkeston
• Kettering
• Mansfield
• Market Rasen & Louth
• Newark
• Old Northamptonians
• Paviors
• Spalding (promoted from Midlands 2 East (North))
• Syston (relegated from National League 3 Midlands)

2013–14

• Bugbrooke (promoted from Midlands 2 East (South))
• Coalville (promoted from Midlands 2 East (North))
• Derby (relegated from National League 3 Midlands)
• Huntingdon & District (promoted from Midlands 2 East (South))
• Ilkeston
• Kettering
• Mansfield (relegated from National League 3 Midlands)
• Market Rasen & Lough
• Matlock
• Newark
• Old Northamptonians
• Paviors
• Peterborough
• Peterborough Lions

2012–13

• Bedford Athletic
• Ilkeston
• Kettering
• Loughborough
• Market Bosworth (promoted from Midlands 2 East (North))
• Market Rasen and Louth
• Matlock
• Newark
• Paviors
• Peterborough
• Peterborough Lions
• Spalding
• Towcestrians

2011–12

• Bedford Athletic
• Coalville
• Derby
• Ilkeston
• Kettering
• Leighton Buzzard
• Loughborough
• Market Rasen and Louth
• Matlock
• Nuneaton OE
• Paviors
• Peterborough
• Spalding
• Towcestrians (promoted from Midlands 2 East (South))

2010–11

• Bedford Athletic
• Coalville
• Derby
• Dunstablians
• Ilkeston
• Kettering
• Leighton Buzzard
• Mansfield
• Matlock
• Newark
• Paviors
• Spalding
• Syston
• Wellingborough

2009–10

• Derby
• Dunstablians
• Ilkeston
• Leighton Buzzard
• Mansfield
• Market Bosworth
• Matlock
• Newark
• Old Northamptonians
• Paviors
• Scunthorpe
• Stewarts & Lloyd
• Syston
• Wellingborough

2008–09

Ampthill promoted as champions to newly formed National Division 3 Midlands.

• Ampthill
• Derby
• Dunstablians
• Leighton Buzzard
• Mansfield
• Market Bosworth
• Matlock
• Newark
• Paviors
• Scunthorpe
• Syston
• Wellingborough

Midland 1 East honours

Midlands 1 East honours
Season	No of teams	Champions	Runners-up	Relegated teams	League name
1998–99[2]	17	Longton	Newbold-on-Avon	Leamington, Towcestrians, Stafford	Midlands 2 East
1999–00[3]	17	Malvern	Bromsgrove	Wolverhampton, Derby	Midlands 2 East
2000–01[4]	12	Dunstablians	Wellingborough	Stockwood Park, Leighton Buzzard, Nottingham Moderns	Midlands 2 East
2001–02[5]	12	Hinckley	Spalding	Lincoln, Huntingdon & District	Midlands 2 East
2002–03[6]	12	Kettering	Luton	Ilkeston, Wellingborough	Midlands 2 East
2003–04[7]	12	Mansfield	Hinckley	Nottingham Moderns, Banbury, Northampton Old Scouts	Midlands 2 East
2004–05[8]	12	Luton	Market Bosworth	Huntingdon & District, Syston, Melton Mowbray	Midlands 2 East
2005–06[9]	12	South Leicester	Peterborough	Ampthill, Spalding, Towcestrians	Midlands 2 East
2006–07[10]	12	Loughborough Students	Matlock	Mansfield, Northampton Old Scouts, Ilkeston	Midlands 2 East
2007–08[11]	12	Kettering	Hinckley	Melton Mowbray, Banbury, Old Northamptonians	Midlands 2 East
2008–09[12]	12	Ampthill	Scunthorpe	No relegation due to league restructure[a 1]	Midlands 2 East
2009–10[13]	14	Scunthorpe	Old Northamptonians	Market Bosworth, Stewarts & Lloyds	Midlands 1 East
2010–11[14]	14	Syston	Mansfield	Dunstablians, Wellingborough	Midlands 1 East
2011–12[15]	14	Derby	Paviors	Coalville, Nuneaton Old Edwardians, Leighton Buzzard	Midlands 1 East
2012–13[16]	14	Bedford Athletic	Ilkeston	Loughborough, Spalding, Market Bosworth	Midlands 1 East
2013–14[17]	14	Peterborough Lions	Derby	Coalville, Peterborough, Matlock	Midlands 1 East
2014–15[18]	14	Syston	Old Northamptonians	Spalding, Belgrave, Mansfield	Midlands 1 East
2015–16[19]	14	Bedford Athletic	Derby	Matlock, Old Laurentians, Newark	Midlands 1 East
2016-17[20]	14	Newbold-on-Avon	Kettering	Ilkeston, Dronfield[a 2]	Midlands 1 East
2017-18[22]	14	Bedford Athletic	Syston	Market Rasen & Louth, Huntingdon & District, Bugbrooke	Midlands 1 East
2018-19[23]	14	Kettering	Paviors	Melton Mowbray, Northampton Old Scouts, Leighton Buzzard	Midlands 1 East
2019-20[24]	14	Syston	Oundle	Wellingborough, Olney, Melbourne	Midlands 1 East
2020-21	14
Green background are the promotion places.

Promotion play-offs

Since the 2000–01 season there has been a play-off between the runners-up of Midlands 1 East and Midlands 1 West for the third and final promotion place to National League 3 Midlands. The team with the superior league record has home advantage in the tie. At the end of the 2019–20 season the Midlands 1 East teams have been the most successful with eleven wins to the Midlands 1 West teams eight; and the home team has won promotion on thirteen occasions compared to the away teams six.

Midlands 1 East v Midlands 1 West promotion play-off results
Season	Home team	Score	Away team	Venue	Attendance
2000–01[25]	Luctonians (W)	20-13	Wellingborough (E)	Mortimer Park, Kingsland, Herefordshire
2001–02[26]	Old Laurentians (W)	10-32	Spalding (E)	Fenley Field, Rugby, Warwickshire
2002–03[27]	Luton (E)	16-11	Derby (W)	Newlands Road, Luton, Bedfordshire
2003–04[28]	Derby (W)	29-12	Hinckley (E)	Haslams Lane, Derby, Derbyshire
2004–05[29]	Market Bosworth (E)	40-7	Malvern (W)	Cadeby Lane, Market Bosworth, Warwickshire
2005–06[30]	Peterborough (E)	23-21	Kenilworth (W)	Fortress Fengate, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire	1,000
2006–07[31]	Newport (Salop) (W)	20-5	Matlock (E)	The Old Showground, Newport, Shropshire	500
2007–08[32]	Hereford (W)	13-43	Hinckley (E)	Wyeside, Hereford, Herefordshire
2008–09[33]	Scunthorpe (E)	9-16	Hereford (W)	Heslam Park, Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire
2009–10[34]	Bournville (W)	AWO[a 3]	Old Northamptonians (E)	Rowheath, Bournville, Birmingham, West Midlands	N/A
2010–11[36]	Sutton Coldfield (W)	27-33	Mansfield (E)	Roger Smoldon Ground, Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands
2011–12[37]	Bournville (W)	42-11	Paviors (E)	Bournbrook, Edgbaston, Birmingham, West Midlands
2012–13[38]	Worcester Wanderers (W)	27-17 (aet)	Ilkeston (E)	Weston's Field, Worcester, Worcestershire
2013–14[39]	Burton (W)	24-20	Derby (E)	Peel Croft, Burton, Staffordshire	1,000[40]
2014–15[41]	Old Northamptonians (E)	20-5	Worcester Wanderers (W)	Sir Humphrey Cripps Pavilion, Northampton, Northamptonshire
2015–16[42]	Derby (E)	28-23	Bournville (W)	Haslams Lane, Derby, Derbyshire	200[43]
2016–17[44]	Kettering (E)	19-55	Bournville (W)	Waverley Road, Kettering, Northamptonshire
2017–18[45]	Syston (E)	37-33	Dudley Kingswinford (W)	Barkby Road, Queniborough, Leicestershire
2018–19[46]	Paviors (E)	33-30	Dudley Kingswinford (W)	The Ron Rossin Ground, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire
2019–20	Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom. Best ranked runner up - Oundle (E) - promoted instead.
2020–21
Green background is the promoted team. E = Midlands 1 East (formerly Midlands 2 East) and W = Midlands 1 West (formerly Midlands 2 West)

Number of league titles

• Bedford Athletic (3)
• Kettering (3)
• Syston (3)
• Ampthill (1)
• Dunstablians (1)
• Hinckley (1)
• Longton (1)
• Loughborough Students (1)
• Luton (1)
• Malvern (1)
• Mansfield (1)
• Newbold-on-Avon (1)
• Scunthorpe (1)
• South Leicester (1)

Notes

1. The division would be renamed Midlands Division 1 East for the next season and along with the whole national restructure of the league system by the RFU lead to mass changes at all levels.
2. Due to London Welsh being expelled from the RFU Championship in January 2017 only 23 teams would be relegated from the 8 divisions that make up tier 6 of the English rugby union league system instead of the usual 24 - meaning that the 12th placed side in one of the leagues would be safe. In the end 12th placed Wellingborough from Midlands 1 East gained more points (56) than any other 12th placed team across tier 6 leaving them safe from relegation and ensuring only 2 teams went down from Midlands 1 East that season.[21]
3. Old Northamptonians were promoted by default as Bournville were unable to field a front row for the 2009-10 play-off game.[35]

See also

• Midlands RFU
• East Midlands RFU
• Leicestershire RU
• Notts, Lincs & Derbyshire RFU
• English rugby union system
• Rugby union in England

References

1. MatchByDivision
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22. "2017-2018 Midlands Division". England Rugby. RFU. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
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36. "Midlands Division Play-Offs 2010-11". England Rugby. 30 April 2011.
37. "Midlands Division Play-Offs 2011-12". England Rugby. 28 April 2012.
38. "Elks Defeated In Extra Time". Worcester Wanderers (Pitchero). 27 April 2013.
39. "1st XV Match Report Sat 26th Apr'14: Burton 24 v 20 Derby (National 3 Midlands Playoff)". Derby RFC. 26 April 2014.
40. "Brewers 0 Chesterfield 2 (Burton 24 Derby 20) Sun 27 April 2014". Beer and Bovril Blogspot. 30 April 2014.
41. "PLAY OFF WIN FOR THE ONS". Old Northamptonians RFC (Pitchero). 25 April 2015.
42. "Rugby union: Derby RFC promoted to National League Three after play-off victory over Bournville". Derby Telegraph. 1 May 2017.
43. "Derby rugby union". Derby County Fans. 30 April 2017.
44. "PROMOTION ACHIEVED AFTER AN ASSURED PERFORMANCE AT KETTERING". Bourneville Rugby (Pitchero). 29 April 2017.
45. "A GAME TOO FAR". Dudley Kingswinford RFC. 12 May 2018.
46. "Dudley Kingswinford suffer more play-off disappointment". Halesowen News. 1 May 2019.

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