North 1 East

North 1 East is the sixth tier of the English rugby union domestic competition, formed in 1987 using the name North Division 2, involving clubs from the north of the country. There was also division known as North East 1 that began in 1987 for clubs based in the north-east but this was a seventh (later eighth) tier league. North Division 2 would later split into two regional divisions, currently known as North 1 East and North 1 West. North 1 East is made up of teams from around the North Eastern area of England, principally County Durham, Cumbria, East Yorkshire, North Yorkshire, Northumberland, South Yorkshire, Tyne and Wear, and West Yorkshire, who play home and away matches throughout a winter season.

North 1 East

Current season or competition: 2019–20 North 1 East
Sport	Rugby union
Instituted	1987 (1987)
Number of teams	14
Country	England
Most titles	Bradford & Bingley (3 titles)
Website	England RFU

The league champions are automatically promoted to the North Premier, whilst the second placed team enters into a play-off match with the second placed team in the equivalent division North 1 West. The bottom three teams are relegated to either the Yorkshire Division One or the Durham/Northumberland 1 leagues, the seventh tier of the English domestic rugby union competition. Following the play-off game, depending on the result, a team from the division with fifteen teams are transferred to the division with thirteen teams to level up the number of teams in each division.

2019–20

Team Ground Capacity City/Area Previous season Bradford & Bingley Wagon Lane 4,000 Bingley, West Yorkshire 7th Cleckheaton Moorend Cleckheaton, West Yorkshire 11th Driffield Show Ground Driffield, East Riding of Yorkshire 8th Durham City Hollow Drift 1,500 (500 seats) Durham, County Durham Promoted from Durham/Northumberland 1 (champions) Huddersfield Y.M.C.A. Laund Hill 2,000 (1,000 seats) Huddersfield, West Yorkshire 4th Kendal Mint Bridge Stadium 3,500 (258 seats) Kendal, Cumbria Relegated from North Premier (12th) Malton & Norton The Gannock Malton, North Yorkshire 10th Moortown Moss Valley Alwoodley, Leeds, West Yorkshire Promoted from Yorkshire 1 (champions) Morley Scatcherd Lane Morley, West Yorkshire 3rd Percy Park Preston Avenue North Shields, Tyne and Wear 5th Pocklington Percy Road Pocklington, East Riding of Yorkshire 9th Scarborough Silver Royd 4500 (425 seats) Scalby, Scarborough, North Yorkshire Runners up (lost playoff) West Hartlepool Brinkburn 1,000 (76 seats) Hartlepool, County Durham Promoted from Durham/Northumberland 1 (playoff) York Clifton Park York, North Yorkshire 6th

B & B Cleckheaton Driffield Durham Huddersfield Y.M.C.A. M & N Moortown Morley Kendal Percy Park Pocklington Scarborough W Hartlepool York Locations of the 2019–20 North 1 East teams

Original teams

When league rugby began in 1987 this was a single division containing the following teams from the north of England:

• Alnwick
• Aspatria
• Bradford & Bingley
• Davenport[lower-alpha 1]
• Halifax
• Huddersfield
• Lymm
• Manchester
• New Brighton
• Sandal
• Wilmslow

Division honours

North Division 2 (1987–1993)

The original North Division 2 was a tier 6 league with promotion up to North Division 1 and relegation down to either North East 1 or North West 1.

North Division 2 honours
Season	No of teams	Champions	Runners–up	Relegated teams
1987–88	11	Aspatria	Halifax	Wilmslow, Manchester
1988–89[2]	11	Bradford & Bingley	Middlesbrough	Davenport
1989–90[2]	11	Rotherham	Widnes	No relegation
1990–91[2]	11	Stockton	Sandal	New Brighton
1991–92[2]	11	Wharfedale	Lymm	No relegation
1992–93	13	Manchester	Huddersfield	Sandbach
Green backgrounds are promotion places.

North Division 2 (1993–1996)

The creation of National 5 North for the 1993–94 season, meant that North Division 2 dropped from being a tier 6 league to a tier 7 league for the years that National 5 North was active.

North Division 2 honours
Season	No of teams	Champions	Runners–up	Relegated teams
1993–94	13	York	West Park Bramhope	Carlise, Wigan, Lymm
1994–95	13	Macclesfield	Bridlington	Northwich
1995–96	13	New Brighton	Sedgley Park	Birkenhead Park, West Park St Helens, Old Crossleyeans, Hartlepool Rovers[lower-alpha 2]
Green backgrounds are promotion places.

North Division 2 (1996–2000)

The cancellation of National 5 North at the end of the 1995–97 season meant that North Division 2 reverted back to being a tier 6 league.

North Division 2 honours
Season	No of teams	Champions	Runners–up	Relegated teams
1996–97	12	Doncaster	Middlesbrough	Durham City
1997–98	12	Northern	Blaydon	Halifax
1998–99[3]	12	Bradford & Bingley	Driffield	York, Percy Park
1999–00[4]	12	Darlington Mowden Park	Chester	No relegation
Green backgrounds are promotion places.

North 2 East

For the 2000–01 season, North Division 2 was split into two regional divisions - North 2 East and North 2 West. While promotion continued up into North Division 1, the cancellation of the North East 1, North East 2 and North East 3 meant that relegation was now to either Durham/Northumberland 1 or Yorkshire 1.

North 2 East Honours
Season	No of teams	Champions	Runners–up	Relegated Teams
2000–01[5]	12	Halifax	Darlington	York, West Park Leeds
2001–02[6]	12	Cleckheaton	Huddersfield	Bridlington, Old Crossleyans, Northern
2002–03[7]	12	Bradford & Bingley	Sheffield	Goole, Scarborough, Alnwick
2003-04[8]	12	Hull	Middlesbrough	Northern, York, Bridlington
2004–05[9]	12	Westoe	Huddersfield	Horden, Redcar, Malton & Norton
2005-06[10]	12	Penrith	Beverley	Sandal, Stockton, Alnwick
2006–07[11]	12	Middlesbrough	Sheffield Tigers	Horden, Percy Park, Sheffield
2007–08[12]	12	West Hartlepool	Durham City	Aldwinians, York, Hartlepool Rovers
2008–09[13]	12	Penrith	Old Crossleyans	Aspatria
Green backgrounds are promotion places.

North 1 East

For the 2009-10 season the division would be renamed North 1 East as part of wholesale national restructure of the league system by the RFU leading to mass changes at all levels including in the north.

North 1 East Honours
Season	No of teams	Champions	Runners–up	Relegated Teams
2009–10[14]	14	Billingham	Sandal	Ilkley, Gateshead, Darlington
2010–11[15]	14	West Hartlepool	Percy Park	Hartlepool Rovers, Driffield, Pontefract
2011–12[16]	14	Billingham	Percy Park	Team Northumbria [lower-alpha 3] , Gateshead, Old Brodleians
2012–13[17]	14	Beverley	Morley	Darlington, Durham City, Keighley
2013–14[18]	14	Cleckheaton	Huddersfield Y.M.C.A.	Malton & Norton, Middlesbrough, Morpeth
2014–15[19]	14	Ilkley	Sheffield	Horden, Old Crossleyans, Bradford and Bingley
2015–16[20]	14	Doncaster Phoenix	Morley	Beverley, South Shields Westoe, Northern
2016–17[21]	14	Pocklington	Penrith	Wheatley Hills, Guisborough, Durham City
2017–18[22]	14	Alnwick	Driffield	Northern, West Hartlepool, Dinnington
2018–19[23]	14	Morpeth	Scarborough	Consett, West Leeds, Bridlington
2019–20[24]	14	York	Cleckheaton	Huddersfield Y.M.C.A., West Hartlepool, Percy Park
Green backgrounds are promotion places.

Promotion play-offs

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

North 1 East v North 1 West promotion play-off results
Season	Home team	Score	Away team	Venue	Attendance
2000–01[25]	Darlington (E)	49-0	Aldwinians (W)	Blackwell Meadows, Darlington, County Durham
2001–02[26]	Huddersfield (E)	26-10	Vale of Lune (W)	Lockwood Park, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire
2002–03[27]	Sheffield (E)	32-15	Rochdale (W)	Abbeydale Park, Dore, Sheffield, South Yorkshire
2003–04[28]	Middlesbrough (E)	21-13	Caldy (W)	Acklam Park, Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire
2004–05[29]	Huddersfield (E)	22-13	Stockport (W)	Lockwood Park, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire
2005–06[30]	Beverley (E)	21-16	Winnington Park (W)	Beaver Park, Beverley, East Riding of Yorkshire
2006–07[31]	Sheffield Tigers (E)	50-10	Lymm (W)	Dore Moor, Dore, Sheffield, South Yorkshire
2007–08[32]	Durham City (E)	13-18	Stockport (W)	Hollow Drift, Durham, County Durham
2008–09[33]	Old Crossleyans (E)	25-31	Rossendale (W)	Broomfield Avenue, Halifax, West Yorkshire
2009–10[34]	Sandal (E)	30-22	Northwich (W)	Milnthorpe Green, Sandal Magna, Wakefield, West Yorkshire
2010–11[35]	Percy Park (E)	26-27	Burnage (W)	Preston Avenue, North Shields, Tyne and Wear
2011–12[36]	Percy Park (E)	18-12	Liverpool St Helens (W)	Preston Avenue, North Shields, Tyne and Wear	500
2012–13[37]	Liverpool St Helens (W)	17-28	Morley (E)	Moss Lane, St Helens, Merseyside
2013–14[38]	Birkenhead Park (W)	19-29	Huddersfield Y.M.C.A. (E)	Upper Park, Birkenhead, Merseyside
2014–15[39]	Kirkby Lonsdale (W)	29-35	Sheffield (E)	Underley Park, Kirkby Lonsdale, Cumbria	1,000
2015–16[40]	Kirkby Lonsdale (W)	33-38 (aet)	Morley (E)	Underley Park, Kirkby Lonsdale, Cumbria
2016–17[41]	Birkenhead Park (W)	29-21	Penrith (E)	Upper Park, Birkenhead, Merseyside
2017–18[42]	Driffield (E)	21-24	Wilmslow (W)	Show Ground, Driffield, East Riding of Yorkshire
2018–19[43]	Blackburn (W)	17-7	Scarborough (E)	Ramsgreave Drive, Blackburn, Lancashire
2019–20	Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom. Best ranked runner up - Northwich (W) - promoted instead.
2020–21
Green background is the promoted team. E = North 1 East (formerly North 2 East) and W = North 1 West (formerly North 2 West)

Number of league titles

• Bradford & Bingley (3)[lower-alpha 4]
• Billingham (2)
• Cleckheaton (2)
• Penrith (2)
• West Hartlepool (2)
• Alnwick (1)
• Aspatria (1)[lower-alpha 5]
• Beverley (1)
• Darlington Mowden Park (1)
• Doncaster (1)[lower-alpha 6]
• Doncaster Phoenix (1)
• Halifax (1)
• Hull (1)
• Ilkley (1)
• Macclesfield (1)[lower-alpha 7]
• Manchester (1)[lower-alpha 8]
• Middlesbrough (1)
• Morpeth (1)
• New Brighton (1)[lower-alpha 9]
• Northern (1)[lower-alpha 10]
• Pocklington (1)
• Rotherham (1)[lower-alpha 11]
• Stockton (1)[lower-alpha 12]
• Westoe (1)[lower-alpha 13]
• Wharfedale (1)[lower-alpha 14]
• York (1)[lower-alpha 15]

Notes

1. Davenport would be renamed as Stockport RUFC in 1992.[1]
2. The introduction of a number of new leagues in the north for the 1996–97 season meant that more teams than normal were relegated between leagues to populate the new divisions.
3. Team Northumbria disbanded after relegation. Although they still do participate in the Northumberland Senior Cup.
4. One of Bradford & Bingley's titles was won when league was a single division known as North Division 2.
5. Aspatria's title was won when league was a single division known as North Division 2.
6. Doncaster's title was won when league was a single division known as North Division 2.
7. Manchester's title was won when league was a single division known as North Division 2.
8. Manchester's title was won when league was a single division known as North Division 2.
9. New Brighton's title was won when league was a single division known as North Division 2.
10. Northern's title was won when league was a single division known as North Division 2.
11. Rotherham's title was won when league was a single division known as North Division 2.
12. Stockton's title was won when league was a single division known as North Division 2.
13. Currently known as South Shields Westoe.
14. Wharfedale's title was won when league was a single division known as North Division 2.
15. York's title was won when league was a single division known as North Division 2.

See also

• Durham RFU
• Northumberland RFU
• Yorkshire RFU
• English rugby union system
• Rugby union in England

References

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2. "Sheet1 - Wharfedale". Wharfedale RUFC. Wharfedale RUFC. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
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24. "Men's level 5 - 7 leagues 2019–20" (PDF). England Rugby. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
25. "2000-01 North Playoffs". England Rugby. 19 May 2001.
26. "2001-02 North Playoffs". England Rugby. 18 May 2002.
27. "2002-03 North Playoffs". England Rugby. 26 April 2003.
28. "2003-04 North Playoffs". England Rugby. 24 April 2004.
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31. "2006-07 North Playoffs". England Rugby. 28 April 2007.
32. "2007-08 North Playoffs". England Rugby. 26 April 2008.
33. "2008-09 North Playoffs". England Rugby. 25 April 2009.
34. "2009-10 North Playoffs". England Rugby. 1 May 2010.
35. "2010-11 North Playoffs". England Ruby. 23 April 2011.
36. "Percy Park 18 Liverpool St Helens 12". St Helens Star. 3 May 2012.
37. "2012-13 North Playoffs". England Rugby. 27 April 2013.
38. "2013-14 North Playoffs". England Rugby. 26 April 2014.
39. "Kirkby defeated as Sheffield step it up at end of hard game". The Westmorland Gazette. 1 May 2015.
40. "Rugby Union: Morley edge thriller to earn promotion". Morley Observer & Advertiser. 30 April 2016.
41. "Birkenhead Park promoted back to National League Three after 'winner-take-all' clash with Penrith". Wirral Globe. 30 April 2017.
42. "Escapologists Never Say Die". Wimslow RUFC (Pitchero). 12 May 2018.
43. "Scarborough RUFC battle hard but edged out in play-off at Blackburn". The Scarborough News. 27 April 2019.