1979–80 Rugby Union County Championship Explained

1979–80 Thorn EMI County Championship
Champions:	Lancashire
Count:	11
Prevseason:	1978–79
Nextseason:	1980–81

The 1979–80 Thorn EMI Rugby Union County Championship was the 80th edition of England's County Championship rugby union club competition.^{[1] [2] [3]}

Lancashire won their 11th title after defeating Gloucestershire in the final.

First round

width=20	Pos	width=250	Northern Division	width=20	P	width=20	W	width=20	D	width=20	L	width=20	F	width=20	A	width=20	Pts
1		5	5	0	0	210	42	10
2		5	4	0	1	109	56	8
3	Yorkshire	5	3	0	2	60	49	6
4		5	1	1	3	39	101	3
5	Cheshire	5	1	0	4	63	97	2
6	Cumberland & Westmorland	5	0	1	4	31	158	2

width=20	Pos	width=250	Midlands Group A	width=20	P	width=20	W	width=20	D	width=20	L	width=20	F	width=20	A	width=20	Pts
1		2	2	0	0	47	16	4
2	East Midlands	2	1	0	1	27	41	2
3		2	0	0	2	16	33	0

width=20	Pos	width=250	Midlands Group B	width=20	P	width=20	W	width=20	D	width=20	L	width=20	F	width=20	A	width=20	Pts
1		2	2	0	0	50	22	4
2	Staffordshire	2	1	0	1	37	36	2
3		2	0	0	2	24	53	0

width=20	Pos	width=250	London Group A	width=20	P	width=20	W	width=20	D	width=20	L	width=20	F	width=20	A	width=20	Pts
1	Surrey	2	2	0	0	33	29	4
2		2	1	0	1	33	25	2
3	Kent	2	0	0	2	37	49	0

width=20	Pos	width=250	London Group B	width=20	P	width=20	W	width=20	D	width=20	L	width=20	F	width=20	A	width=20	Pts
1		3	2	0	1	71	26	4
2	Sussex	3	2	0	1	50	22	4
3	Hampshire	3	1	0	2	25	46	2
4		3	1	0	2	22	74	2

width=20	Pos	width=250	South-West Division	width=20	P	width=20	W	width=20	D	width=20	L	width=20	F	width=20	A	width=20	Pts
1		3	2	0	1	40	36	4
2	Devon	3	2	0	1	44	40	4
3	Somerset	3	1	1	1	43	40	3
4	Cornwall	3	0	1	2	35	46	1

width=20	Pos	width=250	Southern Division	width=20	P	width=20	W	width=20	D	width=20	L	width=20	F	width=20	A	width=20	Pts
1	Oxfordshire	3	3	0	0	43	18	6
2		3	1	0	2	43	42	2
3		3	1	0	2	25	39	2
4	Berkshire	3	1	0	2	19	31	2

Second round

width=120	Venue	width=150	Team One	width=150	Team Two	width=100	Score
Moseley	North Midlands	Warwickshire	13-7
Woodford	Surrey	Eastern Counties	26-6
Oxford	Oxfordshire	Gloucestershire		10-36

Semi finals

width=70	Date	width=120	Venue	width=150	Team One	width=150	Team Two	width=100	Score
8 Dec	Moseley	North Midlands	Gloucestershire	17-21
9 Dec	Old Deer Park	Surrey	Lancashire	6-31

Final

15 Broughton Park 14 Orrell 13 Tony Wright Sale 12 P Phillips Orrell 11 Liverpool 10 Orrell 9 Sale 1 Dave Tabern Fylde 2 Waterloo 3 Sale 4 Bill Beaumont (capt) Fylde 5 Waterloo 6 Sale 7 Broughton Park 8 Laurie Connor Waterloo Replacements: J Heaton Orrell T S K Aitcheson Fylde D J Carfoot Waterloo T Simon Sale K Pacey Broughton Park T Morris Liverpool Coach: Des Seabrook

15 Gloucester 14 Bob Clewes Gloucester 13 Richard Mogg Gloucester 12 Bristol 11 Bristol 10 Dave Sorrell Bristol 9 Gloucester 1 Gloucester 2 Gloucester 3 4 Gloucester 5 Nigel Pomphrey Bristol 6 Mike Rafter (capt) Bristol 7 P A Wood Gloucester 8 Bristol Replacements: M Priddy Gloucester F Reed Gloucester S Boyle Gloucester P Johnson Clifton B Russell Gloucester S Baker Gloucester

See also

• English rugby union system
• Rugby union in England

Notes and References

1. Book: Jenkins, Vivian. Rothmans Rugby Yearbook. 1981. 1980. 125-131. Brickfield Publications Ltd. 0362-02018-3.
2. Web site: English County Championship. Rugby Football History.
3. Web site: The County Finals. County Rugby.com.