| Counties 2 Eastern Counties | |
| Current Season: | 2024-25 Counties 2 Eastern Counties |
| Sport: | Rugby union |
| Teams: | 11 |
| Count: | 1 |
| Website: | englandrugby.com |
Counties 2 Eastern Counties (formerly London 3 Eastern Counties) 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 Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk (Eastern Counties).
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 the Eastern Counties as well as Essex and parts of north-east London. 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 Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk who had played in London 3 North East were transferred into the new look London 3 Eastern Counties along with additional promoted teams from Eastern Counties 1, while the Essex and London sides went into another new division called London 3 Essex. Following the RFU's Adult Competition Review, from season 2022-23 it adopted its current name Counties 2 Eastern Counties.
Promoted teams move up to Counties 1 Eastern Counties, while demoted teams drop down to their local merit leagues.
Departing were Colchester II and Newmarket, both promoted to Counties 1 Eastern Counties. Sudbury II (9th), Shelford III (10th) Cotttenham Renegades (11th) were relegated.
Joining were West Norfolk and Ipswich Y.M. (both relegated from Counties 1 Eastern Counties) together with Wyndonham II, Mistley and March Bears.
| Team | Ground | Capacity | City/Area | Previous season |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Putnoe Woods | 500 | 3rd | ||
| Crusaders | Little Melton Road | 8th | ||
| Fakenham | Eckersley Drive | 6th | ||
| Ipswich Y.M. | The Street | Relegated from Counties 1 EC | ||
| March Bears | Elm Road | |||
| Mersea Island | Glebe Pavilion | 5th | ||
| Mistley | Furze Hill Playing Fields | |||
| Thurston | Robinson Field | 7th | ||
| West Norfolk | Gatehouse Lane | Relegated from Counties 1EC | ||
| Wisbech | Chapel Road | Relegated from Counties 1 EC | ||
| Woodbridge | Hatchley Barn | 4th | ||
| Wymondham II | The Foster Harrison Memorial Ground | |||
Departing were Wisbech and North Walsham II, both promoted to Counties 1 Eastern Counties. Norwich Union (9th), Cambridge III (10th) Ipswich II (11th) were relegated.
Joining were Thurston (relegated from Counties 1 Eastern Counties) together with Bedford Athletic II, Crusaders, Shelford III and Mersea Island.
| Team | Ground | Capacity | City/Area | Previous season |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Putnoe Woods | 500 | |||
| Raven Park | 5th | |||
| Cotttenham Renegades | High Street | 8th | ||
| Crusaders | Little Melton Road | |||
| Fakenham | Eckersley Drive | 3rd | ||
| Mersea Island | Glebe Pavillion | |||
| Newmarket | NSDA Pavilion | 4th | ||
| The Davey Field | 2,000 (150 seats) | |||
| Whittome Field | 7th | |||
| Thurston | Robinson Field | Relegated from Counties 1 EC | ||
| Woodbridge | Hatchley Barn | 6th | ||
This was the first season following the RFU Adult Competition Review[1] with the league adopting its new name of Counties 2 Eastern Counties.
Departing were Holt, Ely, Ipswich Y.M. and Thurston, all promoted to Counties 1 Eastern Counties. Thetford, 9th the previous season, did not return.
Joining were lower teams from Cambridge III, Sudbury II, Colchester II, North Walsham II and Ipswich II together with Cottenham Renegades.
| Team | Ground | Capacity | City/Area | Previous season |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New entry | ||||
| Raven Park | New entry | |||
| Cotttenham Renegades | High Street | New entry | ||
| Fakenham | Eckersley Drive | 7th | ||
| Ipswich II | Humber Doucy Lane | New entry | ||
| Newmarket | NSDA Pavilion | 6th | ||
| Norwich Road | 1,600 | New entry | ||
| Norwich Union | Barkers Lane | 8th | ||
| Whittome Field | New entry | |||
| Wisbech | Chapel Road | 5th | ||
| Woodbridge | Hatchley Barn | 10th | ||
The teams competing in 2021-22 achieved their places in the league based on performances in 2019-20, the 'previous season' column in the table below refers to that season not 2020-21.
Ahead of the new season Crusaders, who finished 6th in 2019-20 withdrew from the league (and will instead participate in Eastern Counties Greene King Division Two North) meaning London 3 EC will run with 10 teams for this season.
| Team | Ground | Capacity | City/Area | Previous season |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ely | Cambridge Commodities Park | 3rd | ||
| Fakenham | Eckersley Drive | 7th | ||
| Holt | Bridge Road | Relegated from London 2NE (11th) | ||
| Ipswich Y.M. | The Street | 5th | ||
| Newmarket | NSDA Pavilion | Promoted via EC Shield (3rd) from Eastern Counties 1 (West) (2nd) | ||
| Norwich Union | Barkers Lane | Promoted via EC Shield (1st) from Eastern Counties 1 (North) (1st) | ||
| Thetford | Mundford Road | 10th | ||
| Thurston | Robinson Field | 8th | ||
| Wisbech | Chapel Road | 9th | ||
| Woodbridge | Hatchley Barn | 4th | ||
On 30 October the RFU announced [2] that a decision had been taken to cancel Adult Competitive Leagues (National League 1 and below) for the 2020/21 season meaning London 3 Eastern Counties was not contested.
| Team | Ground | Capacity | City/Area | Previous season |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beccles | Beef Meadow | Promoted from Eastern Counties 1 (champions) | ||
| Cantabrigian | Sedley Taylor Road | Relegated from London 2 North East (10th) | ||
| Crusaders | Beck Hythe | 8th | ||
| Ely | Downham Road | 3rd | ||
| Fakenham | Eckersley Drive | 5th | ||
| Ipswich Y.M. | The Street | 11th (not relegated) | ||
| Thetford | Mundford Road | 6th | ||
| Thurston | Robinson Field | 10th | ||
| West Norfolk | Gatehouse Lane | 4th | ||
| Wisbech | Chapel Road | 7th | ||
| Woodbridge | Hatchley Barn | 9th | ||
| Team | Ground | Capacity | City/Area | Previous season |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crusaders | Beck Hythe | 9th | ||
| Ely | Downham Road | 3rd | ||
| Fakenham | Eckersley Drive | Promoted from Eastern Counties 1 (champions) | ||
| Holt | Bridge Road | 5th | ||
| Ipswich Y.M. | The Street | Promoted from Eastern Counties 1 (runners up) | ||
| Thetford | Mundford Road | 4th | ||
| Thurston | Robinson Field | Promoted from Eastern Counties 1 (3rd) | ||
| West Norfolk | Gatehouse Lane | 8th | ||
| Wisbech | Chapel Road | 10th | ||
| Woodbridge | Heatherlands | 7th | ||
| Wymondham | The Foster Harrison Memorial Ground | 6th | ||
| Team | Ground | Capacity | City/Area | Previous season |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crusaders | Beck Hythe | Promoted from Eastern Counties 1 (3rd) | ||
| Ely | Downham Road | 5th (London 3 North East) | ||
| Holt | Bridge Road | Relegated from London 2 North East (11th) | ||
| Newmarket | NSDA Pavilion | Promoted from Eastern Counties 1 (4th) | ||
| Southwold | The Common | 4th (London 3 North East) | ||
| Stowmarket | Chilton Fields | 6th (London 3 North East) | ||
| Thetford | Mundford Road | Promoted from Eastern Counties 1 (champions) | ||
| West Norfolk | Gatehouse Lane | 9th (London 3 North East) | ||
| Wisbech | Chapel Road | Promoted from Eastern Counties 1 (6th) | ||
| Woodbridge | Heatherlands | Promoted from Eastern Counties 1 (5th) | ||
| Wymondham | The Foster Harrison Memorial Ground | Promoted from Eastern Counties 1 (runners up) | ||
London 3 Eastern Counties is a tier 8 league with promotion up to London 2 North East and relegation down to Eastern Counties 1.
| < | ---->
| ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | No of teams | Champions | Runners–up | Relegated Teams | |||||||||||
| 2017–18[3] | 11 | Stowmarket | |||||||||||||
| 2018–19[4] | 11 | Wymondham | No relegation | ||||||||||||
| 2019–20[5] | 11 | West Norfolk | |||||||||||||
| 2020–21 | 11 | ||||||||||||||
| Green backgrounds are promotion places. | |||||||||||||||
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 2 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.
| < | ---->
| ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Attendance | ||||||||||
| 2017–18[6] | Southwold (EC) | 49-3 | Millwall (EX) | 300[7] | |||||||||||
| 2018–-19[8] | Holt (EC) | 31-22 | East London (EX) | ||||||||||||
| 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 | |||||||||||||||