Midlands 4 East (South) Explained

Midlands 4 East (South)
Current Season:	2019–20 Midlands 4 East (South)
Sport:	Rugby union
Founded:	(as Midlands 5 East (South))
Teams:	11
Champion:	Birstall (1st title)
Season:	2019–20) (promoted to Midlands 3 East (South)
Count:	2
Website:	England RFU

Midlands 4 East (South) is a level 9 English Rugby Union league and level 4 of the Midlands League, made up of teams from the southern part of the East Midlands region including clubs from Bedfordshire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Lincolnshire and occasionally Cambridgeshire, all of whom play home and away matches throughout the season. Each year some of the clubs in this division also take part in the RFU Junior Vase - a level 9-12 national competition.

Formed for the 2006-07 season, the division was originally known as Midlands 5 East (South) but changed to its present name for the 2008-09 season due to league restructuring. Promoted teams tend to move up to Midlands 3 East (South) and since Midlands 5 East (South) was abolished there has been no relegation.

2021-22

Participating teams & locations

Kempston, who finished 11th in 2019-20, and Wellingborough Old Grammarians, who finished 12th in 2019-20, did not return for the current season.

Joining the league are South Leicester who withdrew from Midlands Premier in season 2019-20.

Team	Ground	Capacity	City/Area	Previous season
Aylestone St James	Covert Lane			8th
Bedford Swifts	International Athletics Stadium			3rd
	Langford Road			5th
Brackley	Nightingale Close			6th
Deepings	Spalding Road			7th
Northampton BBOB	Saint Andrew's Road			Relegated from Midlands 3 East (South) (11th)
	Welford Road Ground			New entry
Stamford College Old Boys	Stamford Welland Academy			4th
	The Common			Relegated from Midlands 3 East (South) (12th)
	Ron Jacobs Playing Fields			9th

2020–21

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020–21 season was cancelled.

2019–20

Participating teams & locations

Team	Ground	Capacity	City/Area	Previous season
Aylestone St James	Covert Lane			6th
Bedford Swifts	International Athletics Stadium			5th
	Langford Road			Relegated from Midlands 3 ES (12th)
	Co-Op Sports Ground			Relegated from Midlands 3 ES (11th)
Brackley	Nightingale Close			4th
Deepings	Spalding Road			7th
Kempston	Cutler Hammer			11th
Northampton Men's Own	Stoke Road			3rd
Stamford College Old Boys	Stamford Welland Academy			9th
	Ron Jacobs Playing Fields			10th
Wellingborough Old Grammarians	The Memorial Sports Ground			8th

2018–19

Participating teams & locations

Team	Ground	Capacity	City/Area	Previous season
Aylestone St James	Covert Lane			7th
Bedford Swifts	International Athletics Stadium			3rd
Brackley	Nightingale Close			6th
Deepings	Spalding Road			5th
Kempston	Cutler Hammer			Promoted from East Midlands Merit League (champions)
Northampton BBOB	Saint Andrew's Road			Relegated from Midlands 3 East (South) (12th)
Northampton Men's Own	Stoke Road			Relegated from Midlands 3 East (South) (11th)
Sileby Town	Platts Lane			Relegated from Midlands 3 East (North) (12th)
Stamford College Old Boys	Stamford Welland Academy			9th
	Ron Jacobs Playing Fields			8th
Wellingborough Old Grammarians	The Memorial Sports Ground			4th

2017–18

Participating teams & locations

Team	Ground	Capacity	City/Area	Previous season
Aylestone St James	Covert Lane			Relegated from Midlands 3 East (South) (12th)
Bedford Swifts	International Athletics Stadium			9th
Bourne	Milking Nook Drove			5th
Brackley	Nightingale Close			6th
Deepings	Spalding Road			3rd
	The Common			Relegated from Midlands 3 East (South) (11th)
Stamford College Old Boys	Stamford Welland Academy			4th
	Ron Jacobs Playing Fields			7th
Wellingborough Old Grammarians	The Memorial Sports Ground			8th

Teams 2016-17

• Bedford Queens
• Bedford Swifts
• Bourne
• Brackley
• Deepings
• Old Newtonians
• Sileby Town
• Stamford College Old Boys
• Thorney
• Wellingborough Old Grammarians

Teams 2015-16

• Bedford Queens (relegated from Midlands 3 East (South))
• Bedford Swifts
• Birstall
• Bourne
• Brackley
• Deepings
• Northampton Men's Own (relegated from Midlands 3 East (South))
• Sileby Town
• Stamford College Old Boys
• Thorney
• Wellingborough Old Grammarians

Teams 2014-15

• Bedford Swifts
• Bourne
• Brackley (relegated from Midlands 3 East (South))
• Corby
• Deepings (relegated from Midlands 3 East (South))
• Kempston
• Old Newtonians
• Sileby Town
• St Neots
• Stamford College Old Boys
• Thorney
• Westwood

Teams 2013-14

• Aylestone Athletic
• Bedford Swifts
• Bourne
• Corby
• Kempston
• Long Buckby (relegated from Midlands 3 East (South))
• Old Newtonians (relegated from Midlands 3 East (South))
• Oundale
• St Neots
• Stamford College Old Boys
• Thorney
• Westwood

Teams 2012–13

• Aylestone Athletic
• Bedford Swifts
• Bourne
• Brackley
• Corby
• Oundale
• St Ives (Midlands)
• St Neots
• Stamford College Old Boys
• Thorney
• Wellingborough Old Grammarians
• Westwood

Teams 2008–09

• Ashfield
• Bedford Swifts
• Brackley
• Bugbrooke
• Daventry
• Deepings
• Long Buckby
• Market Harborough
• Northampton Casuals
• Northampton Men's Own
• Peterborough Lions
• Rugby St Andrews
• Vauxhall Motors

Original teams

When this division was introduced in 2006 as Midlands 5 East (South), it contained the following teams:

• Aylestone St James - promoted from East Midlands/South Leicestershire 2 (champions)
• Bedford Queens - transferred from East Midlands/South Leicestershire 1 (4th)
• Bedford Swifts - transferred from East Midlands/South Leicestershire 1 (3rd)
• Kempston - promoted from East Midlands/South Leicestershire 2 (runners up)
• Market Harborough - transferred from East Midlands/South Leicestershire 1 (5th)
• Oundle - transferred from East Midlands/South Leicestershire 1 (7th)
• St Ives (Midlands) - transferred from East Midlands/South Leicestershire 1 (8th)
• Stamford - transferred from Notts, Lincs & Derbyshire/North Leicestershire (11th)
• Stoneygate - relegated from Midlands 4 East (South) (10th)
• Wellingborough Old Grammarians - transferred from East Midlands/South Leicestershire 1 (6th)

Midlands 4 East (South) honours

Midlands 5 West (North) (2006–2009)

League restructuring ahead of the 2006–07 season saw the introduction of Midlands 5 East (South) and its counterpart Midlands 5 East (North) at tier 9 to replace the discontinued East Midlands/South Leicestershire 1 and Notts, Lincs, Derbyshire/North Leicestershire leagues. Promotion was to Midlands 4 East (South) and relegation to Midlands 6 East (South).

<											----> Midlands 5 East (South)
Season	No of teams	Champions	Runners–up	Relegated teams	Reference
2006–07	10	Bedford Swifts			^[1]
2007–08	10	Market Harborough			^[2]
2008–09	10	Stockwood Park			^[3]
Green backgrounds are promotion places.

Midlands 4 East (South) (2009–present)

Further league restructuring by the RFU meant that Midlands 5 East (North) and Midlands 5 East (South) were renamed as Midlands 4 East (North) and Midlands 4 East (South), with both leagues remaining at tier 9. Promotion was now to Midlands 3 East (South) (formerly Midlands 4 East (South)) and relegation to Midlands 5 East (South) (formerly Midlands 6 East (South)) until that league was discontinued at the end of the 2009–10 season.

<											----> Midlands 4 East (South)
Season	No of teams	Champions	Runners–up	Relegated teams	Reference
2009–10	8	Oadby Wyggestonians		No relegation	^[4]
2010–11	11	Stamford		No relegation	^[5]
2011–12	12	Old Newtonians		No relegation	^[6]
2012–13	12	Brackley		No relegation	^[7]
2013–14	11	Long Buckby		No relegation	^[8]
2014–15	10	St Neots		No relegation	^[9]
2015–16	10	Northampton Men's Own		No relegation	^[10]
2016–17	9	Sileby Town		No relegation	^[11]
2017–18	9	St Neots		No relegation	^[12]
2018–19	11	N'hampton BBOB		No relegation	^[13]
2019–20	11	Birstall		No relegation	^[14]
2020–21	11			No relegation
Green backgrounds are promotion places.

Number of league titles

• St Neots (2)
• Bedford Swifts (1)
• Birstall (1)
• Brackley (1)
• Long Buckby (1)
• Market Harborough (1)
• N'hampton BBOB (1)
• Northampton Men's Own (1)
• Oadby Wyggestonians (1)
• Old Newtonians (1)
• Sileby Town (1)
• Stamford (1)
• Stockwood Park (1)

See also

• Midlands RFU
• East Midlands RFU
• Leicestershire RU
• English rugby union system
• Rugby union in England

References

• Web site: English RFU . 2008 . Rugby First . RFU . 21 July 2008 . refStaffordshire Rugby . 28 April 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090428021201/http://clubs.rfu.com/clubs/portals/webmasters . dead .
• Rugby First: To view previous seasons in the league, search for any club within that league then click on to club details followed by fixtures and then select the appropriate season.

Notes and References

1. Web site: 2006-2007 Midlands Division. England Rugby. RFU. 7 March 2015.
2. Web site: 2007-2008 Midlands Division. England Rugby. RFU. 7 March 2015.
3. Web site: 2008-2009 Midlands Division. England Rugby. RFU. 7 March 2015.
4. Web site: 2009-2010 Midlands Division. England Rugby. RFU. 7 March 2015.
5. Web site: 2010-2011 Midlands Division. England Rugby. RFU. 7 March 2015.
6. Web site: 2011-2012 Midlands Division. England Rugby. RFU. 7 March 2015.
7. Web site: 2012-2013 Midlands Division. England Rugby. RFU. 7 March 2015.
8. Web site: 2013-2014 Midlands Division. England Rugby. RFU. 7 March 2015.
9. Web site: 2014-2015 Midlands Division. England Rugby. RFU. 2 May 2015.
10. Web site: 2015-2016 Midlands Division. England Rugby. RFU. 2 May 2016.
11. Web site: 2016-2017 Midlands Division. England Rugby. RFU. 22 April 2017.
12. Web site: 2017-2018 Midlands Division. England Rugby. 28 April 2018.
13. Web site: 2018-19 Midlands Division. England Rugby. RFU. 13 April 2019.
14. Web site: Men's Midlands Level 8 and below leagues 2019–20. England Rugby. 25 April 2020.