North 1 West Explained

North 1 West
Current Season:	2019–20 North 1 West
Sport:	Rugby union
Teams:	14
Country:	,
Champion:	Burnage (1st title)
Season:	2019–20) (promoted to North Premier
Most Champs:	Altrincham Kersal, Birkenhead Park, Vale of Lune
Count:	2
Website:	England RFU

North 1 West is a rugby union league at the sixth level within the English league system. The league is made up of teams from north west England and the Isle of Man; principally consisting of the English counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The league was known as North Division 2 when it was first created back in 1987 and was a single division. It has since split into two regional leagues, with North West 1 and its compatriot North 1 East being the longest running versions of the division.

Promotion and relegation determine the makeup of the league each season, with the top team automatically moving into North Premier and the second-placed team entering into a play-off match with the second-placed team in North 1 East. Occasionally, depending on promotion and relegation, teams from either North 1 East and North 1 West may be required to compete in the opposite league to ensure that the number of teams in the east and west leagues remains at 14 teams each. Teams dropping from the league go into North 2 West.

Teams 2021–22

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.

Team	Ground	Capacity	City/Area	Previous season
	Stelfox Avenue			3rd
	Upper Park			6th
Bowdon	Clay Lane			12th
	Hough End			11th
	Rugby Ground, Warwick Road	1,500 (250 seats)		Relegated from North Premier (12th)
	Port-E-Chee			8th
Glossop	Hargate Hill Lane			Promoted from North 2 West (runners-up)
	St Anthony's Road	9,000 (200 seats)		4th
	Mint Bridge Stadium	3,500 (258 seats)		Level transfer from North 1 East (5th)
	Grove Park	4,000 (250 seats)		Promoted from North 2 West (champions)
	Winters Park			10th
	The Memorial Ground	500		7th
	Powder House Lane			9th
	Memorial Ground			5th

2020–21

On 30 October 2020 the RFU announced ^[1] that due to the coronavirus pandemic a decision had been taken to cancel Adult Competitive Leagues (National League 1 and below) for the 2020/21 season meaning North 1 West was not contested.

Teams 2019–20

Team	Ground	Capacity	City/Area	Previous season
	Stelfox Avenue			Promoted from Lancs/Cheshire 1 (champions)
	Upper Park			3rd
Bowdon	Clay Lane			Promoted from Lancs/Cheshire 1 (playoff)
	Hough End			5th
	Varley Park			11th
	Port-E-Chee			6th
Keswick	Davidson Park			Promoted from Cumbria 1 (champions)
	St Anthony's Road	9,000 (200 seats)		8th
	Moss Farm			4th
	Winters Park			10th
	The Memorial Ground	500		7th
	Powder House Lane			Relegated from North Premier (13th)
Warrington	The Fortress			9th
	Memorial Ground			Relegated from North Premier (14th)

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 Halifax
• Huddersfield
• Lymm
• Manchester
• New Brighton
• Sandal
• Wilmslow

North 1 West 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
Season	No of teams	Champions	Runners–up	Relegated teams
1987–88	11	Aspatria	Halifax
1988–89^[2]	11	Bradford & Bingley
1989–90	11	Rotherham		No relegation
1990–91	11	Stockton		New Brighton
1991–92	11	Wharfedale		No relegation
1992–93	13	Manchester		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
Season	No of teams	Champions	Runners–up	Relegated teams
1993–94	13	York		Carlise, Wigan, Lymm
1994–95	13	Macclesfield		Northwich
1995–96	13	New Brighton
Green backgrounds are promotion places.

North Division 2 (1996–2000)

The cancellation of National 5 North at the end of the 1995–96 season meant that North Division 2 reverted to being a tier 6 league.

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

North 2 West

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 West 1, North West 2 and North West 3 meant that relegation was to either North Lancashire/Cumbria or South Lancs/Cheshire 1.

<											----> North 2 West
Season	No of teams	Champions	Runners–up	Relegated teams
2000–01^[5]	12	West Park St Helens
2001–02^[6]	12	Birkenhead Park
2002–03^[7]	12	Vale of Lune
2003–04^[8]	12	Altrincham Kersal
2004–05^[9]	12	Caldy
2005–06^[10]	12	Stockport
2006–07^[11]	12	Liverpool St Helens
2007–08^[12]	12	Chester
2008–09^[13]	12	Rochdale		No relegation due to league restructure
Green backgrounds are promotion places.

North 1 West

For the 2009–10 season the division would be renamed North 1 West 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 West
Season	No of teams	Champions	Runners–up	Relegated teams
2009–10^[14]	14	Lymm
2010–11^[15]	14	Altrincham Kersal
2011–12^[16]	14	Sandbach
2012–13^[17]	14	Sale FC
2013–14^[18]	14	Wirral
2014–15^[19]	14	Birkenhead Park
2015–16^[20]	14	Kendal
2016–17^[21]	14	Kirkby Lonsdale
2017–18^[22]	13	Vale of Lune		Rochdale, Altrincham Kersal
2018–19^[23]	14	Carlisle		De La Salle, Anselmians, Manchester
2019–20^[24]	14	Burnage		Warrington, Keswick
2020–21	14
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)
2001–02^[26]	Huddersfield (E)	26-10	Vale of Lune (W)
2002–03^[27]	Sheffield (E)	32-15	Rochdale (W)
2003–04^[28]	Middlesbrough (E)	21-13	Caldy (W)
2004–05^[29]	Huddersfield (E)	22-13	Stockport (W)
2005–06^[30]	Beverley (E)	21-16	Winnington Park (W)
2006–07^[31]	Sheffield Tigers (E)	50-10	Lymm (W)
2007–08^[32]	Durham City (E)	13-18	Stockport (W)
2008–09^[33]	Old Crossleyans (E)	25-31	Rossendale (W)
2009–10^[34]	Sandal (E)	30-22	Northwich (W)
2010–11^[35]	Percy Park (E)	26-27	Burnage (W)
2011–12^[36]	Percy Park (E)	18-12	Liverpool St Helens (W)		500
2012–13^[37]	Liverpool St Helens (W)	17-28	Morley (E)
2013–14^[38]	Birkenhead Park (W)	19-29	Huddersfield Y.M.C.A. (E)
2014–15^[39]	Kirkby Lonsdale (W)	29-35	Sheffield (E)		1,000
2015–16^[40]	Kirkby Lonsdale (W)	33-38 (aet)	Morley (E)
2016–17^[41]	Birkenhead Park (W)	29-21	Penrith (E)
2017–18^[42]	Driffield (E)	21-24	Wilmslow (W)
2018–19^[43]	Blackburn (W)	17-7	Scarborough (E)
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

• Altrincham Kersal (2)
• Birkenhead Park (2)
• Vale of Lune (2)
• Aspatria (1)
• Bradford & Bingley (1)
• Burnage (1)
• Caldy (1)
• Carlisle (1)
• Chester (1)
• Darlington Mowden Park
• Doncaster (1)
• Kendal (1)
• Kirkby Lonsdale (1)
• Liverpool St Helens (1)
• Lymm (1)
• Macclesfield (1)
• Manchester (1)
• New Brighton (1)
• Northern (1)
• Rochdale (1)
• Rotherham (1)
• Sandbach (1)
• Sale FC (1)
• Stockport (1)
• Stockton (1)
• West Park St Helens (1)
• Wharfedale (1)
• Wirral (1)
• York (1)

See also

• Cheshire RFU
• Cumbria RU
• Lancashire RFU
• English rugby union system
• Rugby union in England

Notes and References

1. Web site: RFU Cancels Adult Competitive Leagues for the 2020/21 Season . RFU . 2020-10-20 . 2020-11-09.
2. Web site: Sheet1 - Wharfedale. Wharfedale RUFC. Wharfedale RUFC. 4 August 2018.
3. Web site: 1998-99 Northern Division. England Rugby. RFU. 13 July 2020.
4. Web site: 1999-00 Northern Division. England Rugby. RFU. 13 July 2020.
5. Web site: 2000–2001 Northern Division. England Rugby. 30 December 2014.
6. Web site: 2001–2002 Northern Division. England Rugby. 30 December 2014.
7. Web site: 2002–2003 Northern Division. England Rugby. 30 December 2014.
8. Web site: 2003–2004 Northern Division. England Rugby. 30 December 2014.
9. Web site: 2004–2005 Northern Division. England Rugby. 30 December 2014.
10. Web site: 2006–2007 Northern Division. England Rugby. 30 December 2014.
11. Web site: 2006–2007 Northern Division. England Rugby. 30 December 2014.
12. Web site: 2007–2008 Northern Division. England Rugby. 30 December 2014.
13. Web site: 2008–2009 Northern Division. England Rugby. 30 December 2014.
14. Web site: 2009–2010 Northern Division. England Rugby. 30 December 2014.
15. Web site: 2010–2011 Northern Division. England Rugby. 30 December 2014.
16. Web site: 2011–2012 Northern Division. England Rugby. 30 December 2014.
17. Web site: 2012–2013 Northern Division. England Rugby. 30 December 2014.
18. Web site: 2013–2014 Northern Division. England Rugby. 30 December 2014.
19. Web site: 2014–2015 Northern Division. England Rugby. 28 April 2015.
20. Web site: 2015–2016 Northern Division. England Rugby. 4 May 2016.
21. Web site: 2016–2017 Northern Division. England Rugby. 30 April 2017.
22. Web site: 2017-18 Northern Division. England Rugby. RFU. 28 April 2018.
23. Web site: 2018-19 Northern Division. England Rugby. RFU. 13 April 2019.
24. Web site: Men's level 5 - 7 leagues 2019–20. England Rugby. 25 April 2020.
25. Web site: 2000-01 North Playoffs. England Rugby. 19 May 2001.
26. Web site: 2001-02 North Playoffs. England Rugby. 18 May 2002.
27. Web site: 2002-03 North Playoffs. England Rugby. 26 April 2003.
28. Web site: 2003-04 North Playoffs. England Rugby. 24 April 2004.
29. Web site: 2004-05 North Playoffs. England Rugby. 30 April 2006.
30. Web site: 2005-06 North Playoffs. England Rugby. 29 April 2006.
31. Web site: 2006-07 North Playoffs. England Rugby. 28 April 2007.
32. Web site: 2007-08 North Playoffs. England Rugby. 26 April 2008.
33. Web site: 2008-09 North Playoffs. England Rugby. 25 April 2009.
34. Web site: 2009-10 North Playoffs. England Rugby. 1 May 2010.
35. Web site: 2010-11 North Playoffs. England Ruby. 23 April 2011.
36. Web site: Percy Park 18 Liverpool St Helens 12. St Helens Star. 3 May 2012.
37. Web site: 2012-13 North Playoffs. England Rugby. 27 April 2013.
38. Web site: 2013-14 North Playoffs. England Rugby. 26 April 2014.
39. Web site: Kirkby defeated as Sheffield step it up at end of hard game. The Westmorland Gazette. 1 May 2015.
40. Web site: Rugby Union: Morley edge thriller to earn promotion. Morley Observer & Advertiser. 30 April 2016.
41. Web site: Birkenhead Park promoted back to National League Three after 'winner-take-all' clash with Penrith. Wirral Globe. 30 April 2017.
42. Web site: Escapologists Never Say Die. Wimslow RUFC (Pitchero). 12 May 2018.
43. Web site: Scarborough RUFC battle hard but edged out in play-off at Blackburn. The Scarborough News. 27 April 2019.