| Sport | Rugby Union |
|---|---|
| Instituted | 1987 |
| Ceased | 2000 |
| Country |  England |
| Website | clubs.rfu.com |
North West 1 (not to be confused with North 1 West) was an English Rugby Union league at the seventh tier of the domestic competition and was available to teams in North West England. Promoted teams moved up to North 2 West, while relegated teams dropped to North West 2. The division was abolished at the end of the 1999–00 season due to RFU restructuring with teams being transferred to either North 2 West or their relevant regional leagues, such as South Lancs/Cheshire 1 or North Lancs/Cumbria.
Original teams
[edit]When league rugby began in 1987 this division contained the following teams:
- Blackburn
- Carlisle
- Caldy
- Chester
- Egremont
- Mid-Cheshire College[a]
- Netherhall
- Rochdale
- Southport
- Wigan
- Wirral
North West 1 Honours
[edit]North West 1 (1987–1993)
[edit]The original North West 1 was a tier 7 league with promotion up to North Division 2 and relegation down to North West 2.
| ||||||||||||||
| Season | No of Teams | Champions | Runners–up | Relegated Teams | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1987–88 | 11 | Carlisle | Wirral | Blackburn, Netherall, Southport | ||||||||||
| 1988–89 | 11 | Wigan | Egremont | Wilmslow, Manchester | ||||||||||
| 1989–90 | 11 | Sandbach | Egremont | Chester | ||||||||||
| 1990–91 | 11 | Northwich | Manchester | Rochdale | ||||||||||
| 1991–92 | 11 | Manchester | Macclesfield | No relegation[b] | ||||||||||
| 1992–93 | 13 | Macclesfield | New Brighton | Egremont, Wirral | ||||||||||
| Green backgrounds are promotion places. | ||||||||||||||
North West 1 (1993–1996)
[edit]The creation of National 5 North for the 1993–94 season meant that North West 1 dropped from being a tier 7 league to a tier 8 league for the years that National 5 North was active.
| ||||||||||||||
| Season | No of Teams | Champions | Runners–up | Relegated Teams | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993–94 | 13 | New Brighton | Oldershaw | Kirkby Lions, Merseyside Police, St Edward's Old Boys | ||||||||||
| 1994–95 | 13 | Sedgley Park | Lymm | Wigan, Stockport | ||||||||||
| 1995–96 | 13 | Lymm | Penrith | Multiple teams[c] | ||||||||||
| Green backgrounds are promotion places. | ||||||||||||||
North West 1 (1996–2000)
[edit]The cancellation of National 5 North at the end of the 1995–96 season meant that North West 1 reverted to being a tier 7 league. At the end of the 1999–00 season a further restructure of the leagues saw North West 1, North West 2 and North West 3 cancelled, along with their counterparts North East 1, North East 2 and North East 3.
| ||||||||||||||
| Season | No of Teams | Champions | Runners–up | Relegated Teams | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996–97 | 10 | Blackburn | West Park St Helens | Netherall | ||||||||||
| 1997–98 | 10 | Chester | West Park St Helens | Wilmslow | ||||||||||
| 1998–99[2] | 10 | Aldwinians | West Park St Helens | Vagabonds | ||||||||||
| 1999–00[3] | 10 | West Park St Helens | Stockport[d] | Ashton-on-Mersey[e] | ||||||||||
| Green backgrounds are promotion places. | ||||||||||||||
Number of league titles
[edit]- Aldwinians (1)
- Blackburn (1)
- Chester (1)
- Carlisle (1)
- Lymm (1)
- Macclesfield (1)
- Manchester (1)
- New Brighton (1)
- Northwich (1)
- Sandbach (1)
- Sedgley Park (1)
- West Park St Helens (1)
- Wigan (1)
Notes
[edit]- ^ Mid-Cheshire College were renamed to Northwich RUFC from the 1990–91 season onward.[1]
- ^ There was no relegation at the end of 1991–92 season due to the restructuring of the northern leagues by the RFU for the following season, which would see North West 1 expand from 11 to 13 teams.
- ^ Due to restructuring caused by the creation of North West 3, five clubs were relegated into North West 2, including Sandbach, Northwich, Carlisle, Ashton-on-Mersey and Leigh. Bottom place Cockermouth were also relegated, but this time two levels down into the new North West 3.
- ^ As this was the last season for North West 1 a larger than usual number of teams were promoted to North 2 West.
- ^ Due to North West 2 being abolished Ashton-on-Mersey, Aspull, Oldershaw and Birkenhead Park were relegated/transferred to South Lancs/Cheshire 1 while Kirkby Lonsdale went into North Lancs/Cumbria.
References
[edit]- ^ "Celebrating 50 Years of Northwich RUFC" (PDF). RFU. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
- ^ "1998-99 Northern Division". England Rugby. RFU. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
- ^ "1999-00 Northern Division". England Rugby. RFU. Retrieved 30 April 2017.