| 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 which was 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.