North Premier

Sport	Rugby Union
Instituted	1987; 38 years ago (1987)(as North Division 1)
Number of teams	14
Country	England
Holders	Otley (2nd title) (2021–22 (promoted toNational Two North)
Most titles	Bradford & Bingley,Darlington Mowden Park,Huddersfield,Kendal,Morley,Otley andPreston Grasshoppers(2 titles)
Website	clubs.rfu.com

North Premier was a level five league in theEnglish rugby union system, with the fourteen teams drawn from acrossNorthern England. The other leagues at this level wereLondon & South East Premier,Midlands Premier andSouth West Premier. TheRFU reorganised the level five leagues for season 2022–23, with an increase from four to six and reducing the teams in each from fourteen to twelve.^[1] The teams in this league now play in eitherRegional 1 North East orRegional 1 North West.^[2]

The fourteen teams in this league were drawn from across northern England with the champions promoted toNational League 2 North and the runner-up going into a play-off with the second placed team fromMidlands Premier with the winner also being promoted. The league's bottom three teams are relegated to eitherNorth 1 East orNorth 1 West depending on their geographic location. The league was changed at the beginning of the 2009–10 season following reorganisation by theRugby Football Union when the league was originally known asNorth Division 1. A further name change fromNational League 3 North to its final name for the 2017–18 season by the RFU in order to lessen confusion for the series of regional leagues.^[1]

The season ran from September to May and comprised twenty-six rounds of matches, with each club playing each of its rivals home and away. The results of the matches contributed points to the league table as follows:

• 4 points are awarded for a win
• 2 points are awarded for a draw
• 0 points are awarded for a loss, however
• 1 losing (bonus) point is awarded to a team that loses a match by 7 points or fewer
• 1 additional (bonus) point is awarded to a team scoring 4 tries or more in a match

Nine of the fourteen teams participated in the previous season's competition. They were joined byOtley andPreston Grasshoppers who were relegated fromNational League 2 North, and promoted sidesYork (fromNorth 1 East) together withBurnage and Northwich RUFC (both fromNorth 1 West).

The previous season's championsBlaydon were promoted into National League 2 North alongsideHarrogate (who won the virtual play-off againstNewport runners-up inMidlands Premier), while the relegated teams were Carlisle RFC (toNorth 1 West) together withMorpeth and Ilkley RFC (both toNorth 1 East).

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.

Twelve of the fourteen teams from 2021–22 were placed into one of the new level five leagues for 2022–23. Alnwick, Billingham, Sandal and York were placed intoRegional 1 North East while Blackburn, Burnage, Kirkby Lonsdale, Lymm, Macclesfield, Northwich, Rossendale and Wirral were placed intoRegional 1 North West. The top two teams in 2021–22, Otley and Preston Grasshoppers, were promoted to the level four leagueNational League 2 North. No teams were relegated to level six.

Team Ground Capacity City/Area Previous season Alnwick Greensfield 1,200 (200 in stand) Alnwick, Northumberland 11th Billingham Greenwood Road 1,500 (100 seats) Billingham, County Durham 5th Blackburn Ramsgreave Drive Blackburn, Lancashire 6th Burnage Varley Park Stockport,Greater Manchester Promoted fromNorth 1 West (champions) Kirkby Lonsdale Underley Park Kirkby Lonsdale, Cumbria 8th Lymm Crouchley Lane 1,000 Lymm,Cheshire 7th Macclesfield Priory Park 1,250 (250 seats) Macclesfield, Cheshire 3rd Northwich Moss Farm Northwich,Cheshire Promoted fromNorth 1 West (playoff) Otley Cross Green 5,000 Otley,Leeds,West Yorkshire Relegated fromNat 2 North (12th) Preston Grasshoppers Lightfoot Green 5,000 Preston, Lancashire Relegated fromNat 2 North (13th) Rossendale Marl Pits Rawtenstall, Rossendale, Lancashire 9th Sandal Milnthorpe Green Sandal Magna, Wakefield, West Yorkshire 4th Wirral The Memorial Ground Clatterbridge, Wirral 10th York Clifton Park York,North Yorkshire Promoted fromNorth 1 East (champions)

Alnwick Billingham Blackburn Burnage Kirkby Lonsdale Lymm Macclesfield Northwich Otley Preston Rossendale Sandal Wirral York class=notpageimage| Locations of the 2021–22 North Premier teams

On 30th October the RFU announced, that due to thecoronavirus pandemic, a decision had been taken to cancel Adult Competitive Leagues (National League 1 and below) for the 2020/21 season meaning North Premier was not contested.^[4]

Ten of the fourteen teams participated in last season's competition. They are joined byMacclesfield who were relegated fromNational League 2 North, andBlackburn,Carlisle andMorpeth who were promoted into the division.^[5][6][7][8] Last season's championsHull were promoted into National League 2 North, while the relegated teams wereVale of Lune andWilmslow who all drop down intoNorth 1 West and Kendal Rugby Union Football Club, Kendal who were relegated toNorth 1 East.

Team Ground Capacity City/Area Previous season Alnwick Greensfield 1,200 (200 in stand) Alnwick, Northumberland 9th Billingham Greenwood Road 1,500 (100 seats) Billingham, County Durham 4th Blackburn Ramsgreave Drive Blackburn, Lancashire Promoted fromNorth 1 West (playoff) Blaydon Crow Trees 2,000 (400 seats) Swalwell, Tyne and Wear Runners up (lost playoff) Carlisle Rugby Ground, Warwick Road 1,500 (250 seats) Carlisle, Cumbria Promoted fromNorth 1 West (champions) Harrogate Rudding Lane 2,000 Harrogate, North Yorkshire 3rd Ilkley Stacks Field 2,000 (40 seats) Ilkley, West Yorkshire 8th Kirkby Lonsdale Underley Park Kirkby Lonsdale, Cumbria 10th Lymm Crouchley Lane 1,000 Lymm,Cheshire 11th Macclesfield Priory Park 1,250 (250 seats) Macclesfield, Cheshire Relegated fromNational 2 North (14th) Morpeth Grange House Field 1,000 Morpeth, Northumberland Promoted fromNorth 1 East (champions) Rossendale Marl Pits Rawtenstall, Rossendale, Lancashire 5th Sandal Milnthorpe Green Sandal Magna, Wakefield, West Yorkshire 6th Wirral The Memorial Ground Clatterbridge, Wirral 7th

Alnwick Billingham Blackburn Blaydon Carlisle Harrogate Kirkby Lonsdale Lymm Ilkley Macclesfield Morpeth Rossendale Sandal Wirral class=notpageimage| Locations of the 2019–20 North Premier teams

Ten of the fourteen teams participated in last season's competition. They are joined byBlaydon who were relegated fromNational League 2 North, whileAlnwick,Vale of Lune andWilmslow were promoted into the division.^{[9][10][11][12]}Preston Grasshoppers were promoted as champions into National League 2 North, while the relegated teams wereBirkenhead Park (North 1 West),Morley andPocklington (bothNorth 1 East).

Team Ground Capacity City/Area Previous season Alnwick Greensfield 1,200 (200 in stand) Alnwick,Northumberland Promoted fromNorth 1 East (champions) Billingham Greenwood Road 1,500 (100 seats) Billingham,County Durham 6th Blaydon Crow Trees 2,000 (400 seats) Swalwell,Tyne and Wear Relegated fromNational 2 North (15th) Harrogate Rudding Lane 2,000 Harrogate,North Yorkshire 3rd Hull Ferens Ground 1,500 (288 seats) Kingston upon Hull,East Riding of Yorkshire Runners up (lost playoff) Ilkley Stacks Field 2,000 (40 seats) Ilkley,West Yorkshire 7th Kendal Mint Bridge Stadium 3,500 (258 seats) Kendal,Cumbria 10th Kirkby Lonsdale Underley Park Kirkby Lonsdale,Cumbria 8th Lymm Crouchley Lane 1,000 Lymm,Cheshire 4th Rossendale Marl Pits Rawtenstall,Rossendale,Lancashire 5th Sandal Milnthorpe Green Sandal Magna,Wakefield,West Yorkshire 11th Vale of Lune Powder House Lane Lancaster, Lancashire Promoted fromNorth 1 West (Champions) Wilmslow Memorial Ground Wilmslow,Cheshire Promoted fromNorth 1 West (playoff) Wirral The Memorial Ground Clatterbridge,Wirral 9th

Alnwick Billingham Blaydon Harrogate Hull Kendal Kirkby Lonsdale Lymm Ilkley Rossendale Sandal Vale of Lune Wilmslow Wirral class=notpageimage| Locations of the 2018–19 North Premier teams

Nine of the fourteen teams participated in last season's competition. They are joined byPreston Grasshoppers andHarrogate who were relegated fromNational League 2 North, whilePocklington,Kirkby Lonsdale andBirkenhead Park are promoted into the division.^{[13][14][15][16][17]}Huddersfield were promoted as champions into National League 2 North, withFirwood Waterloo andStockport both relegated toNorth 1 West andCleckheaton dropping toNorth 1 East.^[18] In order to address an imbalance of teams at tier 5,Doncaster Phoenix were level transferred toMidlands Premier.^[19] This season was the first thatKendal played at the new Mint Bridge Stadium.

Team Ground Capacity City/Area Previous season Billingham Greenwood Road 1,500 (100 seats) Billingham,County Durham 5th Birkenhead Park Upper Park Birkenhead,Wirral Promoted fromNorth 1 West (playoffs) Harrogate Rudding Lane 2,000 Harrogate,North Yorkshire Relegated fromNational 2 North (14th) Hull Ferens Ground 1,500 (288 seats) Kingston upon Hull,East Riding of Yorkshire 3rd Ilkley Stacks Field 2,000 (40 seats) Ilkley,West Yorkshire 9th Kendal Mint Bridge Stadium 3,500 (258 seats) Kendal,Cumbria 7th Kirkby Lonsdale Underley Park Kirkby Lonsdale,Cumbria Promoted fromNorth 1 West (champions) Lymm Crouchley Lane 1,000 Lymm,Cheshire 8th Morley Scatcherd Lane Morley,West Yorkshire 10th Pocklington Percy Road Pocklington,East Riding of Yorkshire Promoted fromNorth 1 East (champions) Preston Grasshoppers Lightfoot Green 5,000 Preston, Lancashire Relegated fromNational 2 North (16th) Rossendale Marl Pits Rawtenstall,Rossendale,Lancashire 2nd (lost playoff) Sandal Milnthorpe Green Sandal Magna,Wakefield,West Yorkshire 6th Wirral The Memorial Ground Clatterbridge,Wirral 4th

Billingham Birkenhead Harrogate Hull Kendal Kirkby Lonsdale Lymm Ilkley Morley Pocklington Preston Rossendale Sandal Wirral class=notpageimage| Locations of the 2017–18 North Premier teams

Nine of the fourteen teams participated in last season's competition. They are joined byHuddersfield andSandal who were relegated from National 2 North whileDoncaster Phoenix,Morley andKendal were promoted into the league.Sheffield Tigers were promoted as champions into National 2 North whileBurnage andHuddersfield Y.M.C.A. were relegated toNorth 1 East andBirkenhead Park dropped toNorth 1 West. In order to address a league imbalance, 7th placedSheffield were level transferred toNational League 3 Midlands.

Team Ground Capacity City/Area Previous season Billingham Greenwood Road 1,500 (100 seats) Billingham,County Durham 9th Cleckheaton Moorend Cleckheaton,West Yorkshire 10th Doncaster Phoenix Castle Park 5,000 Doncaster,South Yorkshire promoted fromNorth 1 East (champions) Firwood Waterloo St Anthony's Road 9,000 (200 seats) Blundellsands,Merseyside 4th Huddersfield Lockwood Park 1,500 (500 seats) Huddersfield,South Yorkshire relegated fromNational 2 North (16th) Hull Ferens Ground 1,500 (288 seats) Kingston upon Hull,East Riding of Yorkshire 5th Ilkley Stacks Field 2,000 (40 seats) Ilkley,West Yorkshire 8th Kendal Mint Bridge 3,000 (300 stand) Kendal,Cumbria promoted fromNorth 1 West (champions) Lymm Crouchley Lane 1,000 Lymm,Cheshire 3rd Morley Scatcherd Lane Morley,West Yorkshire promoted fromNorth 1 East (via play-off) Rossendale Marl Pits Rawtenstall,Rossendale,Lancashire 6th Sandal Milnthorpe Green Sandal Magna,Wakefield,West Yorkshire relegated fromNational 2 North (14th) Stockport The Memorial Ground 500 Stockport,Greater Manchester 11th Wirral The Memorial Ground Clatterbridge,Wirral 2nd (lost promotion play-off)

Billingham Cleckheaton D Phoenix Firwood Waterloo Huddersfield Hull Ilkley Kendal Lymm Morley Rossendale Sandal Stockport Wirral class=notpageimage| Locations of the 2016-17 North Premier teams

Each season, the runners-up in the National League 3 North, andNational League 3 Midlands participate in a play-off for promotion to National League 2 North. The team with the best playing record, in this case Rossendale, host the match and they lost to their opponents Sheffield 31 – 32.

Sheffield Tigers, are the champions, winning the league by 16 points. It was Sheffield's second promotion to National 2 North; in 2010–11 they won promotion via the play-off (as Midland representatives), beatingChester. Wirral, the second-placed team lost their play-off match againstHinckley and remain in this league for next season. Three clubs are relegated, Huddersfield YMCA to North East 1, and Birkenhead Park and Burnage, both to North West 1 .

Nine of the fourteen teams participated in last season's competition. They were joined by two teams relegated from National League 2 North, Hull and Stockport; and by three promoted teams, Birkenhead Park, Ilkley and Sheffield. The teams leaving the league were the 2014–15 champions, Sale who were promoted to National League 2 North, along with the runner-up Sandal, the play-off winner againstHinckley; Morley, South Shields West and Beverley were all relegated to North 1 East.

Team Ground Capacity City/Area Previous season Billingham Greenwood Road 1,500 (100 seats) Billingham,County Durham 7th Birkenhead Park Birkenhead Park Birkenhead,Wirral promoted fromNorth 1 West (champions) Burnage Varley Park Stockport,Greater Manchester 11th Cleckheaton Moorend Cleckheaton,West Yorkshire 6th Firwood Waterloo St Anthony's Road 9,000 (200 seats) Blundellsands,Merseyside 4th Huddersfield YMCA Laund Hill Huddersfield,West Yorkshire 8th Hull Ferens Ground 1,500 (288 seats) Kingston upon Hull,East Riding of Yorkshire relegated fromNational 2 North (15th) Ilkley Stacks Field 2,000 (40 seats) Ilkley,West Yorkshire promoted fromNorth 1 East (champions) Lymm Crouchley Lane 1,000 Lymm,Cheshire 9th Rossendale Marl Pits Rossendale,Lancashire 5th Sheffield Abbeydale Park 3,200 (100 seats) Sheffield,South Yorkshire promoted fromNorth 1 East (via play-off) Sheffield Tigers Dore Moor Sheffield,South Yorkshire 3rd Stockport The Memorial Ground 500 Stockport,Greater Manchester relegated fromNational 2 North (16th) Wirral Memorial Ground Clatterbridge,Wirral 10th

Billingham Birkenhead Burnage Cleckheaton Firwood Waterloo Huddersfield Hull Ilkley Lymm Rossendale Sheffield Sheff Tigers Stockport Wirral class=notpageimage| Locations of the 2015-16 North Premier teams

Each season, the runners-up in the National League 3 Midland, and National League 3 North participate in a play-off for promotion to National League 2 North. The team with the best playing record, in this case Hinckley, host the match and their opponents are Wirral.

• Beverley

• Billingham

• Burnage

• Cleckheaton(promoted fromNorth 1 East)

• Firwood Waterloo

• Huddersfield Y.M.C.A.(promoted fromNorth 1 East)

• Lymm(transferred fromNational League 3 Midlands)

• Morley

• Rossendale

• Sale

• Sandal

• Sheffield Tigers(relegated fromNational League 2 North)

• Westoe

• Wirral(promoted fromNorth 1 West)

• Beverley(promoted fromNorth 1 East)

• Billingham

• Bradford & Bingley

• Burnage

• Firwood Waterloo

• Huddersfield(relegated fromNational League 2 North)

• Morley(promoted fromNorth 1 East)

• Penrith

• Percy Park

• Rossendale

• Sale(promoted fromNorth 1 West)

• Sandal

• Stockport(relegated fromNational League 2 North)

• Westoe(relegated fromNational League 2 North)

• Billingham(promoted fromNorth 1 East)

• Birkenhead Park

• Bradford & Bingley

• Burnage

• Chester

• Harrogate(relegated fromNational League 2 North)

• Kendal(relegated fromNational League 2 North)

• Lymm

• Penrith

• Percy Park(promoted fromNorth 1 East)

• Rossendale

• Sandal

• Waterloo

• West Hartlepool

Inaugural clubs (first season as National 3 North)

• Beverley (now playing inNorth 1 East)

• Birkenhead Park (still playing in National 3 North)

• Chester (now playing inNational 2 North)

• Cleckheaton (still playing in National 3 North)

• Darlington Mowden Park (now playing inNational 2 North)

• Middlesbrough (now playing inDurham/Northumberland 1)

• Morley (now playing inNorth 1 East)

• Penrith (now playing inNorth 1 West)

• Rochdale (now playing inNorth 1 West)

• Rossendale (still playing in National 3 North)

• Sheffield Tigers (still playing in National 3 North)

• Stockport (still playing in National League 3 North)

• West Hartlepool (now playing inNorth 1 East)

• West Park St Helens (now playing inSouth Lancs/Cheshire 1)

When league rugby began in 1987 this division contained the following teams:

• Hartlepool Rovers (now playing inDurham/Northumberland 1)
• Harrogate (now playing inNational league 2 North)
• Hull & ER (now playing asHull Ionians inNational League 1)
• Kendal (now playing inNorth 1 West
• Middlesbrough (now playing inYorkshire 1)
• Otley (now playing inNational League 2 North)
• Tynedale (now playing inNational League 2 North)
• Widnes
• Wigton
• Winnington Park (now playing inSouth Lancs/Cheshire 1
• West Park (now playing inLancs/Cheshire Division 1

In the first season of the English rugby union league pyramid, sponsored by Courage, there was four, tier five leagues. The geographical area for teams in the north of England covered theceremonial counties ofCheshire,Cumbria,LancashireNorthumberland andYorkshire There were eleven teams in the league and they played each other once, giving each team ten matches. The other tier five leagues were London Division One, Midlands Division One and South West Division One.^[20] This system prevailed for five seasons, and in 1992–93 the number of teams increased from eleven to thirteen. The following season (1993–94) the league was reorganised and the four tier five leagues became two;National 5 North and National 5 South.^[21] After three seasons, in 1996–97, a further reorganisation occurred, and there was a return to four, tier five leagues; with North Division One covering the area of northern England.^[22] This system prevailed until 2009–10 when the number of teams was increased from twelve to fourteen and renamed National League Three North.

The original North Division 1 was a tier 5 league with promotion toArea League 2 North and relegation to North Division 2 (later split into two leagues known asNorth 1 East andNorth 1 West).

At the end of the 1992–93 season the top six teams from North Division 1 and the top six fromMidland Division 1 were combined to createNational 5 North. North Division 1 dropped from a tier 5 league to a tier 6 league for the years that National 5 North was active.

For the end of the 1995–96 seasonNational 5 North was discontinued and North Division One returned to being a tier 5 league. Promotion was toNational 4 North (later known as National League 2 North), while relegation continued to North Division 2 until 2000–01, and then into eitherNorth 2 East orNorth 2 West (later known as North 1 East / North 1 West) in subsequent seasons.

For the 2009–10 season North Division One was renamed as National League 3 North following a restructuring of the national leagues leading to changes at all levels.

The division was renamed North Premier for the 2017–18 season in order to make it more obvious that this was a regional division and the top one in the north.

From 2000–01 season until 2018–19 there was a play-off, between the league runners-up of North Premier andMidlands Premier, for the third and final promotion place toNational League 2 North. The team with the superior league record has home advantage. As of the end of the 2018–19 season the northern teams have been stronger with twelve wins to the Midlands seven, while the home team has won thirteen times compared to the away teams six.

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