| Sport | Rugby union |
|---|---|
| Instituted | 1987; 38 years ago (1987) |
| Ceased | 2022; 3 years ago (2022) |
| Country |  England |
| Most titles | Bradford & Bingley(3 titles) |
| Website | England RFU |
North 1 East was a sixth tier league in theEnglish rugby uniondomestic competition, formed in 1987 using the name North Division 2, involving clubs from the north of the country. There was also a division known asNorth East 1 that began in 1987 for clubs based in the north-east but this was a seventh (later eighth) tier league. North Division 2 would later split into two regional divisions, known as North 1 East andNorth 1 West. North 1 East was made up of teams from around theNorth East andYorkshire, playing home and away matches throughout a winter season.
The league champions were automatically promoted to theNorth Premier, whilst the second placed team entered into a play-off match with the second placed team in the equivalent DivisionNorth 1 West. The bottom three teams were relegated to either theCounties 1 Yorkshire or theCounties 1 Durham & Northumberland leagues, the seventh tier of the English domestic rugby union competition. Following the play-off game, depending on the result, a team from the division with fifteen teams was transferred to the division with thirteen teams to level up the number of teams in each division.
The league was discontinued in 2022 as part of theRugby Football Union Adult Competition Review. The majority of the teams in North 1 East formed the new level sixRegional 2 North East league, with the remainder moving toRegional 2 North.
Kendal finished 5th in N1E in 2019-20 but were level transferred toNorth 1 West for the current season to address an imbalance of teams.
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.
| Locations of the 2021-22 North 1 East 2 teams in Durham and Northumberland Locations of the 2021–22 North 1 East teams in West Yorkshire, North Yorkshire and the East Riding of Yorkshire
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On 30 October 2020 the RFU announced[1] that due to thecoronavirus pandemic a decision had been taken to cancel all adult competitive leagues (National League 1 and below) for the 2020/21 season, meaning North 1 East was not contested.
 Locations of the 2019–20 North 1 East teams
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When league rugby began in 1987 this was a single division containing the following teams from thenorth of England:
The original North Division 2 was a tier 6 league with promotion up toNorth Division 1 and relegation down to eitherNorth East 1 orNorth West 1.
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| Season | No of teams | Champions | Runners–up | Relegated teams | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1987–88 | 11 | Aspatria | Halifax | Wilmslow,Manchester | ||||||||||
| 1988–89[3] | 11 | Bradford & Bingley | Middlesbrough | Davenport | ||||||||||
| 1989–90[3] | 11 | Rotherham | Widnes | No relegation | ||||||||||
| 1990–91[3] | 11 | Stockton | Sandal | New Brighton | ||||||||||
| 1991–92[3] | 11 | Wharfedale | Lymm | No relegation | ||||||||||
| 1992–93 | 13 | Manchester | Huddersfield | Sandbach | ||||||||||
| Green backgrounds are promotion places. | ||||||||||||||
The creation ofNational 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.
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| Season | No of teams | Champions | Runners–up | Relegated teams | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993–94 | 13 | York | West Park Bramhope | Carlise,Wigan,Lymm | ||||||||||
| 1994–95 | 13 | Macclesfield | Bridlington | Northwich | ||||||||||
| 1995–96 | 13 | New Brighton | Sedgley Park | Birkenhead Park,West Park St Helens,Old Crossleyeans,Hartlepool Rovers[b] | ||||||||||
| Green backgrounds are promotion places. | ||||||||||||||
The cancellation ofNational 5 North at the end of the 1995–96 season meant that North Division 2 reverted to being a tier 6 league.
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| Season | No of teams | Champions | Runners–up | Relegated teams | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996–97 | 12 | Doncaster | Middlesbrough | Durham City | ||||||||||
| 1997–98 | 12 | Northern | Blaydon | Halifax | ||||||||||
| 1998–99[4] | 12 | Bradford & Bingley | Driffield | York,Percy Park | ||||||||||
| 1999–00[5] | 12 | Darlington Mowden Park | Chester | No relegation | ||||||||||
| Green backgrounds are promotion places. | ||||||||||||||
For the 2000–01 season, North Division 2 was split into two regional divisions - North 2 East andNorth 2 West. While promotion continued up intoNorth Division 1, the cancellation of theNorth East 1,North East 2 andNorth East 3 meant that relegation was now to eitherDurham/Northumberland 1 orYorkshire 1.
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| Season | No of teams | Champions | Runners–up | Relegated Teams | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000–01[6] | 12 | Halifax | Darlington | York,West Park Leeds | ||||||||||
| 2001–02[7] | 12 | Cleckheaton | Huddersfield | Bridlington,Old Crossleyans,Northern | ||||||||||
| 2002–03[8] | 12 | Bradford & Bingley | Sheffield | Goole,Scarborough,Alnwick | ||||||||||
| 2003-04[9] | 12 | Hull | Middlesbrough | Northern,York,Bridlington | ||||||||||
| 2004–05[10] | 12 | Westoe | Huddersfield | Horden,Redcar,Malton & Norton | ||||||||||
| 2005-06[11] | 12 | Penrith | Beverley | Sandal,Stockton,Alnwick | ||||||||||
| 2006–07[12] | 12 | Middlesbrough | Sheffield Tigers | Horden,Percy Park,Sheffield | ||||||||||
| 2007–08[13] | 12 | West Hartlepool | Durham City | Aldwinians,York,Hartlepool Rovers | ||||||||||
| 2008–09[14] | 12 | Penrith | Old Crossleyans | Aspatria | ||||||||||
| Green backgrounds are promotion places. | ||||||||||||||
For the 2009–10 season the division would be renamed North 1 East as part of wholesale national restructure of the league system by the RFU leading to mass changes at all levels including in the north.
Since the 2000–01 season there has been a play-off between the runners-up of North 1 East andNorth 1 West for the third and final promotion place toNorth 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.
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| Season | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Attendance | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000–01[26] | Darlington (E) | 49-0 | Aldwinians (W) | Blackwell Meadows,Darlington,County Durham | ||||
| 2001–02[27] | Huddersfield (E) | 26-10 | Vale of Lune (W) | Lockwood Park,Huddersfield,West Yorkshire | ||||
| 2002–03[28] | Sheffield (E) | 32-15 | Rochdale (W) | Abbeydale Park,Dore,Sheffield,South Yorkshire | ||||
| 2003–04[29] | Middlesbrough (E) | 21-13 | Caldy (W) | Acklam Park,Middlesbrough,North Yorkshire | ||||
| 2004–05[30] | Huddersfield (E) | 22-13 | Stockport (W) | Lockwood Park,Huddersfield,West Yorkshire | ||||
| 2005–06[31] | Beverley (E) | 21-16 | Winnington Park (W) | Beaver Park,Beverley,East Riding of Yorkshire | ||||
| 2006–07[32] | Sheffield Tigers (E) | 50-10 | Lymm (W) | Dore Moor,Dore,Sheffield,South Yorkshire | ||||
| 2007–08[33] | Durham City (E) | 13-18 | Stockport (W) | Hollow Drift,Durham,County Durham | ||||
| 2008–09[34] | Old Crossleyans (E) | 25-31 | Rossendale (W) | Broomfield Avenue,Halifax,West Yorkshire | ||||
| 2009–10[35] | Sandal (E) | 30-22 | Northwich (W) | Milnthorpe Green,Sandal Magna,Wakefield,West Yorkshire | ||||
| 2010–11[36] | Percy Park (E) | 26-27 | Burnage (W) | Preston Avenue,North Shields,Tyne and Wear | 1200 | |||
| 2011–12[37] | Percy Park (E) | 18-12 | Liverpool St Helens (W) | Preston Avenue,North Shields,Tyne and Wear | 800 | |||
| 2012–13[38] | Liverpool St Helens (W) | 17-28 | Morley (E) | Moss Lane,St Helens,Merseyside | ||||
| 2013–14[39] | Birkenhead Park (W) | 19-29 | Huddersfield Y.M.C.A. (E) | Upper Park,Birkenhead,Merseyside | ||||
| 2014–15[40] | Kirkby Lonsdale (W) | 29-35 | Sheffield (E) | Underley Park,Kirkby Lonsdale,Cumbria | 1,000 | |||
| 2015–16[41] | Kirkby Lonsdale (W) | 33-38 (aet) | Morley (E) | Underley Park,Kirkby Lonsdale,Cumbria | ||||
| 2016–17[42] | Birkenhead Park (W) | 29-21 | Penrith (E) | Upper Park,Birkenhead,Merseyside | ||||
| 2017–18[43] | Driffield (E) | 21-24 | Wilmslow (W) | Show Ground,Driffield,East Riding of Yorkshire | ||||
| 2018–19[44] | Blackburn (W) | 17-7 | Scarborough (E) | Ramsgreave Drive,Blackburn,Lancashire | ||||
| 2019–20 | Cancelled due toCOVID-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) | ||||||||
| Governing body |
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