Counties 1 Southern North (formerly known as Southern Counties North) is a division at level 7 of the English rugby union system.Rugby First When league rugby first began in 1987 it was known as Southern Counties but since 1996 the division was split into two regional leagues – Southern Counties North and Southern Counties South. Counties 1 Southern North currently sits at the seventh tier of club rugby union in England and features teams based in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire. The league champions at the end of each season are promoted to Regional 2 South Central or Regional 2 Thames. Relegated teams usually drop to Counties 2 Berks/Bucks & Oxon (North) or Counties 2 Berks/Bucks & Oxon (South).
Format The season runs from September to April and comprises twenty-two rounds of matches, with each club playing each of its rivals home and away. The results of the matches contribute 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
2026–27
Departing were Chinnor III promoted to Regional 2 Severn as champions and runners-up respectively while Bletchley (10th) were relegated to Counties 2 Berks/Bucks & Oxon (East) together with Wallingford (11th) and Gosford All Blacks (12th) both relegated to Counties 2 Berks/Bucks & Oxon (West).
TeamGroundCapacityTown/AreaPrevious season Banbury II Bodicote Park Banbury, Oxfordshire Promoted from Counties 2 BBO (West) (Champions) Beaconsfield II Oak Lodge Meadow Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire Promoted from Counties 2 BBO (East) (Champions) Bicester Oxford Road Bicester, Oxfordshire 8th Bracknell II Lily Hill Park Bracknell, Berkshire 7th Buckingham Floyd Field Maids Moreton, Buckingham, Buckinghamshire 2nd Henley II Dry Leas Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire 3rd High Wycombe Kingsmead Road High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire 4th Oxford North Hinksey Park North Hinksey, Oxford, Oxfordshire 9th Oxford Harlequins II Horspath Sports Ground 1,000 Horspath, Oxfordshire Relegated from Regional 2 Thames (12th) Reading Holme Park Sonning, Reading, Berkshire 5th Reading Abbey Rosehill Reading, Berkshire 6th Windsor Home Park Windsor, Berkshire Relegated from Regional 2 Thames (11th)
2025–26 Participating teams and locations Departing were Oxford Harlequins II and Windsor, promoted to Regional 2 Thames as champions and runners-up respectively. Grove (12th) were relegated to Counties 2 Berks/Bucks & Oxon (West).
TeamGroundCapacityTown/AreaPrevious season Bicester Oxford Road Bicester, Oxfordshire 10th Bletchley Manor Fields Bletchley, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire 5th Bracknell II Lily Hill Park Bracknell, Berkshire 11th Buckingham Floyd Field Maids Moreton, Buckingham, Buckinghamshire 3rd Chinnor III Kingsey Road 2,000 Thame, Oxfordshire 4th Gosford All Blacks Stratfield Brake Kidlington, Oxfordshire Promoted from Counties 2 Berks/Bucks & Oxon North (runners-up) Henley II Dry Leas Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire Promoted from Counties 2 Berks/Bucks & Oxon South (champions) High Wycombe Kingsmead Road High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire 7th Oxford North Hinksey Park North Hinksey, Oxford, Oxfordshire Promoted from Counties 2 Berks/Bucks & Oxon North (champions) Reading Holme Park Sonning, Reading, Berkshire 9th Reading Abbey Rosehill Reading, Berkshire 6th Wallingford Wallingford Sports Park Wallingford, Oxfordshire 8th
2024–25 Participating teams and locations Departing were Beaconsfield, promoted to Regional 2 Thames whilst Milton Keynes (12th) were relegated to Counties 2 Berks/Bucks & Oxon (North) and Rams III (11th) relegated to Counties 2 Berks/Bucks & Oxon (South).
TeamGroundCapacityTown/AreaPrevious season Bicester Oxford Road Bicester, Oxfordshire 7th Bletchley Manor Fields Bletchley, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire 9th Bracknell II Lily Hill Park Bracknell, Berkshire 10th Buckingham Floyd Field Maids Moreton, Buckingham, Buckinghamshire 5th Chinnor III Kingsey Road 2,000 Thame, Oxfordshire 8th Grove Cane Lane Grove, Oxfordshire 6th High Wycombe Kingsmead Road High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire Promoted from Counties 2 Berks/Bucks & Oxon North (1st) Oxford Harlequins II Horspath Sports Ground 1,000 Horspath, Oxfordshire 4th Reading Holme Park Sonning, Reading, Berkshire Relegated from Regional 2 South Central (12th) Reading Abbey Rosehill Reading, Berkshire Promoted from Counties 2 Berks/Bucks & Oxon South (1st) Wallingford Wallingford Sports Park Wallingford, Oxfordshire 3rd Windsor Home Park Windsor, Berkshire 2nd
League table Counties 1 Southern North 2024–25 TeamPlayedWonDrawnLostPoints forPoints againstPoints diffTry bonusLoss bonusPointsPoints adj 1 Oxford Harlequins II (P) 22 21 0 1 962 323 639 19 1 105 +1 2 Windsor 22 19 0 3 849 3337 512 17 2 96 +1 3 Buckingham 22 15 0 7 879 476 403 16 4 80 4 Chinnor III 22 14 0 8 633 459 174 13 2 72 +1 5 Bletchley 22 13 1 8 603 603 0 15 2 71 6 Reading Abbey 22 10 0 12 535 627 −92 11 5 56 7 High Wycombe RFC 22 9 1 12 648 537 111 14 2 54 8 Wallingford 22 9 0 13 431 538 −107 9 4 51 +2 9 Reading 22 8 0 14 451 597 −146 4 6 42 10 Bicester 22 7 0 15 484 686 −202 10 4 37 −5 11 Bracknell II 22 4 0 18 484 686 −202 10 4 37 12 Grove (R) 22 1 0 21 314 1119 −805 4 2 −6 −16If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order: Number of matches won Number of draws Difference between points for and against Total number of points for Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled Green background are the promotion places. Pink background are the relegation places.Updated: 25 February 2026 Source:
2023–24 Participating teams and locations Departing was the second-placed team Marlow, promoted to Regional 2 Thames. Champions Chinnor III) were not promoted owing to league rules regarding third teams. Five teams were relegated; Gosford All Blacks (8th) and High Wycombe (10th) were relegated to Counties 2 Berks/Bucks & Oxon (North), Reading Abbey (9th) and Thatcham (12th) were relegated to Counties 2 Berks/Bucks & Oxon (South), while Swindon College Old Boys (11th) were relegated to Counties 2 Dorset & Wilts North.
TeamGroundCapacityTown/AreaPrevious season Beaconsfield Oak Lodge Meadow Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire Relegated from Regional 2 Thames Bicester Oxford Road Bicester, Oxfordshire 4th Bletchley Manor Fields Bletchley, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire 7th Bracknell II Lily Hill Park Bracknell, Berkshire 5th Buckingham Floyd Field Maids Moreton, Buckingham, Buckinghamshire Relegated from Regional 2 South Central (12th) Chinnor III Kingsey Road 2,000 Thame, Oxfordshire 1st Grove Cane Lane Grove, Oxfordshire Relegated from Regional 2 South Central (11th) Milton Keynes Emerson Valley Shenley Brook End, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire 6th Oxford Harlequins II Horspath Sports Ground 1,000 Horspath, Oxfordshire Promoted from Counties 2 Tribute Berks/Bucks & Oxon North (1st) Rams III Old Bath Road 1,250 Sonning, Reading, Berkshire Promoted from Counties 2 Tribute Berks/Bucks & Oxon South (1st) Wallingford Wallingford Sports Park Wallingford, Oxfordshire 3rd Windsor Home Park Windsor, Berkshire Relegated from Regional 2 Thames
League table Counties 1 Southern North 2023–24 TeamPlayedWonDrawnLostPoints forPoints againstPoints diffTry bonusLoss bonusPointsPoints adj 1 Beaconsfield (P) 22 22 0 0 1069 172 897 19 0 108 +1 2 Windsor 22 17 0 5 846 360 486 18 1 87 3 Wallingford 22 13 3 6 663 411 252 12 3 73 4 Oxford Harlequins II 22 14 0 8 650 448 202 14 2 72 5 Buckingham 22 13 1 8 603 603 0 15 2 71 6 Grove 22 11 2 9 582 614 −32 10 1 57 −2 7 Bicester 22 9 1 12 481 538 −57 10 1 49 8 Chinnor III 22 8 0 14 502 656 −154 9 4 45 9 Bletchley 22 6 1 15 398 626 −228 8 3 35 −2 10 Bracknell II 22 7 0 15 430 797 −367 8 2 33 −5 11 Rams III (R) 22 5 0 17 416 857 −441 7 3 30 12 Milton Keynes (R) 22 3 0 19 348 906 −558 4 2 18 If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order: Number of matches won Number of draws Difference between points for and against Total number of points for Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled Green background is the promotion place. Pink background are the relegation places.Updated: 23 February 2026 Source:
2022–23 Participating teams and locations This was the first season following the RFU Adult Competition Review. The league was substantially similar to Southern Counties North with eight teams returning from season 2021–22.
TeamGroundCapacityTown/AreaPrevious season Bicester Oxford Road Bicester, Oxfordshire 10th Southern Counties North Bletchley Manor Fields Bletchley, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire Champions Berks/Bucks & Oxon Premier Bracknell II Lily Hill Park Bracknell, Berkshire New entry Chinnor III Kingsey Road 2,000 Thame, Oxfordshire Champions Berks/Bucks & Oxon 1 Gosford All Blacks Stratfield Brake Kidlington, Oxfordshire 11th Southern Counties North High Wycombe Kingsmead Road High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire 5th Southern Counties North Marlow Riverwoods Drive Marlow, Buckinghamshire 7th Southern Counties North Milton Keynes Emerson Valley Shenley Brook End, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire 9th Southern Counties North Reading Abbey Rosehill Reading, Berkshire 6th Southern Counties North Swindon College Old Boys Nationwide Sports Pavilion Swindon, Wiltshire 10th Southern Counties South Thatcham Henwicky Worthy Sports Field Thatcham, Berkshire 12th Southern Counties North Wallingford Wallingford Sports Park Wallingford, Oxfordshire 8th Southern Counties North
League table {| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" |- |colspan="15" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"| Counties 1 Southern North 2022–23 |- !style="background:#efefef" width="20"| !style="background:#efefef" width="180"|Team !style="background:#efefef" width="20"|Played !style="background:#efefef" width="20"|Won !style="background:#efefef" width="20"|Drawn !style="background:#efefef" width="20"|Lost !style="background:#efefef" width="25"|Points for !style="background:#efefef" width="20"|Points against !style="background:#efefef" width="20"|Points diff !style="background:#efefef" width="20"|Try bonus !style="background:#efefef" width="20"|Loss bonus !style="background:#efefef" width="20"|Points !style="background:#efefef" width="20"|Points deducted |- style= text-align:center" | 1 || style="text-align:left;" | Chinnor III || 22 || 19 || 2 || 1 || 852 || 219 || 633 || 16 || 0 || 98 || |- style="background:#d8ffeb; | 2 || style="text-align:left;" | Marlow (P) || 22 || 18 || 1 || 3 || 755 || 301 || 454 || 16 || 2 || 92 ||
| 3 || style="text-align:left;" | Wallingford || 22 || 16 || 1 || 5 || 495 || 246 || 249 || 10 || 3 || 80 || |- | 4 || style="text-align:left;" | Bicester || 22 || 15 || 1 || 6 || 699 || 370 || 329 || 10 || 2 || 74 || |- | 5 || style="text-align:left;" | Bracknell II || 22 || 12 || 1 || 9 || 697 || 384 || 313 || 12 || 6 || 68 || |- | 6 || style="text-align:left;" | Milton Keynes || 22 || 12 || 0 || 10 || 462 || 486 || −24 || 9 || 0 || 58 || |- | 7 || style="text-align:left;" | Bletchley || 22 || 7 || 0 || 15 || 352 || 563 || −211 || 7 || 3 || ''39 || |- style="background-color:#ffcccc;" | 8 || style="text-align:left;" | Gosford All Blacks (R)|| 22 || 8 || 0 || 14 || 385 || 586 || −201 || 5 || 5 || 38 || −5 |- style="background-color:#ffcccc;" | 9 || style="text-align:left;" | Reading Abbey (R)|| 21 || 6 || 0 || 15 || 263 || 599 || −336 || 4 || 3 || 32 || |- style="background-color:#ffcccc;" | 10 || style="text-align:left;" | High Wycombe (R) || 22 || 7 || 0 || 15 || 365 || 629 || −264 || 5 || 1 || 29 || −5 |- style="background-color:#ffcccc;"