Counties 1 Cumbria (formerly Cumbria League and Cumbria 1) is a competitive rugby union league at level 7 of the English rugby union system run by the English Rugby Football Union (RFU) for club sides based in Cumbria.English Rugby Football Union, SSE Northern Division, [online], 2012, Available from:http://www.rfu.com/FixturesAndResults/Version/Northern.aspx [Last Accessed 16:19 16 April 2012] It was previously a tier 7 league but the creation of North 2 West demoted it to level 8. Promoted teams typically go up to North 2 West and from season 2026-27 relegation is to Cumbria 2, the league having been reinstated after previously being cancelled at the end of the 2018–19 season. Each season a team from Cumbria 1 is picked to take part in the RFU Senior Vase - a national competition for clubs at level 8. The original Cumbria league was formed at the start of the 1992–93 season when the North-West North 1 division was cancelled.
Until the end of the 2017–18 season the Cumbria League was a single division involving 10 clubs and ranked at tier 8 of the English rugby union system. The champions were automatically promoted to the now discontinued North Lancashire/Cumbria league and until the 2016–17 season the second placed team faced the runner-up from Lancashire (North) for the final promotion place until Lancashire (North) was cancelled. There was no relegation due to it having been the lowest competitive league for Rugby Union in Cumbria. It ran alongside the Cumbria 2 North & West and Cumbria 2 South & East Merit Leagues.English Rugby Football Union, SSE Northern Division, [online], 2012, Available from:http://www.rfu.com/FixturesAndResults/Version/Northern.aspx [Last Accessed 16:49 17 April 2012]English Rugby Football Union, North Adult Merit Leagues, [online], 12 February 2013, Available from: [Last Accessed 17:00 16 April 2012]
This changed for the 2018–19 season due to RFU having to restructure the northern leagues after 19 Lancashire based clubs withdrew from the league system to form their own competition. The result was that the Cumbrian clubs based in North Lancashire/Cumbria joined the top 3 Cumbria League sides in Cumbria 1, while the rest of the Cumbrian League sides along with a handful of 2nd XV teams formed Cumbria 2.
Another change to the structure from the 2018–19 season was that the division would play two stages - the first involving all eight teams to decide who would be contesting promotion and relegation during the second stage when the division was divided into two mini leagues (one promotion/one relegation). In 2022 the RFU further restructured the adult community leagues and the Cumbria League was renamed Counties 1 Cumbria from the 2022–23 season.
Format The first-placed team is promoted to Regional 2 North or Regional 2 North West. Ahead of season 2026-27 Counties 2 Cumbria was reinstated meaning relegated teams will now drop to that league.
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 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 the champions Kirkby Lonsdale, promoted to Regional 2 North West.
Ahead of the new season Counties 2 Cumbria was reinstated and the teams which finished in the lower part of the table were demoted to that league, these were: Workington, Ambleside, Windermere, Creighton, Keswick II, Penrith II and Millom (8th-14th respectively).
TeamGroundCapacityCity/AreaPrevious season Aspatria Bower Park 3,000 (300 seats) Aspatria, Cumbria Relegated from Regional 2 North (11th) Carlisle Rugby Ground, Warwick Road 1,500 (250 seats) Carlisle, Cumbria 3rd Cockermouth Grassmoor Sports Centre Cockermouth, Cumbria 4th Egremont Bleach Green Egremont, Cumbria 7th Hawcoat Park Hawcoat Park Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria 2nd St. Benedict's Newlands Avenue Mirehouse, Whitehaven, Cumbria 6th Whitehaven Richmond Terrace Whitehaven, Cumbria 5th Wigton Lowmoor Road Wigton, Cumbria Relegated from Regional 2 North (12th)
2025–26
Departing were the champions Wigton, promoted to Regional 2 North.
TeamGroundCapacityCity/AreaPrevious season Ambleside Galava Park Ambleside, Cumbria 12th Carlisle Rugby Ground, Warwick Road 1,500 (250 seats) Carlisle, Cumbria Relegated from Regional 2 North (11th) Cockermouth Grassmoor Sports Centre Cockermouth, Cumbria 5th Creighton Sycamore Lane Carlisle, Cumbria 10th Egremont Bleach Green Egremont, Cumbria 4th Hawcoat Park Hawcoat Park Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria 7th Keswick II Davidson Park Keswick, Cumbria 6th Kirkby Lonsdale Underley Park Kirkby Lonsdale, Cumbria Relegated from Regional 2 North (12th) Millom Wilson Park Haverigg, Millom, Cumbria 3rd Penrith II Winters Park Penrith, Cumbria 2nd St. Benedict's Newlands Avenue Mirehouse, Whitehaven, Cumbria 8th Whitehaven Richmond Terrace Whitehaven, Cumbria 9th Windermere Dawes Meadow Bowness-on-Windermere, Cumbria 13th Workington The Ellis Sports Ground 12,000 (2,000 seats) Workington, Cumbria 11th
2024–25
Departing were Carlisle promoted to Regional 2 North, Cockermouth were relegated from Regional 2 North while Ambleside re-joined the Cumbria league after an absence of twenty years, last having competed in 2003–04.
Aspatria II (aka 'Eagles') – 11th in 2023–24 – started the season but withdrew in October leaving the league to be completed with 13 clubs.
TeamGroundCapacityCity/AreaPrevious season Ambleside Galava Park Ambleside, Cumbria Re-entry Cockermouth Grassmoor Sports Centre Cockermouth, Cumbria Relegated from Regional 2 North (12th) Creighton Sycamore Lane Carlisle, Cumbria 10th Egremont Bleach Green Egremont, Cumbria 3rd Hawcoat Park Hawcoat Park Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria 6th Keswick II Davidson Park Keswick, Cumbria 9th Millom Wilson Park Haverigg, Millom, Cumbria 8th Penrith II Winters Park Penrith, Cumbria 7th St. Benedict's Newlands Avenue Mirehouse, Whitehaven, Cumbria 4th Whitehaven Richmond Terrace Whitehaven, Cumbria 5th Wigton Lowmoor Road Wigton, Cumbria 2nd Windermere Dawes Meadow Bowness-on-Windermere, Cumbria 12th Workington The Ellis Sports Ground 12,000 (2,000 seats) Workington, Cumbria 13th
League table 2024–25 Counties 1 CumbriaPlayedWonDrawnLostPoints forPoints againstPoints diffTry bonusLoss bonusPointsPts adj 1 Wigton (P) 18 17 0 1 819 241 578 15 0 85 +2 2 Penrith II 18 13 0 5 692 336 356 12 1 65 0 3 Millom 17 11 0 6 389 332 57 7 2 55 +2 4 Egremont 18 10 0 8 476 424 52 10 4 55 0 5 Cockermouth 18 9 0 9 569 325 244 10 6 52 0 6 Keswick II 17 10 0 7 449 375 74 8 2 50 0 7 Hawcoat Park 18 9 0 9 359 425 −66 5 1 44 +2 8 St Benedicts 18 10 0 8 382 428 −46 7 1 43 –5 9 Whitehaven 18 9 0 9 294 258 36 5 4 36 −9 10 Creighton 17 7 0 10 356 603 −247 8 1 32 − 5 11 Workington 17 4 0 13 284 642 −358 6 2 22 −2 12 Ambleside 17 4 0 13 215 620 −405 1 2 14 −5 13 Windermere 17 1 0 16 265 540 −275 4 5 13 0If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order: Number of matches won 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 Updated: 14 November 2025
2023–24
Departing were Upper Eden and Cockermouth, promoted to Regional 2 North. Silloth finished 9th in 2022–23 but did not return for the new season.
Joining were Windermere re-joining the Cumbria league having last competed in 2019–20 together with Aspatria II and Keswick II.
TeamGroundCapacityCity/AreaPrevious season Aspatria II Bower Park 3,000 (300 seats) Aspatria, Cumbria New entry Carlisle Rugby Ground, Warwick Road 1,500 (250 seats) Carlisle, Cumbria Relegated from Regional 2 North (12th) Creighton Sycamore Lane Carlisle, Cumbria 11th Egremont Bleach Green Egremont, Cumbria 3rd Hawcoat Park Hawcoat Park Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria 8th Keswick II Davidson Park Keswick, Cumbria New entry Millom Wilson Park Haverigg, Millom, Cumbria 6th Penrith II Winters Park Penrith, Cumbria 10th St. Benedict's Newlands Avenue Mirehouse, Whitehaven, Cumbria 7th Whitehaven Richmond Terrace Whitehaven, Cumbria 5th Wigton Lowmoor Road Wigton, Cumbria 4th Windermere Dawes Meadow Bowness-on-Windermere, Cumbria Re-entry Workington The Ellis Sports Ground 12,000 (2,000 seats) Workington, Cumbria 12th
League table 2023–24 Counties 1 CumbriaPlayedWonDrawnLostPoints forPoints againstPoints diffTry bonusLoss bonusPointsPts adj 1 Carlisle (P) 17 16 0 1 635 105 485 13 1 80 +2 2 Wigton 17 13 0 4 620 318 302 10 2 66 −2 3 Egremont 18 11 1 6 562 314 248 10 4 60 0 4 St Benedicts 18 13 0 5 351 246 105 6 2 57 −3 5 Whitehaven 18 11 1 6 343 298 45 4 2 54 +2 6 Hawcoat Park 18 11 1 6 325 270 55 7 1 51 −3 7 Penrith II 17 11 0 6 368 311 57 8 1 50 −3 8 Millom 18 4 1 13 317 358 −41 6 5 24 −5 9 Keswick II 18 4 0 14 282 453 −171 4 4 24 0 10 Creighton 17 4 0 13 187 533 −346 2 3 22 +1 11 Aspatria II 17 5 0 12 235 540 −305 5 1 21 −5 12 Windermere 18 3 0 15 244 520 −276 2 5 19 0 13 Workington 17 6 0 11 276 434 −158 7 1 17 −15If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order: Number of matches won 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 Updated: 11 November 2025
2022–23
This was the first season following the RFU Adult Competition Review. The 2022–23 Counties 1 Cumbria league consists of 12 teams. Eight of these competed in the 2021–22 Cumbria 1 competition; Creighton, Egremont, Hawcoat Park, Millon, Upper Eden, Whitehaven, Wigton and Workington. Cockermouth and St. Benedict's dropped down from North 2 West having finished 7th and 12th respectively. Penrith II joined the league as a new team and Silloth returned to league rugby after not taking part in any competition since the 2019–20 season. A ninth member of the 2021–22 Cumbria 1 league, Furness, had also been assigned to Counties 1 Cumbria but withdrew before the start of the season.
TeamGroundCapacityCity/AreaPrevious season Cockermouth Grassmoor Sports Centre Cockermouth, Cumbria 7th North 2 West Creighton Sycamore Lane Carlisle, Cumbria 9th Cumbria 1 Egremont Bleach Green Egremont, Cumbria 4th Cumbria 1 Hawcoat Park Hawcoat Park Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria 5th Cumbria 1 Millom Wilson Park Haverigg, Millom, Cumbria 6th Cumbria 1 Penrith II Winters Park Penrith, Cumbria New entry Silloth The Jim Brough Rugby Park Silloth, Cumbria Re-entry St. Benedict's Newlands Avenue Mirehouse, Whitehaven, Cumbria 12th North 2 West Upper Eden Pennine Park Kirkby Stephen, Cumbria 1st Cumbria 1 Whitehaven Richmond Terrace Whitehaven, Cumbria 2nd Cumbria 1 Wigton Lowmoor Road Wigton, Cumbria 3rd Cumbria 1 Workington The Ellis Sports Ground 12,000 (2,000 seats) Workington, Cumbria 8th Cumbria 1
League table