North 1 West is a rugby union league at the sixth level within the English league system. The league is made up of teams from north west England and the Isle of Man; principally consisting of the English counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The league was known as North Division 2 when it was first created back in 1987 and was a single division. It has since split into two regional leagues, with North West 1 and its compatriot North 1 East being the longest running versions of the division.
Promotion and relegation determine the makeup of the league each season, with the top team automatically moving into North Premier and the second-placed team entering into a play-off match with the second-placed team in North 1 East. Occasionally, depending on promotion and relegation, teams from either North 1 East and North 1 West may be required to compete in the opposite league to ensure that the number of teams in the east and west leagues remains at 14 teams each. Teams dropping from the league go into North 2 West.
Teams 2021–22
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.
TeamGroundCapacityCity/AreaPrevious season Altrincham Kersal Stelfox Avenue Timperley, Altrincham, Greater Manchester 3rd Birkenhead Park Upper Park 2,000 Birkenhead, Wirral 6th Bowdon Clay Lane Timperley, Altrincham, Greater Manchester 12th Broughton Park Hough End Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester 11th Carlisle Rugby Ground, Warwick Road 1,500 (250 seats) Carlisle, Cumbria Relegated from North Premier (12th) Douglas Port-E-Chee Douglas, Isle of Man 8th Glossop Hargate Hill Lane Charlesworth, Glossop, Derbyshire Promoted from North 2 West (runners-up) Firwood Waterloo St Anthony's Road 9,950 (950 seats) Blundellsands, Merseyside 4th Kendal Mint Bridge Stadium 3,500 (258 seats) Kendal, Cumbria Level transfer from North 1 East (5th) Manchester Grove Park 4,000 (250 seats) Cheadle Hulme, Stockport, Greater Manchester Promoted from North 2 West (champions) Penrith Winters Park Penrith, Cumbria 10th Stockport The Memorial Ground 500 Stockport, Greater Manchester 7th Vale of Lune Powder House Lane 4,000 (50 seats) Lancaster, Lancashire 9th Wilmslow Memorial Ground Wilmslow, Cheshire 5th
2020–21
On 30 October 2020 the RFU announced that due to the coronavirus pandemic a decision had been taken to cancel Adult Competitive Leagues (National League 1 and below) for the 2020/21 season meaning North 1 West was not contested.
Teams 2019–20
TeamGroundCapacityCity/AreaPrevious season Altrincham Kersal Stelfox Avenue Timperley, Altrincham, Greater Manchester Promoted from Lancs/Cheshire 1 (champions) Birkenhead Park Upper Park 2,000 Birkenhead, Wirral 3rd Bowdon Clay Lane Timperley, Altrincham, Greater Manchester Promoted from Lancs/Cheshire 1 (playoff) Broughton Park Hough End Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester 5th Burnage Varley Park Stockport, Greater Manchester 11th Douglas Port-E-Chee Douglas, Isle of Man 6th Keswick Davidson Park Keswick, Cumbria Promoted from Cumbria 1 (champions) Firwood Waterloo St Anthony's Road 9,950 (950 seats) Blundellsands, Merseyside 8th Northwich Moss Farm Northwich, Cheshire 4th Penrith Winters Park Penrith, Cumbria 10th Stockport The Memorial Ground 500 Stockport, Greater Manchester 7th Vale of Lune Powder House Lane 4,000 (50 seats) Lancaster, Lancashire Relegated from North Premier (13th) Warrington The Fortress Walton, Warrington, Cheshire 9th Wilmslow Memorial Ground Wilmslow, Cheshire Relegated from North Premier (14th)
Original teams When league rugby began in 1987 this was a single division containing the following teams from the north of England:
Alnwick Aspatria Bradford & Bingley Davenport Halifax Huddersfield Lymm Manchester New Brighton Sandal Wilmslow
North 1 West honours
North Division 2 (1987–1993)
The original North Division 2 was a tier 6 league with promotion up to North Division 1 and relegation down to either North East 1 or North West 1.
North Division 2SeasonNo of teamsChampionsRunners–upRelegated teams 1987–88 11 AspatriaHalifax Wilmslow, Manchester 1988–89 11 Bradford & Bingley Middlesbrough Davenport 1989–90 11 Rotherham Widnes No relegation 1990–91 11 Stockton Sandal New Brighton 1991–92 11 Wharfedale Lymm No relegation 1992–93 13 Manchester Huddersfield Sandbach Green backgrounds are promotion places.
North Division 2 (1993–1996)
The creation of National 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.
North Division 2SeasonNo of teamsChampionsRunners–upRelegated 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 Green backgrounds are promotion places.
North Division 2 (1996–2000)
The cancellation of National 5 North at the end of the 1995–96 season meant that North Division 2 reverted to being a tier 6 league.
North Division 2 honoursSeasonNo of teamsChampionsRunners–upRelegated teams 1996–97 12 Doncaster Middlesbrough Durham City 1997–98 12 Northern Blaydon Halifax 1998–99 12 Bradford & Bingley Driffield York, Percy Park 1999–00 12 Darlington Mowden Park Chester No relegation Green backgrounds are promotion places.
North 2 West
For the 2000–01 season, North Division 2 was split into two regional divisions - North 2 East and North 2 West. While promotion continued up into North Division 1, the cancellation of the North West 1, North West 2 and North West 3 meant that relegation was to either North Lancashire/Cumbria or South Lancs/Cheshire 1.
North 2 WestSeasonNo of teamsChampionsRunners–upRelegated teams2000–01 12 West Park St Helens Aldwinians Widnes, Penrith, Blackburn 2001–02 12 Birkenhead Park Vale of Lune Caldy, Workington, Warrington 2002–03 12 Vale of Lune Rochdale Wilmslow, Aldwinians 2003–04 12 Altrincham Kersal Caldy Broughton Park, Rochdale, Wigton 2004–05 12 Caldy Stockport Blackburn, Aspull, Oldham 2005–06 12 Stockport Winnington Park Widnes, Rossendale, Fleetwood 2006–07 12 Liverpool St Helens Lymm Stoke-on-Trent, Wilmslow, Bowdon 2007–08 12 Chester Stockport Tyldesley, Winnington Park, Vale of Lune 2008–09 12 Rochdale Rossendale No relegation due to league restructure Green backgrounds are promotion places.
North 1 West
For the 2009–10 season the division would be renamed North 1 West as part of wholesale national restructure of the league system by the RFU leading to mass changes at all levels including in the north.
North 1 WestSeasonNo of teamsChampionsRunners–upRelegated teams2009–10 14 Lymm Northwich Aspatria, Blackburn, Tyldesley 2010–11 14 Altrincham Kersal Burnage West Park St Helens, Kirkby Lonsdale, New Brighton 2011–12 14 Sandbach Liverpool St Helens Aspatria, Broughton Park, Wigton 2012–13 14 Sale FC Liverpool St Helens Fleetwood, Manchester, Anselmians 2013–14 14 Wirral Birkenhead Park Altrincham Kersal, Leigh, Liverpool St Helens 2014–15 14 Birkenhead Park Kirkby Lonsdale Wigton, New Brighton, Bolton 2015–16 14 Kendal Kirkby Lonsdale Broughton Park, Widnes, Carlisle 2016–17 14 Kirkby Lonsdale Birkenhead Park Eccles, Leigh, West Park St Helens 2017–18 13 Vale of Lune Wilmslow Rochdale, Altrincham Kersal2018–19 14 Carlisle Blackburn De La Salle, Anselmians, Manchester2019–20 14 Burnage Northwich Warrington, Keswick2020–21 14 Green backgrounds are promotion places.
Promotion play-offs Since the 2000–01 season there has been a play-off between the runners-up of North 1 East and North 1 West for the third and final promotion place to North 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.
North 1 East v North 1 West promotion play-off results Season Home team Score Away team Venue Attendance 2000–01 Darlington (E) 49-0 Aldwinians (W) Blackwell Meadowns, Darlington, County Durham 2001–02 Huddersfield (E) 26-10 Vale of Lune (W) Lockwood Park, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire 2002–03 Sheffield (E) 32-15 Rochdale (W) Abbeydale Park, Dore, Sheffield, South Yorkshire 2003–04 Middlesbrough (E) 21-13 Caldy (W) Acklam Park, Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire 2004–05 Huddersfield (E) 22-13 Stockport (W) Lockwood Park, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire 2005–06 Beverley (E) 21-16 Winnington Park (W) Beaver Park, Beverley, East Riding of Yorkshire 2006–07 Sheffield Tigers (E) 50-10 Lymm (W) Dore Moor, Dore, Sheffield, South Yorkshire 2007–08 Durham City (E) 13-18 Stockport (W) Hollow Drift, Durham, County Durham 2008–09 Old Crossleyans (E) 25-31 Rossendale (W) Broomfield Avenue, Halifax, West Yorkshire 2009–10 Sandal (E) 30-22 Northwich (W) Milnthorpe Green, Sandal Magna, Wakefield, West Yorkshire 2010–11 Percy Park (E) 26-27 Burnage (W) Preston Avenue, North Shields, Tyne and Wear 2011–12 Percy Park (E) 18-12 Liverpool St Helens (W) Preston Avenue, North Shields, Tyne and Wear 500 2012–13 Liverpool St Helens (W) 17-28 Morley (E) Moss Lane, St Helens, Merseyside 2013–14 Birkenhead Park (W) 19-29 Huddersfield Y.M.C.A. (E) Upper Park, Birkenhead, Merseyside 2014–15 Kirkby Lonsdale (W) 29-35 Sheffield (E) Underley Park, Kirkby Lonsdale, Cumbria 1,000 2015–16 Kirkby Lonsdale (W) 33-38 (aet) Morley (E) Underley Park, Kirkby Lonsdale, Cumbria 2016–17 Birkenhead Park (W) 29-21 Penrith (E) Upper Park, Birkenhead, Merseyside 2017–18 Driffield (E) 21-24 Wilmslow (W) Show Ground, Driffield, East Riding of Yorkshire 2018–19 Blackburn (W) 17-7 Scarborough (E) Ramsgreave Drive, Blackburn, Lancashire 2019–20 Cancelled due to COVID-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)
Number of league titles
Altrincham Kersal (2) Birkenhead Park (2) Vale of Lune (2) Aspatria (1) Bradford & Bingley (1) Burnage (1) Caldy (1) Carlisle (1) Chester (1) Darlington Mowden Park Doncaster (1) Kendal (1) Kirkby Lonsdale (1) Liverpool St Helens (1) Lymm (1) Macclesfield (1) Manchester (1) New Brighton (1) Northern (1) Rochdale (1) Rotherham (1) Sandbach (1) Sale FC (1) Stockport (1) Stockton (1) West Park St Helens (1) Wharfedale (1) Wirral (1) York (1)
See also Cheshire RFU Cumbria RU Lancashire RFU English rugby union system Rugby union in England
Notes
References