The 1998–99 National League 2 North was the twelfth full season of

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

within the fourth tier (north) of the English league system. It is counterpart to

National League 2 South National League 2 South (known before September 2009 as National Division Three South) was a level four league in the English rugby union system until the end of season 2021–22. It was one of two leagues at this level, with its counterpart, ...

, which covers the southern half of the country. As with the previous season, the battle for the league was very competitive, with Preston Grasshoppers edging out

Stourbridge Stourbridge is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the West Midlands, England, situated on the River Stour. Historically in Worcestershire, it was the centre of British glass making during the Industrial Revolution. The 20 ...

by just 2 points to claim the title and only promotion spot to the 1999–00 National League 1. At the other end of the table

Winnington Park Winnington Park Rugby Football Club is a rugby union club situated in Winnington, Northwich in Cheshire, England. The club runs three senior sides, a Ladies team, two colts sides and ten junior teams The first XV currently plays in the Norther ...

Lichfield Lichfield () is a cathedral city and civil parish in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated roughly south-east of the county town of Stafford, south-east of Rugeley, north-east of Walsall, north-west of Tamworth and south-west of B ...

Hinckley Hinckley is a market town in south-west Leicestershire, England. It is administered by Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council. Hinckley is the third largest settlement in the administrative county of Leicestershire, after Leicester and Loughbor ...

were the three sides to be relegated, with newly promoted Hinckley being the most competitive of the three. Winnington Park would drop to

North 1 North Premier was a level five league in the English rugby union system, with the fourteen teams drawn from across Northern England. The other leagues at this level were London & South East Premier, Midlands Premier and South West Premier. The ...

while Lichfield and Hinckley fell to

Midlands 1 Regional 1 Midlands (until 2022–23 known as Midlands Premier and up until 2016–17 known as National League 3 Midlands) is a level five semi-professional league in the English rugby union system. It is one of six leagues at this level. When ...

. The reason National League 2 North had so many relegation places compared to National League 2 South (3 to 1) was that both of the two teams relegated from the division above were based in the north of the country, requiring more places to accommodate for their arrival the following season.

Structure

Each team played home and away matches against each of the other teams, playing a total of twenty-six matches each. The league champions were promoted to

National League 1 National One (last season known as National League 1 and previously known before September 2009 as National Division Two), is the third of three national leagues in the domestic rugby union competition of England. It was known as Courage Leagu ...

while the bottom three sides dropped to either

Midlands The Midlands (also referred to as Central England) are a part of England that broadly correspond to the Kingdom of Mercia of the Early Middle Ages, bordered by Wales, Northern England and Southern England. The Midlands were important in the Ind ...

depending on locality.

Participating teams and locations

League table

Sponsorship

National League 2 North is part of the Jewson National Leagues is sponsored by

Jewson Jewson is one of the largest chains of British general builders' merchants, selling to small and medium building contractors. The chain comprises around 600 branches located all across Great Britain. Jewson is part of Denmark's STARK Group. H ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1998-99 National League 2 North N4 National League 2 North