North Lancashire Division 2 was an English

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 ...

league for teams from

North Lancashire North Lancashire was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was represented by two Members of Parliament. The constituency was created by the Great Reform Act of 1832 by the splitting of Lancas ...

. The division was initially known as North-West East 2 when it was created in 1987, and had a number of different names since with North Lancashire 2 being the longest running. Promotion from this division was into North Lancashire 1 but there was no relegation as this is the basement division of club rugby union in North Lancashire. This league, and the three other lowest level north west leagues, were replaced in 2015 by three county-specific leagues - Cheshire (South),

Merseyside (West) Merseyside (West) was a regional league for teams from the Merseyside area which ranked at tier 8 of the English rugby union system. The league had replaced South Lancs/Cheshire 2 and South Lancs/Cheshire 3. The league was contested for just ...

and Lancashire (North).

Participating Clubs 2014-15

*Bury *Carnforth *Clitheroe *Colne & Nelson *Crosby St Mary's *Eagle *Hutton (relegated from North Lancashire 1) *Mossley Hill (relegated from North Lancashire 1) *Newton-le-Willows *Old Bedians *Pendle

Participating Clubs 2013-14

*Birchfield *Broughton *Bury (relegated from North Lancashire 1) *Carnforth *Clitheroe *Colne & Nelson *Crosby St Mary's *Eagle *Newton-le-Willows *

North Manchester North Manchester was, from 1896 to 1916, a township within the Poor Law Union of Manchester, England. North Manchester was a local government sub-district used for the administration of Poor Law legislation; it was an inter-parish unit for soci ...

(relegated from North Lancashire 1) *Old Bedians *Pendle

Participating Clubs 2012-13

*Ashton-under-Lyne *Birchfield *Carnforth *

Chorley Chorley is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England, north of Wigan, south west of Blackburn, north west of Bolton, south of Preston and north west of Manchester. The town's wealth came pr ...

*Clitheroe *Colne & Nelson *Crosby St Mary's *Eagle *Newton-le-Willows *Old Bedians *Pendle *Thornton Cleveleys

Original teams

When league rugby began in 1987 this division contained the following teams based in

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority, combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: City of Manchester, Manchester, City of Salford, Salford ...

and

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

: *

Bolton Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish people, Flemish weavers settled in the area i ...

* Broughton *

Bury Bury may refer to: *The burial of human remains *-bury, a suffix in English placenames Places England * Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village * Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire ** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...

* Crewe & Nantwich * Dunkinfield * Greater Manchester Fire Service * Manchester YMCA *

Marple Marple may refer to: Places * Marple, Greater Manchester, a town close to Stockport, in England ** Marple Bridge, a village within the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, in Greater Manchester ** Marple railway station in Marple, Greater Manches ...

Oldham College Oldham College, is a further education college based in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. History Oldham College was established in 1893 after a donation from the Platt family, a famous textile machinery manufacturer. This led to the institu ...

North Lancashire 2 honours

North-West East 2 (1987–1992)

The original incarnation of North Lancashire 2 was known as North-West East 2, and was a tier 11 league with promotion up to North-West East 2. Initially, there was no relegation until the creation of North-West East 3 for the 1989–90 season.

Lancashire North 2 (1992–1996)

North-West East 2 was renamed as Lancashire North 2 for the start of the 1992–93 season with promotion to Lancashire North 1 (formerly North-West East 1), while the cancellation of North-West East 3 meant there was no longer relegation. Initially a tier 11 league, the creation of National 5 North for the 1993–94 season saw Lancashire North 2 become a tier 12 league.

North Lancashire 2 (1996–2000)

The league system was restructured from top to bottom by the

Rugby Football Union The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the Sports governing body, national governing body for rugby union in England. It was founded in 1871, and was the sport's international governing body prior to the formation of what is now known as World Rugby ...

for the start of the 1996–97 season. Lancashire North 2 was renamed as North Lancashire 2, and the cancellation of National 5 North and creation of

North West 3 North West 3 was an English Rugby Union league which was at the ninth tier of the domestic competition and was available to teams in North West England. Promoted teams moved up to North West 2 while relegated teams dropped to either South Lan ...

meant that it remained a tier 12 league. Promotion continued to North Lancashire 1 (formerly Lancashire North 1).

North Lancashire 2 (2000–2015)

Northern league restructuring by the

RFU The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the national governing body for rugby union in England. It was founded in 1871, and was the sport's international governing body prior to the formation of what is now known as World Rugby (WR) in 1886. It pro ...

at the end of the 1999–00 season saw the cancellation of

North West 1 North West 1 (not to be confused with North 1 West) was an English Rugby Union league which was at the seventh tier of the domestic competition and was available to teams in North West England. Promoted teams moved up to North 2 West while rel ...

North West 2 North West 2 was an English Rugby Union league which was at the eighth tier of the domestic competition and was available to teams in North West England. Promoted teams moved up to North West 1 while relegated teams dropped to North West 3. T ...

and

(tiers 7-9). This meant that North Lancashire 2 became a tier 8 league, with promotion continuing to North Lancashire 1. North Lancashire 2 was cancelled at the end of the 2014–15 season as part of restructuring by the

who decided to break up the North Lancashire and South Lancs/Cheshire leagues into 3 different zones - Cheshire (South), Lancashire (North) and

Number of league titles

Ashton-under-Lyne Ashton-under-Lyne is a market town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England. The population was 45,198 at the 2011 census. Historically in Lancashire, it is on the north bank of the River Tame, in the foothills of the Pennines, east of Manche ...

(4) *

Old Bedians Old Bedians Sports Centre is a mixed use sports centre located in East Didsbury, being home to Didsbury Old Bedians RUFC rugby club, Bedians AFC football club and Oisins CLG Gaelic Football club. Old Bedians is located south of Manchester, on th ...

(2) * Birchfield (1) *

(1) * Broughton (1) *

Burnage Burnage is a suburb of the city of Manchester in North West England, about south of Manchester city centre and bisected by the dual carriageway of Kingsway. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, the population of the Bur ...

(1) *

Calder Vale Calder Vale is an English village, located on the edge of the Forest of Bowland in Lancashire. It lies on the River Calder in a deep valley with only a single road providing vehicular access. The name ''Calder'' is thought to be derived from t ...

(1) *

Clitheroe Clitheroe () is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Ribble Valley, Lancashire, England; it is located north-west of Manchester. It is near the Forest of Bowland and is often used as a base for tourists visiting the area. In 2018, the Cl ...

(1) * Colne & Nelson (1) * Didsbury Toc H (1) * Eccles (1) *

Furness Furness ( ) is a peninsula and region of Cumbria in northwestern England. Together with the Cartmel Peninsula it forms North Lonsdale, historically an exclave of Lancashire. The Furness Peninsula, also known as Low Furness, is an area of vill ...

(1) * Fylde Saracens (1) *

Heaton Moor Heaton Moor is a suburb of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, it is one of the Four Heatons and borders Heaton Chapel, Heaton Norris and Heaton Mersey. Heaton Moor has Victorian ...

(1) * Manchester Medics (1) *

(1) *

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, wh ...

(1) *

Pendle Pendle may refer to: * Borough of Pendle in Lancashire, England ** Pendle (UK Parliament constituency) * Pendle Hill in Lancashire, England ** Forest of Pendle, hilly landscape surrounding the hill * Pendle College of the University of Lancaster * ...

(1) * St. Edward's Old Boys (1) *

Tarleton Tarleton is a village and civil parish in the borough of West Lancashire, Lancashire, England. It situated in the Lancashire mosslands approximately 10 miles north east of Southport, approximately 10 miles south west of Preston, approximately ...

(1) * West Park Warriors (1) *

Windermere Windermere (sometimes tautology (language), tautologically called Windermere Lake to distinguish it from the nearby town of Windermere, Cumbria (town), Windermere) is the largest natural lake in England. More than 11 miles (18 km) in leng ...

(1)

Notes

References

{{Rugby union in England 9 Rugby union in Lancashire

Participating Clubs 2014-15

Participating Clubs 2013-14

Participating Clubs 2012-13

Original teams

North Lancashire 2 honours

North-West East 2 (1987–1992)

Lancashire North 2 (1992–1996)

North Lancashire 2 (1996–2000)

North Lancashire 2 (2000–2015)

Number of league titles

Notes

See also

References