Sussex 1 (known as Harvey's of Sussex 1 due to sponsorship reasons) is an English level 9

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 it ...

League. It is made up of teams predominantly from Sussex. Teams play home and away matches from September through to April. The league champions are automatically promoted up to

London 3 South East London 3 South East is an English level 8 Rugby Union League involving club sides from Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex and the south-east London. It is made up of teams predominantly from London, Sussex and Kent. The twelve teams play home and a ...

, while the second placed team plays a promotion playoff against the second placed team from

Kent 1 Kent 1 (known as Shepherd Neame Kent 1 for sponsorship reasons) is an English level 9 Rugby Union League and is made up of teams predominantly from south-east London and Kent. The teams play home and away matches from September through to April ...

. Relegated teams drop to Sussex 2 although in recent season there has been no relegation. Only 1st XV sides can be promoted into London 3 South East. The system from 2017 to 2018 sees the eight team league play home and away games against each team in the league (14 games each) up until February when the league splits into two mini leagues of 4 teams (Sussex 1A and Sussex 1B) based on league ranking. Each team then a further 6 games against teams in their group (home and away) with the teams in the promotion group (1A) playing off for the title, and the teams in the relegation group (1B) playing to avoid the drop. Note that points from the first stage are carried into the second. Each year some of the clubs in this division also take part in the

RFU Junior Vase The RFU Junior Vase is a rugby union national knockout cup competition in England run by the Rugby Football Union, which has been competed for since 1990. It is mostly contested by 1st XV teams at level 9 of the English rugby union system, alth ...

- a level 9-12 national competition.

Teams for 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. Barns Greeen finished 9th in 2019-20 and whilst not relegated, did not return for 2021-22 and instead have dropped to Sussex 2 West.

Season 2020–21

On 30 October 2020 the RFU announced that due to the

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identifie ...

a decision had been taken to cancel Adult Competitive Leagues (

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 ...

and below) for the 2020/21 season meaning Sussex 1 was not contested.

Teams for 2019-20

Teams for 2018-19

Teams for 2017-18

Teams for 2016-17

* Bognor 2nd XV (promoted from Sussex Canterbury Jack Division 2) * Brighton II * Burgess Hill (relegated from

) * Crawley *Hellingly *Horsham II * Hove 2nd XV *Seaford *Shoreham (promoted from Sussex Canterbury Jack Division 2) *Uckfield (relegated from

)

Teams for 2015-16

* Brighton II * Chichester III *Crowborough II * Crawley * Haywards Heath *Hellingly *Horsham II * Hove 2nd XV * Lewes (relegated from

) *Midhurst *Seaford * Worthing Senior I

Teams for 2014-15

* Brighton II * Burgess Hill (relegated from

) * Chichester III *Crowborough II * Crawley *Eastbourne *Hellingly *Holbrook * Hove 2nd XV *Rye *Seaford * Worthing Senior I

Teams for 2012-13

* Brighton II * Burgess Hill * Chichester III *Eastbourne *Holbrook * Haywards Heath II * Hove III *Lewes II *Midhurst *Newick *Rye * Seaford

Original teams

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

Bognor Bognor Regis (), sometimes simply known as Bognor (), is a town and seaside resort in West Sussex on the south coast of England, south-west of London, west of Brighton, south-east of Chichester and east of Portsmouth. Other nearby towns i ...

* Brighton * Burgess Hill *

Chichester Chichester () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publi ...

* Crowborough *

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the la ...

* Hastings & Bexhill * Haywards Heath *

Hove Hove is a seaside resort and one of the two main parts of the city of Brighton and Hove, along with Brighton in East Sussex, England. Originally a "small but ancient fishing village" surrounded by open farmland, it grew rapidly in the 19th c ...

* Sussex Police

Sussex 1 honours

Sussex 1 (1987–1993)

The original Sussex 1 was a tier 8 league with promotion up to

and relegation down to Sussex 2.

Sussex 1 (1993–1996)

The creation of National 5 South meant that Sussex 1 dropped from a tier 9 league to a tier 10 league for the years that National 5 South was active. Promotion and relegation continued to

and Sussex 2 respectively.

Sussex 1 (1996–2000)

The cancellation of National 5 South at the end of the 1995–96 season meant that Sussex 1 reverted to being a tier 8 league. Promotion and relegation continued to

and Sussex 2 respectively.

Sussex 1 (2000–2009)

The introduction of London 4 South East ahead of the 2000–01 season meant Sussex 1 dropped to become a tier 9 league with promotion to this new division. Relegation continued to Sussex 2 (briefly two regional divisions) until that league was abolished at the end of the 2003–04 season.

Sussex 1 (2009–present)

Sussex 1 remained a tier 9 league despite national 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 ...

. Promotion was to

(formerly London 4 South East) and relegation was to Sussex Canterbury Jack Intermediate (Sussex 2) which was reintroduced for the 2010–11 season after an absence of six years.

Promotion play-offs

Since the 2000–01 season there has been a play-off between the runners-up of

and Sussex 1 for the third and final promotion place to

. The team with the superior league record has home advantage in the tie. At the end of the 2019–20 season the Kent 1 teams have been the most successful with fourteen wins to the Sussex 1 teams five; and the home team has won promotion on eleven occasions compared to the away teams eight.

Number of league titles

Uckfield Uckfield () is a town in the Wealden District of East Sussex in South East England. The town is on the River Uck, one of the tributaries of the River Ouse, on the southern edge of the Weald. Etymology 'Uckfield', first recorded in writing as ...

(5) *

(3) * Crawley (3) * Heathfield & Waldron (3) *

(3) * Brighton (2) *

(2) *

(2) * Hastings & Bexhill (2) *

Pulborough Pulborough is a large village and civil parish in the Horsham district of West Sussex, England, with some 5,000 inhabitants. It is located almost centrally within West Sussex and is south west of London. It is at the junction of the north–sout ...

(2) * Burgess Hill (1) * Crowborough (1) * Haywards Heath (1) *

Hellingly Hellingly (pronounced 'Helling-lye') is a village, and can also refer to a civil parish, and to a district ward, in the Wealden District of East Sussex, England. Geography Hellingly contains the confluence of the River Cuckmere and one of it ...