South West 1 East is an English, level six,

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 in south and south-west England; mainly

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council ...

, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire,

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

, Oxfordshire,

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Av ...

and

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

. Originally a single division known as South West 2, since 1996 the division has been split into two regional leagues – South West 1 East and South West 1 West. The champions are promoted to South West Premier (formerly National League 3 South West) and the runner-up play the second team in South West 1 West, with the winning team gaining promotion. Relegated sides usually play in one of the two seventh-tier leagues (depending on location) –

Southern Counties North Counties 1 Southern North (formerly known as Southern Counties North) is a division at level 7 of the English rugby union system. When league rugby first began in 1987 it was a single league known as Southern Counties but since 1996 the divisio ...

or Southern Counties South.

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. Old Patesians finished 9th in season 2019–20 but were level transferred to South West 1 West.

Participating teams and locations

League table

2020–21

Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic the season was cancelled.

2019–20

The season ended before all the matches were completed because of 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 ...

and the RFU used a best playing record formula to decide the final table.

Participating teams and locations

League table

2018–19

Participating teams and locations

Promotion play-off

This seasons play-off for promotion to the South West Premier was between Launceston and Old Centralians. Launceston had the better playing record and hosted the match at Polson Bridge, winning 33 – 22. This was the 19th play-off match, the first for Launceston and the second for Old Centralians who won promotion in 2013 beating Camborne by 25 – 15. It was the 13th win for the home team and south-west teams have also won the match on 13 occasions. ----

2017–18

Participating teams and location

The 2017–18 South West 1 East consisted of fourteen teams; five from Oxfordshire, four from

, two from

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

and one each from Buckinghamshire,

and

. Nine of the fourteen teams participated in last season's competition.

2016–17

Participating teams and location

The 2016–17 South West 1 East consisted of fourteen teams; five from Berkshire, four from Oxfordshire, three from

and two from

. Eight of the fourteen teams participated in last season's competition. The season started on 3 September 2016 and the last league matches were played on 22 April 2017. The play-off match was played a week later on 29 April 2017.

League table

Promotion play-off

Each season, the runners-up in South West 1 East and Tribute South West 1 West, participate in a play-off for promotion to National League 3 South West. The team with the best playing record, in this case Newbury, hosted the match and they beat their opponents Clevedon 25 – 22.

2015–16

The 2015–16 South West 1 East consisted of fourteen teams; four from Berkshire, three from Oxfordshire, three from

and one each from

, Buckinghamshire,

and

. The season started on 5 September 2015 and ended on 23 April 2016. Towcestrians finished in first place and were promoted to National League 3 South West for next season, along with the runner-up and play-off winner

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of ...

Participating teams and location

Ten of the fourteen teams participated in last season's competition. The 2014–15 champions Chippenham were promoted to National League 3 South West while

Bletchley Bletchley is a constituent town of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. It is situated in the south-west of Milton Keynes, and is split between the civil parishes of Bletchley and Fenny Stratford and West Bletchley. Bletchley is best know ...

and Buckingham were relegated to

and

Devizes Devizes is a market town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. It developed around Devizes Castle, an 11th-century Norman castle, and received a charter in 1141. The castle was besieged during the Anarchy, a 12th-century civil war between ...

to Southern Counties South.

League table

Promotion play-off

Each season, the runners-up in South West 1 East and Tribute South West 1 West, participate in a play-off for promotion to National League 3 South West. The team with the best playing record, in this case Salisbury, hosted the match and they beat their opponents Thornbury 26 – 24.

Teams 2014–15

– promoted from

*Buckingham * Chippenham – relegated from National League 3 South West *Devizes *Grove * Leighton Buzzard * Maidenhead * Newbury Blues *

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling ...

*Swindon * Towcestrians *Trowbridge – promoted from Southern Counties South *Windsor *Witney

Teams 2013–14

*Buckingham *Cheltenham *Devizes – promoted from Southern Counties South *Grove – promoted from

* Maidenhead – relegated from National League 3 South West * Marlow * Newbury Blues * Oxford Harlequins – relegated from National League 3 South West *

*Swindon * Towcestrians - transferred from

Midlands 1 East Regional 2 East Midlands is an English level 6 rugby union regional league for rugby clubs in the eastern region of the Midlands, including sides from Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Warwickshire and occasion ...

*Windsor *Witney

Teams 2012–13

* Bracknell *Cheltenham * Coney Hill *

High Wycombe High Wycombe, often referred to as Wycombe ( ), is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England. Lying in the valley of the River Wye, Buckinghamshire, River Wye surrounded by the Chiltern Hills, it is west-northwest of Charing Cross in London, ...

* Marlow * Newbury Blues – relegated from National League 3 South West * Old Centralians *

*Swanage & Wareham *Swindon *Windsor *Witney

Original teams

When league rugby began in 1987 this division (known as South West 2) contained the following teams: * Barnstaple * Berry Hill * Brixham *

Cinderford Cinderford is a town and civil parish on the eastern fringe of the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire, England. The population was 8,777 at the 2021 Census. The town came into existence in the 19th century, following the rapid expansion of Cinde ...

Devon & Cornwall Police Devon and Cornwall Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the ceremonial counties of Devon and Cornwall (including the Isles of Scilly) in England. The force serves approximately 1.8 million people over an area of . Hi ...

* Devonport Services * Henley * Launceston * Newbury *

Reading Abbey Reading Abbey is a large, ruined abbey in the centre of the town of Reading, in the English county of Berkshire. It was founded by Henry I in 1121 "for the salvation of my soul, and the souls of King William, my father, and of King William, m ...

South West 1 East honours

South West 2 (1987–1993)

Originally South West 1 East and South West 1 West were combined in a single division called South West 2. It was a tier 6 league with promotion up to South West 1 and relegation down to either Western Counties or Southern Counties.

South West 2 (1993–1996)

The top six teams from South West 1 and the top six from London 1 were combined to create National 5 South, meaning that South West 2 dropped to become a tier 7 league. Promotion continued to South West 1 and relegation to either Western Counties or Southern Counties.

South West 2 East (1996–2009)

League restructuring by the RFU for the 1996–97 season saw South West 2 split into two regional divisions known as South West 2 East and South West 2 West, and the cancellation of National 5 South meant that both divisions became tier 6 leagues. Promotion continued to South West 1, while relegation was now to either

or Southern Counties South.

South West 1 East (2009–present)

League restructuring by the RFU meant that South West 2 East and South West 2 West were renamed as South West 1 East and South West 1 West, with both leagues remaining at tier 6. Promotion was to National League 3 South West, while relegation continued to either

or Southern Counties South.

Promotion play-offs

Since the 2000–01 season there has been a play-off between the runners-up of South West 1 East and South West 1 West for the third and final promotion place to South West Premier. The team with the superior league record has home advantage. As of the end of the 2019–20 season the South West 1 West teams' have been the stronger with thirteen wins to the South West 1 East teams' six, while the home team has won promotion thirteen times to the away teams six.

Number of league titles

* Maidenhead (4) * Oxford Harlequins (3) * Bracknell (2) * Chippenham (2) * Matson (2) * Amersham & Chiltern (1) * Berry Hill (1) * Cheltenham (1) *

Chinnor Chinnor is a large village and civil parish in South Oxfordshire about southeast of Thame, close to the border with Buckinghamshire. The village is a spring line settlement on the Icknield Way below the Chiltern escarpment. Since 1932 the ci ...

(1) *

(1) * Cleve (1) * Dorchester (1) * Gloucester Old Boys (1) * Gordon League (1) * Henley (1) * Launceston * Marlow (1) * Newbury Blues (1) * Old Centralians (1) * Old Patesians (1) *

(1) * Redingensians (1) *

(1) * Stroud (1) * Swanage & Wareham (1) * Towcestrians (1)

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:South West 1 East Recurring sporting events established in 1987 Rugby union in Buckinghamshire Rugby union in Dorset Rugby union in Wiltshire 6 Rugby union in Bedfordshire Rugby union in Berkshire Rugby union in Gloucestershire Rugby union in Oxfordshire Sports leagues established in 1987

2021–22

Participating teams and locations

League table

2020–21

2019–20

Participating teams and locations

League table

2018–19

Participating teams and locations

Promotion play-off

2017–18

Participating teams and location

2016–17

Participating teams and location

League table

Promotion play-off

2015–16

Participating teams and location

League table

Promotion play-off

Teams 2014–15

Teams 2013–14

Teams 2012–13

Original teams

South West 1 East honours

South West 2 (1987–1993)

South West 2 (1993–1996)

South West 2 East (1996–2009)

South West 1 East (2009–present)

Promotion play-offs

Number of league titles

See also

Notes

References