The 1987–88 Courage League National Division One was the first season of the first tier of the
English rugby union league system. It was the first season of a truly national
rugby union
Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...
league, which is currently known as the
Gallagher Premiership.
There was no fixture list; the teams arranged fixtures amongst themselves. One match would count between each of the twelve teams involved and the points scheme was such that a team received four points for a win, two for a draw and one point for a loss. Most teams played eleven games, although some played ten due to cancellations. There was also unequal home and away fixtures, with some sides (Coventry, Harlequins) playing up to seven games at home, while others (Waterloo) as little as four.
Leicester Tigers
Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby.
The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its home ...
finished first in the league table and were crowned champions. Coventry and Sale were relegated to the
1988–89 Courage League National Division Two for next season, the latter side having lost all of its eleven matches.
Rosslyn Park and
Liverpool St Helens were promoted from the
1987–88 Courage League National Division Two for the following season.
Participating teams
League table
Results table
The home team is listed in the left column.
Fixtures and results
Clubs had to organise their own fixtures so there was no organised round by round fixture lists and also no equal allocation of home and away matches. Dates of games and results are given below in date order.
September 1987
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October 1987
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November 1987
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December 1987
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January 1988
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February 1988
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March 1988
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April 1988
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*League and cup double header. The 1988
John Player Cup
The RFU Knockout Cup was an English rugby union competition open to any member of the Rugby Football Union. First contested in 1971, it was the premier competition in English club rugby before the establishment of the English league structure in 1 ...
final would also count as Harlequins v Bristol Courage League game.
Cancelled games
Sponsorship
National Division One is part of the Courage Clubs Championship and is sponsored by
Courage Brewery
Courage was an English brewery, founded by John Courage in London, England, in 1787.
History Origin and family ownership
The Courage Brewery was started by John Courage (1757 – October 1793). He was a Scottish shipping agent believed to b ...
See also
*
1987–88 Courage League National Division Two
*
1987–88 Courage League National Division Three
*
1987–88 Courage Area League North
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1987–88 Courage Area League South
The 1987–88 Courage Area League South was the first full season of rugby union within the fourth tier of the English league system, currently known as the National League 2 South, and was the counterpart to Courage Area League South (now Nation ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:1987-88 Courage League
Premiership Rugby seasons
English