The 1997–98 National League 2 North was the eleventh full season of

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 ...

within the fourth tier (north) of the English league system, previously known as Division 4 North, and was the first to be 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 500 branches located all across Great Britain. Jewson is part of Denmark's Stark Group, STAR ...

who replaced former sponsor

Courage Courage (also called bravery, valour ( British and Commonwealth English), or valor (American English)) is the choice and willingness to confront agony, pain, danger, uncertainty, or intimidation. Valor is courage or bravery, especially in ...

. 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, N ...

, which covers the southern half of the country. The title battle was keenly contested between Birmingham & Solihull and

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

but in the end it was the West Midlands side that was triumphant, finishing two points clear to finish as champions. Both clubs would gain promotion to the 1998–99 National League 1. There was no relegation this season in order to prevent an imbalance of teams in the leagues due to

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 prom ...

changes for the following season which would see tier 2 increased from 12 to 14 teams and tier 3 reduced from 16 to 14 teams.

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 and runners up were promoted to

National League 1 National One, up until 2023 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 Lea ...

. There was no relegation this season due to changes higher up in the English league system.

Participating teams and locations

League table

Sponsorship

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

. It was the first year they would sponsor the league.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1997-98 National League 2 North N4 National League 2 North