The 2016–17 National League 1, known for sponsorship reasons as the SSE National League 1 was the eighth season of the
third tier of the
English rugby union system
Men's Rugby union in England consists of 106 leagues, which includes professional leagues at the highest level, down to amateur regional leagues. Promotion and relegation are in place throughout the system.
Women's Rugby union in England consi ...
, since the professionalised format of the second tier
RFU Championship
The RFU Championship is an English rugby union competition comprising twelve clubs. It is the second level of men's English rugby and is played by both professional and semi-professional players. The competition has existed since 1987, when Eng ...
was introduced; and was the 30th season since league rugby began in 1987.
Hartpury College
Hartpury University and Hartpury College, formerly Hartpury College, is a provider of further and higher education The university and college is set in a 360-hectare estate located in Hartpury, near Gloucester, in Gloucestershire, England.
The ...
were crowned the champions on 11 March 2017 after winning their 25th match and maintaining their 100% record. The college side went on break more National League 1 records by winning all 30 games and gaining promotion to the highest level in the club's history. Other records by Hartpury included most league points in a season (143), most points scored (1,455), as well as tying with
Ealing Trailfinders
Ealing Trailfinders Rugby Club is an English professional rugby union club based in West London. The club's first team are the reigning RFU Championship champions of 2024–25 but were considered ineligible for promotion to Premiership Rugby a ...
(
2014–15) for most bonus points gained in a season (28).
Due to
London Welsh
London Welsh Rugby Football Club () was a rugby union club formed in 1885. Based in Old Deer Park, Richmond-upon-Thames, London Welsh RFC played in the English Premiership in the 2012–13 and 2014–15 seasons, after gaining promotion from ...
going into liquidation in January 2017 and being expelled from the
RFU Championship
The RFU Championship is an English rugby union competition comprising twelve clubs. It is the second level of men's English rugby and is played by both professional and semi-professional players. The competition has existed since 1987, when Eng ...
, only two teams were relegated from National League 1.
On 1 April 2017 newly promoted
Macclesfield
Macclesfield () is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East, Cheshire, England. It is sited on the River Bollin and the edge of the Cheshire Plain, with Macclesfield Forest to its east; the town lies south of Ma ...
were the first team to be relegated after they lost 18–21 at home to
Plymouth Albion
Plymouth Albion Rugby Football Club is a rugby union club who play in Plymouth, England. The present club was founded in 1920 from a merger between Plymouth RFC (founded 1876) and Devonport Albion RFC (founded 1876). Since 2003 they have played ...
.
The second relegation spot was keenly contested and went to the last game of the season with 14th placed
Hull Ionians
Hull Ionians RUFC is a rugby union club in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The first team play in English rugby's National League 2 North, the fourth tier of the English rugby union system, following their relegation from National Leagu ...
3 points ahead of 15th placed
Blaydon
Blaydon is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, England, and historically in County Durham. Blaydon, and neighbouring Winlaton, which Blaydon is now contiguous with, form the town of Blaydon-on-Tyne. The Blaydon/Winl ...
. In the end Blaydon lost their final game while Hull Ionians won theirs to finish 6 points clear.
It ended a run of 10 years in the 3rd tier for Blaydon.
Structure
The league consisted of sixteen teams with all the teams playing each other on a home and away basis to make a total of thirty matches each. There was one promotion place with the champions promoted to the
Greene King IPA Championship. There are usually three relegation places with the bottom three teams relegated to either
National League 2 North
National League 2 North is one of three level four leagues in the English rugby union system and provides semi-professional competition for teams in Northern England. The remainder of England is covered by the two counterpart leagues National L ...
or
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 ...
depending on the geographical location of the team. Due to the expulsion of the championship team
London Welsh
London Welsh Rugby Football Club () was a rugby union club formed in 1885. Based in Old Deer Park, Richmond-upon-Thames, London Welsh RFC played in the English Premiership in the 2012–13 and 2014–15 seasons, after gaining promotion from ...
in January 2017, there was no relegation from the championship and subsequently only two teams relegated from this league.
Participating teams and locations
Twelve of the sixteen teams participated in the preceding season's competition. The 2015–16 champions,
Richmond
Richmond most often refers to:
* Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada
* Richmond, California, a city in the United States
* Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England
* Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...
, were promoted to the
2016–17 RFU Championship
The 2016–17 RFU Championship, known for sponsorship reasons as the Greene King IPA Championship, is the eighth season of the professionalised format of the RFU Championship, the second tier of the English rugby union league system run by the R ...
and replaced by
Birmingham Moseley (who changed their name from Moseley prior to the season) and were relegated from the
2015–16 RFU Championship
The 2015–16 RFU Championship, known for sponsorship reasons as the Greene King IPA Championship, is the seventh season of the professionalised format of the RFU Championship, the second tier of the English rugby union league system run by the ...
. The three teams relegated last season, were
Henley Hawks
Henley Hawks is a rugby union club based in Henley-on-Thames and is one of the leading rugby clubs in the Thames Valley. The first team play in the fourth tier of the English league system; National League 2 East.
History
Henley RFC was foun ...
and
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 the ...
(both to the
2016–17 National League 2 South
The 2016–17 National League 2 South was the eighth season (30th overall) of the fourth tier (south) of the English domestic rugby union competitions since the professionalised format of the second division was introduced. New teams to the div ...
) and
Wharfedale
Wharfedale ( ) is one of the Yorkshire Dales. It is situated at source in North Yorkshire and then flows into West Yorkshire and forms the upper valley of the River Wharfe. Towns and villages in Wharfedale (downstream, from west to east) includ ...
(
2016–17 National League 2 North) – with Wharfedale dropping from the third tier for the first time in 20 years. The promoted teams are
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...
and
Macclesfield
Macclesfield () is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East, Cheshire, England. It is sited on the River Bollin and the edge of the Cheshire Plain, with Macclesfield Forest to its east; the town lies south of Ma ...
champions of the
2015–16 National League 2 South
The 2015–16 National League 2 South is the seventh season (29th overall) of the fourth tier (south) of the English domestic rugby union competitions since the professionalised format of the second division was introduced. There was talk of this ...
and
2015–16 National League 2 North respectively, and
Old Albanian
Albanian (endonym: , , or ) is an Indo-European language and the only surviving representative of the Albanoid branch, which belongs to the Paleo-Balkan group. It is the native language of the Albanian people. Standard Albanian is the offi ...
who won the promotion play-off against
Sedgley Park
Prestwich ( ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury, Greater Manchester, England, north of Manchester, north of Salford and south of Bury.
Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, Prestwich was the seat of the ...
.
League table
Fixtures
Round 1
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Round 2
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Round 3
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Round 4
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Round 5
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Round 6
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Round 7
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Round 8
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Round 9
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Round 10
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Round 11
* Hartpury is the first team (in the top three divisions) to win a bonus point in eleven consecutive matches.
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Round 12
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Round 13
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Round 14
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Round 15
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Round 16
* Hartpury failed to gain a bonus point for the first time this season.
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Round 17
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Round 18
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Round 19
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Round 20
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Round 21
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Round 22
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Round 23
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Rescheduled matches (from 14 January)
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Round 24
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Round 25
*With victory Hartpury College are champions.
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Round 26
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Round 27
*Macclesfield are relegated.
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Round 28
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Round 29
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Round 30
*Blaydon are relegated.
[
]
Attendances
Individual statistics
Top points scorers
Top try scorers
* Jonas Mikalcius scored two tries on 10 December (attributed to Jonas) against Macclesfield but they have not been added to the published tables (officially 34 tries)
Season records
* Updated to matches played on 29 April 2017
Team
;Largest home win — 85 pts
92 – 7 Hartpury College at home to Macclesfield on 22 April 2017
;Largest away win — 65 pts
8 – 73 Coventry away to Old Albanian on 8 April 2017
;Most points scored — 92 pts
92 – 7 Hartpury College at home to Macclesfield on 22 April 2017
;Most points scored away from home — 73 pts
8 – 73 Coventry away to Old Albanian on 8 April 2017
;Most tries in a match — 15
92 – 7 Hartpury College at home to Macclesfield on 22 April 2017
;Most conversions in a match — 12
Hartpury College at home to Macclesfield on 22 April 2017
;Most penalties in a match — 6
Plymouth Albion at Fylde on 8 October 2016
;Most drop goals in a match — 1 (6)
Hull Ionians at home to Darlington Mowden Park on 3 September 2016
Cambridge away to Plymouth Albion, both on 3 September 2016
Cambridge away to Rosslyn Park on 10 September 2016
Blaydon away to Birmingham Moseley on 24 September 2016
Rosslyn Park away to Loughborough Students on 8 October 2016
Blaydon at home to Hull Ionians on 12 November 2016
Attendances
;Highest — 2,712
Coventry at home to Birmingham Moseley on 17 December 2016
;Lowest — 113 (2)
Loughborough Students v Blaydon (7 January 2017)
Loughborough Students v Old Albanian (4 February 2017)
;Highest average attendance — 1,264
Coventry
;Lowest average attendance — 230
Hull Ionians
Player
;Most points in a match — 29 (2)
Protheroe for Hartpury College at Cambridge on 28 October 2016
Law for Darlington Mowden Park at home to Fylde on 8 April 2017
;Most tries in a match — 3 (25)
Gair Currie for Loughborough Students away to Cambridge on 1 October 2016
Dan George for Blackheath at home to Blaydon on 8 August 2016
Luke Eves for Harpury College at home to Hull Ionians on 8 October 2016
Ed Sheldon for Birmingham Moseley at home to Old Albanian on 22 October 2016
Joe Brown for Esher at home to Blaydon on 22 October 2016
Scott Armstrong for Fylde at home to Hull Ionians on 22 October 2016
Jonas Mikacius for Hartpury College at home to Ampthill on 22 October 2016
Jonas Mikacius for Hartpury College at home to Rosslyn Park on 5 November 2016
Matt Thompson for Blaydon at home to Hull Ionians on 12 November 2016
Caven for Hartpury College at home to Darlingham Mowden Park on 19 November 2016
Ali Thomson for Hull Ionians away to Cambridge on 26 November 2016
Dan Williams for Plymouth Albion home to Hartpury College on 17 December 2016
Matt Thompson for Blaydon at home to Blackheath on 28 January 2017
Andy Radwan for Darlington Mowden Park at Old Albanian on 28 January 2017
Liebeneberg for Cambridge at Macclesfield on 4 February 2017
Peter White for Coventry at home to Hull Ionians on 18 February 2017
Chris Briers for Fylde at Ampthill on 4 March 2017
Andy Radwan for Darlington Mowden Park home to Macclesfield on 4 March 2017
Protheroe for Hartpury College home to Old Albanian on 11 March 2017
Nigel Baker for Ampthill away to Blaydon on 1 April 2017
Garry Law for Darlington Mowden Park at home to Fylde on 8 April 2017
Max Trimble for Coventry at Old Albanian on 8 April 2017
Jonas Mikacius for Hartpury College at home to Macclesfield on 22 April 2017
Callum Irvine for Hull Ionians at home to Old Albanian on 22 April 2017
Jonas Mikacius for Hartpury College away to Blackheath on 29 April 2017
;Most conversions in a match — 11
Adam Hastings for Hartpury College at home to Macclesfield on 22 April 2017
;Most penalties in a match — 6
Kieran Hallett for Plymouth Albion away to Fylde on 8 October 2016
;Most drop goals in a match — 1 (7)
Lee Millar for Hull Ionians at home to Darlington Mowden Park on 3 September 2016
Jack Green for Cambridge away to Plymouth Albion on 3 September 2016
Dan Lewis for Cambridge at Rosslyn Park on 10 September 2016
Nathan Horsfall for Blaydon at Birmingham Moseley on 24 September 2016
Scott Sneddon for Rosslyn Park away to Loughborough Students on 8 October 2016
Ryan Foreman for Blaydon at home to Hull Ionians on 12 November 2016
Callum Irvine for Hull Ionians at home to Cambridge on 1 April 2017
See also
* English rugby union system
Men's Rugby union in England consists of 106 leagues, which includes professional leagues at the highest level, down to amateur regional leagues. Promotion and relegation are in place throughout the system.
Women's Rugby union in England consi ...
* Rugby union in England
Rugby union in England is one of the leading professional and recreational team sports. In 1871 the Rugby Football Union, the governing body for rugby union in England, was formed by 21 rugby clubs, and the first international match, which invol ...
References
External links
NCA Rugby
{{DEFAULTSORT:2016-17 National League 1
National
National may refer to:
Common uses
* Nation or country
** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen
Places in the United States
* National, Maryland, c ...
National League 1 seasons