The 2024–25 National League 1 was the 37th season of the
third tier of the
English domestic rugby union competitions.
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 crowned as champions on 5 April, a win against
Rams
In engineering, reliability, availability, maintainability and safety (RAMS)Rotherham Titans
Rotherham Rugby Union Football Club, or Rotherham Titans is a rugby union club from Rotherham, South Yorkshire, currently playing in the third tier of the English rugby union league system, following their promotion from the National League ...
losing on the Saturday, enough to give them the title with two games still to play and securing promotion to the
2025–26 RFU Championship. It would be Richmond's fourth league title and fifth promotion from tier 3 (both divisional records). Despite the league title fight being very competitive, with five teams looking possible for promotion at one point, in the end it was fairly comfortable for Richmond who finished 11th points clear of runners up
Rosslyn Park.
Darlington Mowden Park were the first side to be relegated on 15 March, losing at home to
Bishop's Stortford
Bishop's Stortford is a historic market town and civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district, in the county of Hertfordshire, England. It is in the London metropolitan area, London commuter belt, near the border with Essex, just west of the ...
to go down with four games to go in what was a terrible season for Mowden Park both on and off the pitch. The second relegation spot would go down to the final game, with both
Leicester Lions
Leicester Lions are a speedway team which originally operated from 1968 until 1983Bamford, R & Jarvis J.(2001). ''Homes of British Speedway''. and again from 2011. The team race at the Beaumont Park Stadium (or Hydroscand Arena for sponsorsh ...
five point victory enough to keep them up 4 points clear of 13th placed
Esher
Esher ( ) is a town in the borough of Borough of Elmbridge, Elmbridge in Surrey, England, to the east of the River Mole, Surrey, River Mole.
Esher is an outlying suburb of London, close to the London–Surrey border; with Esher Commons at its ...
. Normally Leicester Lions would also have been relegated but the reorganisation of the 2025–26 RFU Championship from 12 to 14 teams meant that the 12th placed National League 1 side would be exempt from relegation. Darlington Mowden Park would drop down to the
2025–26 National League 2 North, ending a stay of eleven consecutive years at tier 3, while newly promoted Esher would make an instant return to the
2025–26 National League 2 East.
Structure
The league consists of fourteen teams, with all the teams playing each other on a home and away basis, to make a total of twenty-six matches each. There is one promotion place, with the champions promoted to 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 ...
, and typically there are three relegation places to either,
National League 2 East
National League 2 East is a rugby union league at level four in the English rugby union system and provides semi-professional competition for teams in London, South East England and the East of England. The remainder of England is covered by t ...
,
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 West
National League 2 West is a rugby union league at level four in the English rugby union system and provides semi-professional competition for teams in the Midlands and South West England. The remainder of England is covered by two other region ...
, depending on the geographical location of the team.
Earlier in the season it had been indicated that the RFU Championship was due to increase from 12 to 14 teams for 2025–26. This was finally confirmed by the RFU with most of the season completed, and the subsequent league restructuring meant that one team per league level would have a reprieve from relegation meaning that only two teams instead of the normal three would be relegated from National League 1 at the end of 2024–25.
Participating teams and locations
League table
Fixtures & results
Fixtures for the season were published by the RFU on 31 May 2025.
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
*Postponed due to unplayable pitch caused by weather conditions (snow, followed by wind and rain). Game to be rescheduled for 30 November 2024.
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Round 11 (rescheduled game)
*Game rescheduled from 23 November 2024.
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Round 12
*Postponed due to waterlogged pitch. Game to be rescheduled for 1st February 2025.
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Round 13
*Game abandoned after 65 minutes due to power failure with Sale FC leading 30 – 25. Initially it was thought that the result would stand but 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 prom ...
ruled that the game would be replayed on 21 February 2025.
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Round 14
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Round 15
*Postponed due to frozen pitch. Game to be rescheduled for 1 February 2025.
*Postponed due to frozen pitch. Game to be rescheduled for 1 February 2025.
*Postponed due to frozen pitch. Game to be rescheduled for 29 March 2025.
*Postponed due to frozen pitch. Game to be rescheduled for 1 February 2025.
*Postponed due to frozen pitch. Game to be rescheduled for 22 February 2025.
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Round 16
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Round 17
*Postponed due to frozen pitch. Game to be rescheduled for 22 February 2025.
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Rounds 12 & 15 (rescheduled games)
*Game rescheduled from 11 January 2025.
*Game rescheduled from 11 January 2025.
*Game rescheduled from 7 December 2024.
*Game rescheduled from 11 January 2025.
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Round 18
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Round 19
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Rounds 13, 15 & 17 (rescheduled games)
*Game rescheduled from 14 December 2024.
*Game rescheduled from 11 January 2025.
*Game rescheduled from 25 January 2025.
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Round 20
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Round 21
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Round 22
*Darlington Mowden Park are relegated.
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Round 23
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Round 15 (rescheduled game)
*Game rescheduled from 11 January 2025.
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Round 24
*Richmond are champions following Saturday's results.
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Round 25
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Round 26
*Esher are relegated due to Leicester Lions result versus Bishop's Stortford.
Attendances
Individual statistics
Top points scorers
Top try scorers
Notes
See also
*
2024–25 National League 2 East
*
2024–25 National League 2 North
*
2024–25 National League 2 West
The 2024–25 National League 2 West was the third season of the National League 2 West, fourth-tier (west) of the English domestic rugby union competitions; one of three at this level. The others are National League 2 East and National League 2 ...
References
External links
National Clubs Association for Leagues 1 and 2
{{DEFAULTSORT:2024-25 National League 1
3
National League 1 seasons
Current rugby union seasons