History of the English rugby union system facts for kids

England has a really organized system for its rugby union teams, from fully professional national leagues to amateur local ones.

This system has changed a lot since it began in 1987. At first, all the players were amateurs (they didn't get paid), but now many are professionals. However, there have always been a few main national leagues with many smaller regional and county leagues below them.

Early Rugby Rankings

From the 1960s to the 1980s, a newspaper called The Sunday Telegraph published "Merit Tables." These tables ranked the top English rugby clubs based on how many matches they won against other teams in the table.

Here are the Sunday Telegraph English Champions from 1964 to 1987:

Before the National Leagues

For most of rugby union's history, there weren't any organized leagues. Teams just played friendly matches. In the 1970s, a national cup competition was created, along with regional and county "merit leagues." These were like mini-leagues that helped rank teams in different areas.

In 1984, things got more serious with two national merit leagues for the top 24 clubs. Teams had to play a certain number of games against each other. There was even a system where teams could move up (promotion) or down (relegation) between these merit tables. In 1985, a third national merit table was added.

Merit Table Seasons (1984-1987)

Here's how the first national merit tables looked:

Merit Table A

Merit Table B

In the 1984–85 season, Sale won Merit Table A. Some teams moved up or down between the tables. By 1985–86, a new Merit Table C was created for more clubs. Gloucester won Merit Table A that year. The 1986–87 season saw Bath win Merit Table A. These merit tables were the stepping stones to the official national league system.

Starting the National League System

In 1987, the merit tables officially became the first three divisions of the national league system. At first, teams had to arrange their own games, but by 1988, the league set the fixtures for them.

First Major League Teams (1987)

Here were the teams in the first national leagues:

National 1

National 2

National 3

There were also two "Area Leagues" below National 3, for North and South teams.

Early Seasons (1987-1992)

The league system quickly got into full swing with teams being promoted and relegated each year.

• 1987–88 season: Leicester won National 1. 1987-88 Courage League
• 1988–89 season: Bath won National 1. 1988–89 Courage League
• 1989–90 season: Wasps won National 1. 1989–90 Courage League
• 1990–91 season: All divisions grew to 13 teams, and the Area Leagues were renamed National 4 North and National 4 South. Bath won National 1 again. 1990–91 English Premiership (rugby union)
• 1991–92 season: Bath continued their winning streak in National 1. 1991–92 English Premiership (rugby union)
• 1992–93 season: Bath won National 1 for the fifth time in a row! This season also saw many teams moving between divisions as the league structure was adjusted. 1992–93 English Premiership (rugby union)

Home and Away Games Introduced

1993–94 season

A big change happened in the 1993–94 season: teams started playing each other twice, once at home and once away. This made the competition fairer and more exciting. The national divisions were also made smaller, with 10 teams each. A new National 4 division was created, and the old National 4s became National 5s. Bath won National 1 again. 1993–94 English Premiership (rugby union)

Later Seasons (1994-1996)

• 1994–95 season: Leicester won National 1. 1994–95 English Premiership (rugby union)
• 1995–96 season: Bath won National 1. National 4 divisions were merged into National 3, simplifying the lower leagues. 1995–96 English Premiership (rugby union)

Rugby Becomes Professional

1996–97 season

This was a huge year for English rugby! The leagues officially became professional, meaning players could now be paid to play. The top two divisions grew to 12 teams, and National 3 temporarily expanded. The National 5 divisions went back to being called National 4 (North and South) and also started playing home and away games. Wasps won National 1. 1996–97 English Premiership (rugby union)|National Division One 1996-97

Two Premierships Era

1997–98 season

The top two divisions got a sponsor, Allied Dunbar, and were renamed Premiership 1 and Premiership 2. What used to be National 3 became the new National 1, and so on. Newcastle Falcons won Premiership 1. 1997-98 Allied Dunbar Premiership|1997–98 Allied Dunbar Premiership Two

1998–99 season

Both Premiership divisions grew to 14 teams. Leicester won Premiership 1. Sadly, two famous clubs, London Scottish and Richmond, had to stop playing in the top leagues. 1998-99 Allied Dunbar Premiership|1998–99 Allied Dunbar Premiership Two

1999–2000 season

Premiership 1 shrank to 12 teams. London Scottish and Richmond were absorbed into London Irish and reformed in county leagues. Leicester won Premiership 1 again. 1999–2000 Allied Dunbar Premiership|1999–2000 Allied Dunbar Premiership Two

One Premiership Era

2000–01 season

Zurich became the new sponsor for only the top division, which was now simply called the Premiership. The other leagues were renumbered. A new "bonus points" system was introduced, rewarding teams for scoring lots of tries or losing by a small margin. Leicester won the Premiership. 2000-01 Zurich Premiership|National Division One 2000-01

Later Seasons (2001-2008)

• 2001–02 season: Leicester won the Premiership again. 2001-02 Zurich Premiership|National Division One 2001-02
• 2002–03 season: The "Zurich Championship" was replaced with a top-four play-off system to decide the champions. Wasps won the Premiership. 2002-03 Zurich Premiership|National Division One 2002-03
• 2003–04 season: Wasps won the Premiership. 2003-04 Zurich Premiership|National Division One 2003-04
• 2004–05 season: Wasps won the Premiership for the third year in a row! 2004-05 Zurich Premiership|National Division One 2004-05
• 2005–06 season: Guinness took over as the Premiership sponsor. Sale won the Premiership. 2005-06 Guinness Premiership|National Division One 2005-06
• 2006–07 season: National 1 expanded to 16 clubs. Leicester won the Premiership. 2006-07 Guinness Premiership|National Division One 2006-07
• 2007–08 season: Wasps won the Premiership. 2007-08 Guinness Premiership|National Division One 2007-08

More National 3 Divisions

The 2009–10 season brought more changes. The North and South National 3 divisions were replaced with four new ones: North, Midlands, South West, and London. This helped organize teams more locally.

Here are the teams in these new National 3 divisions:

National 3 North

National 3 Midlands

National 3 South West

National 3 London

Recent Seasons (2009-2015)

• 2009–10 season: The second tier (below the Premiership) was renamed the RFU Championship and had a play-off system. Leicester won the Premiership. 2009–10 English Premiership (rugby union)|l1=2009–10 Guinness Premiership 2009–10 RFU Championship|2009–10 National League 1
• 2010–11 season: Saracens won the Premiership. 2010–11 English Premiership (rugby union)|l1=2010-11 Guinness Premiership 2010–11 RFU Championship|2010–11 National League 1
• 2011–12 season: Harlequins won the Premiership. 2011–12 English Premiership (rugby union)|l1=2011–12 Aviva Premiership 2011–12 RFU Championship|2011–12 National League 1
• 2012–13 season: Leicester Tigers won the Premiership. 2012–13 English Premiership (rugby union)|l1=2012–13 Aviva Premiership 2012–13 RFU Championship|2012–13 National League 1
• 2013–14 season: Northampton Saints won the Premiership. 2013-14 English Premiership (rugby union)|l1=2013-14 Aviva Premiership 2013-14 RFU Championship|2013-14 National League 1
• 2014–15 season: Saracens won the Premiership. 2014-15 English Premiership (rugby union)|l1=2014-15 Aviva Premiership 2014-15 RFU Championship|2014-15 National League 1

More Information

• English rugby union system
• Premiership Rugby
• RFU Championship
• National League 1

Other Sources

• The Times newspaper 1984 onwards. News articles and results section.