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Rothman2 View Drop Down
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    Posted: 10 hours 54 minutes ago at 03:17
I thought you might be interested to see how National 1 shaped up when the leagues were first formed in 1987/88. The league being sponsored by Courage.

There were 12 teams in the league who played each other once but the clubs had to arrange their own fixtures which meant a disparity for some teams in the number of home & away games played. Four points were awarded for a win, two for a draw & one for a loss.

I have inserted the final tables below but here are a few factoids (as Steve Wright used to say)

1. Of the original level 3 teams, only Plymouth are at the same 
    level. 

2. Only Exeter have improved their standing (see current levels in
    the right hand column. They were promoted to the Premiership
    in 2010 and have been there ever since.

3. No teams were promoted in this season but two were relegated 
    (brutal).

4. Birmingham in this case were Birmingham RFC who merged with
    Solihull RFC in 1989, so the comparative league they play in is
    for the merged entity.

5. Maidstone RFC currently play in Counties 2 Kent (level 8).
    Coincidentally they play in the same league as Old Elthamians 
    (Remember them). Elthamians currently have a 25 point lead in
    the Division after 19 games

If anyone is interested I can publish a few more tables going forward.

For now the original Courage National 3 final table is below:

1987–88 Courage League National Division Three table






Pos

Team

Pld

W

D

L

PF

PA

PD

Pts


Current level

1

Wakefield (C)

11

10

0

1

308

90

218

20

No promotion

Folded 2004

2

West Hartlepool

11

10

0

1

249

105

144

20


6

3

Plymouth Albion

11

8

0

3

276

125

151

16


3

4

Sheffield

11

7

1

3

134

161

-27

15


4

5

Vale of Lune

11

7

0

4

183

149

34

14


6

6

Fylde

11

6

0

5

269

170

99

12


4

7

Metropolitan Police

11

5

0

6

130

128

2

10


8

8

Maidstone

11

4

0

7

134

162

-28

8


8

9

Exeter

11

3

2

6

128

197

-69

1


6

10

Nuneaton

11

2

1

8

94

157

-63

5


6

11

Morley

11

1

1

9

109

235

-126

3

Relegated

6

12

Birmingham

11

0

1

10

46

381

-335

1

Relegated

8









Edited by Rothman2 - 10 hours 50 minutes ago at 03:21
Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.

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Rabbie Burns View Drop Down
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Points: 3397 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Rabbie Burns Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 6 hours 42 minutes ago at 07:29
I think Blackheath were the league above this
So many Christians not enough Lions
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Storty View Drop Down
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Very interesting. My fun fact to contribute is apparently Stortford are the only team to have never been relegated! I read that in a program once so must be true! 
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tigerburnie View Drop Down
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Originally posted by Storty Storty wrote:

Very interesting. My fun fact to contribute is apparently Stortford are the only team to have never been relegated! I read that in a program once so must be true! 
Well no Leicester Lions have never been relegated.....................................up till now.............Wink
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Rothman2 View Drop Down
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Originally posted by Rabbie Burns Rabbie Burns wrote:

I think Blackheath were the league above this

Rabbie:

1987–88 Courage League National Division Two table











Pos

Team

Pld

W

D

L

PF

PA

PD

Pts


1

Rosslyn Park (C)

11

8

2

1

155

83

72

37

Promoted

2

Liverpool St Helens

11

8

1

2

154

97

57

36

Promoted

3

Saracens

11

7

2

2

228

86

142

34


4

Headingley

11

6

2

3

202

164

38

31


5

Bedford

11

6

2

3

152

139

13

31


6

Richmond

11

6

0

5

140

156

-16

29


7

London Scottish

11

4

1

6

141

158

-17

24


8

London Irish

11

4

1

6

120

177

-57

24


9

London Welsh

11

3

2

6

153

185

-32

22


10

Gosforth

10

2

1

7

99

129

-30

17


11

Blackheath

11

2

0

9

102

187

-85

17

No relegation

12

Northampton

10

1

0

9

81

226

-145

13

No relegation



Edited by Rothman2 - 4 hours 10 minutes ago at 10:01
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Nat1 View Drop Down
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This got me thinking about who was placed in the top league at the time, and why those clubs were chosen, anyone know?

I never knew that Moseley and Nottingham had once been up there. It's interesting to see how few league points seperate the majority of the clubs at seasons end, perhaps because you used to get a point for losing from what I remember, and well before the advent of TBP etc.
PosTeamPldWDLPFPAPDPtsQualification
1Leicester Tigers (C)10901225133+9237Champions
2Wasps11812218136+8236
3Harlequins11614261128+13330
4Bath11614197156+4130
5Gloucester10613206121+8529
6Orrell11515192153+3927
7Moseley11506167170−326
8Nottingham11416146170−2424
9Bristol10415171145+2623
10Waterloo10406123208−8522
11Coventry (R)11317139246−10721Relegated
12Sale (R)11001195374−27911


Edited by Nat1 - 3 hours 60 minutes ago at 10:11
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Rothman2 View Drop Down
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Might as well put National 1 up now:

Pos

Team

Pld

W

D

L

PF

PA

PD

Pts


1

Leicester Tigers

10

9

0

1

225

133

92

37

Champions

2

Wasps

11

8

1

2

218

136

82

36


3

Harlequins

11

6

1

4

261

128

133

30

4

Bath

11

6

1

4

197

156

41

30

5

Gloucester

10

6

1

3

206

121

85

29

6

Orrell

11

5

1

5

192

153

39

27

7

Moseley

11

5

0

6

167

170

-3

26

8

Nottingham

11

4

1

6

146

170

-24

24

9

Bristol

10

4

1

5

171

145

26

23

10

Waterloo

10

4

0

6

123

208

-85

22

11

Coventry

11

3

1

7

139

246

-107

21

Relegated

12

Sale

11

0

0

11

95

374

-279

11

Relegated

Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.

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Rothman2 View Drop Down
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Points: 12173 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Rothman2 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 3 hours 58 minutes ago at 10:13

The leagues were initially structured based on the perceived strength of the clubs at the time.  


The RFU used historical performance in competitions like the County Championship and other regional results to determine the seeding of clubs into different divisions. 

This aimed to create a competitive balance while reflecting the hierarchy of clubs as it was understood at the time.



Edited by Rothman2 - 3 hours 46 minutes ago at 10:25
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