North Premier was a level five league in the English rugby union system, with the fourteen teams drawn from across Northern England. The other leagues at this level were London & South East Premier, Midlands Premier and South West Premier. The RFU reorganised the level five leagues for season 2022–23, with an increase from four to six and reducing the teams in each from fourteen to twelve. The teams in this league now play in either Regional 1 North East or Regional 1 North West.
Format The fourteen teams in this league were drawn from across northern England with the champions promoted to National League 2 North and the runner-up going into a play-off with the second placed team from Midlands Premier with the winner also being promoted. The league's bottom three teams are relegated to either North 1 East or North 1 West depending on their geographic location. The league was changed at the beginning of the 2009–10 season following reorganisation by the Rugby Football Union when the league was originally known as North Division 1. A further name change from National League 3 North to its final name for the 2017–18 season by the RFU in order to lessen confusion for the series of regional leagues.
The season ran from September to May and comprised twenty-six rounds of matches, with each club playing each of its rivals home and away. The results of the matches contributed points to the league table as follows: 4 points are awarded for a win 2 points are awarded for a draw 0 points are awarded for a loss, however 1 losing (bonus) point is awarded to a team that loses a match by 7 points or fewer 1 additional (bonus) point is awarded to a team scoring 4 tries or more in a match
2021–22 Nine of the fourteen teams participated in the previous season's competition. They were joined by Otley and Preston Grasshoppers who were relegated from National League 2 North, and promoted sides York (from North 1 East) together with Burnage and Northwich RUFC (both from North 1 West).
The previous season's champions Blaydon were promoted into National League 2 North alongside Harrogate (who won the virtual play-off against Newport runners-up in Midlands Premier), while the relegated teams were Carlisle RFC (to North 1 West) together with Morpeth and Ilkley RFC (both to North 1 East).
The teams competing in 2021–22 achieved their places in the league based on performances in 2019–20, the 'previous season' column in the table below refers to that season not 2020–21.
Twelve of the fourteen teams from 2021–22 were placed into one of the new level five leagues for 2022–23. Alnwick, Billingham, Sandal and York were placed into Regional 1 North East while Blackburn, Burnage, Kirkby Lonsdale, Lymm, Macclesfield, Northwich, Rossendale and Wirral were placed into Regional 1 North West. The top two teams in 2021–22, Otley and Preston Grasshoppers, were promoted to the level four league National League 2 North. No teams were relegated to level six.
Participating teams and locations
TeamGroundCapacityCity/AreaPrevious season Alnwick Greensfield 1,200 (200 in stand) Alnwick, Northumberland 11th Billingham Greenwood Road 1,500 (100 seats) Billingham, County Durham 5th Blackburn Ramsgreave Drive Blackburn, Lancashire 6th Burnage Varley Park Stockport, Greater Manchester Promoted from North 1 West (champions) Kirkby Lonsdale Underley Park Kirkby Lonsdale, Cumbria 8th Lymm Crouchley Lane 1,000 Lymm, Cheshire 7th Macclesfield Priory Park 1,250 (250 seats) Macclesfield, Cheshire 3rd Northwich Moss Farm Northwich, Cheshire Promoted from North 1 West (playoff) Otley Cross Green 7,000 (852 seats) Otley, Leeds, West Yorkshire Relegated from Nat 2 North (12th) Preston Grasshoppers Lightfoot Green 2,250 (250 seats) Preston, Lancashire Relegated from Nat 2 North (13th) Rossendale Marl Pits 1,100 (100 stand) Rawtenstall, Rossendale, Lancashire 9th Sandal Milnthorpe Green Sandal Magna, Wakefield, West Yorkshire 4th Wirral The Memorial Ground Clatterbridge, Wirral 10th York Clifton Park York, North Yorkshire Promoted from North 1 East (champions)
Final league table North Premier 2021–22TeamPlayedWonDrawnLostPoints forPoints againstPoints diffTry bonusLoss bonusPointsAdj pts 1 Otley 26 24 0 2 1076 310 766 20 0 116 2 Preston Grasshoppers 26 23 1 2 1105 299 806 19 0 113 3 Blackburn 26 18 2 6 1001 526 475 19 3 98 4 Billingham 26 18 1 7 837 432 405 16 2 92 5 Lymm 26 17 0 9 829 543 286 15 3 86 6 Macclesfield 26 15 0 11 840 565 275 13 4 77 7 Alnwick 26 14 1 11 854 563 291 12 3 73 8 Rossendale 26 12 1 13 612 669 −57 9 2 61 9 Wirral 26 11 0 15 562 669 −107 8 5 58 10 York 26 9 1 16 643 584 59 11 8 58 11 Sandal 26 7 2 17 605 853 −248 8 3 43 12 Burnage 26 5 0 21 545 1035 −490 8 4 32 13 Kirkby Lonsdale 26 3 2 21 298 1288 −990 4 0 20 14 Northwich 26 0 1 25 168 1639 −1471 1 0 −2 −5If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order: Number of matches won Difference between points for and against Total number of points for Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled Green background are the promotion places. Pink background are relegation places.Updated: 2 June 2022Source:
2020–21 On 30th October the RFU announced, that due to the coronavirus pandemic, a decision had been taken to cancel Adult Competitive Leagues (National League 1 and below) for the 2020/21 season meaning North Premier was not contested.
2019–20 Ten of the fourteen teams participated in last season's competition. They are joined by Macclesfield who were relegated from National League 2 North, and Blackburn, Carlisle and Morpeth who were promoted into the division. Last season's champions Hull were promoted into National League 2 North, while the relegated teams were Vale of Lune and Wilmslow who all drop down into North 1 West and Kendal Rugby Union Football Club, Kendal who were relegated to North 1 East.
Participating teams and locations
TeamGroundCapacityCity/AreaPrevious season Alnwick Greensfield 1,200 (200 in stand) Alnwick, Northumberland 9th Billingham Greenwood Road 1,500 (100 seats) Billingham, County Durham 4th Blackburn Ramsgreave Drive Blackburn, Lancashire Promoted from North 1 West (playoff) Blaydon Crow Trees 2,000 (400 seats) Swalwell, Tyne and Wear Runners up (lost playoff) Carlisle Rugby Ground, Warwick Road 1,500 (250 seats) Carlisle, Cumbria Promoted from North 1 West (champions) Harrogate Rudding Lane 2,000 Harrogate, North Yorkshire 3rd Ilkley Stacks Field 2,000 (40 seats) Ilkley, West Yorkshire 8th Kirkby Lonsdale Underley Park Kirkby Lonsdale, Cumbria 10th Lymm Crouchley Lane 1,000 Lymm, Cheshire 11th Macclesfield Priory Park 1,250 (250 seats) Macclesfield, Cheshire Relegated from National 2 North (14th) Morpeth Grange House Field 1,000 Morpeth, Northumberland Promoted from North 1 East (champions) Rossendale Marl Pits 1,100 (100 stand) Rawtenstall, Rossendale, Lancashire 5th Sandal Milnthorpe Green Sandal Magna, Wakefield, West Yorkshire 6th Wirral The Memorial Ground Clatterbridge, Wirral 7th
2018–19 Ten of the fourteen teams participated in last season's competition. They are joined by Blaydon who were relegated from National League 2 North, while Alnwick, Vale of Lune and Wilmslow were promoted into the division. Preston Grasshoppers were promoted as champions into National League 2 North, while the relegated teams were Birkenhead Park (North 1 West), Morley and Pocklington (both North 1 East).
Participating teams and locations
TeamGroundCapacityCity/AreaPrevious season Alnwick Greensfield 1,200 (200 in stand) Alnwick, Northumberland Promoted from North 1 East (champions) Billingham Greenwood Road 1,500 (100 seats) Billingham, County Durham 6th Blaydon Crow Trees 2,000 (400 seats) Swalwell, Tyne and Wear Relegated from National 2 North (15th) Harrogate Rudding Lane 2,000 Harrogate, North Yorkshire 3rd Hull Ferens Ground 1,500 (288 seats) Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire Runners up (lost playoff) Ilkley Stacks Field 2,000 (40 seats) Ilkley, West Yorkshire 7th Kendal Mint Bridge Stadium 3,500 (258 seats) Kendal, Cumbria 10th Kirkby Lonsdale Underley Park Kirkby Lonsdale, Cumbria 8th Lymm Crouchley Lane 1,000 Lymm, Cheshire 4th Rossendale Marl Pits 1,100 (100 stand) Rawtenstall, Rossendale, Lancashire 5th Sandal Milnthorpe Green Sandal Magna, Wakefield, West Yorkshire 11th Vale of Lune Powder House Lane 4,000 (50 seats) Lancaster, Lancashire Promoted from North 1 West (Champions) Wilmslow Memorial Ground Wilmslow, Cheshire Promoted from North 1 West (playoff) Wirral The Memorial Ground Clatterbridge, Wirral 9th
2017–18 Nine of the fourteen teams participated in last season's competition. They are joined by Preston Grasshoppers and Harrogate who were relegated from National League 2 North, while Pocklington, Kirkby Lonsdale and Birkenhead Park are promoted into the division. Huddersfield were promoted as champions into National League 2 North, with Firwood Waterloo and Stockport both relegated to North 1 West and Cleckheaton dropping to North 1 East. In order to address an imbalance of teams at tier 5, Doncaster Phoenix were level transferred to Midlands Premier. This season was the first that Kendal played at the new Mint Bridge Stadium.
Participating teams and locations
TeamGroundCapacityCity/AreaPrevious season Billingham Greenwood Road 1,500 (100 seats) Billingham, County Durham 5th Birkenhead Park Upper Park Birkenhead, Wirral Promoted from North 1 West (playoffs) Harrogate Rudding Lane 2,000 Harrogate, North Yorkshire Relegated from National 2 North (14th) Hull Ferens Ground 1,500 (288 seats) Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire 3rd Ilkley Stacks Field 2,000 (40 seats) Ilkley, West Yorkshire 9th Kendal Mint Bridge Stadium 3,500 (258 seats) Kendal, Cumbria 7th Kirkby Lonsdale Underley Park Kirkby Lonsdale, Cumbria Promoted from North 1 West (champions) Lymm Crouchley Lane 1,000 Lymm, Cheshire 8th Morley Scatcherd Lane 6,000 (1,000 seats) Morley, West Yorkshire 10th Pocklington Percy Road Pocklington, East Riding of Yorkshire Promoted from North 1 East (champions) Preston Grasshoppers Lightfoot Green 2,250 (250 seats) Preston, Lancashire Relegated from National 2 North (16th) Rossendale Marl Pits 1,100 (100 stand) Rawtenstall, Rossendale, Lancashire 2nd (lost playoff) Sandal Milnthorpe Green Sandal Magna, Wakefield, West Yorkshire 6th Wirral The Memorial Ground Clatterbridge, Wirral 4th
Final league table National League 3 North 2017–18TeamPlayedWonDrawnLostPoints forPoints againstPoints diffTry bonusLoss bonusPoints 1 Preston Grasshoppers (P) 26 23 1 2 897 410 487 22 2 118 2 Hull 26 20 3 3 815 340 475 18 2 106 3 Harrogate 26 19 1 6 697 477 220 16 4 98 4 Lymm 26 17 2 7 691 382 309 11 5 88 5 Rossendale 25 17 0 8 636 571 65 14 1 83 6 Billingham 26 16 1 9 794 501 293 13 3 82 7 Ilkley 25 12 1 12 523 532 −9 7 5 62 8 Kirkby Lonsdale 26 10 0 16 565 584 −19 7 10 57 9 Wirral 26 9 0 17 573 715 −142 12 6 54 10 Kendal 26 10 1 15 537 635 −98 6 5 53 11 Sandal 26 7 1 18 528 694 −166 8 8 46 12 Birkenhead Park 26 5 1 20 452 874 −422 5 6 33 13 Morley 26 6 1 19 324 715 −391 2 3 31 14 Pocklington (R) 26 3 1 22 375 977 –602 6 3 23If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order: Number of matches won Difference between points for and against Total number of points for Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled Green background is the promotion place. Blue background is the play-off place. Pink background are relegation places.Updated: 22 November 2021Source:
2016–17