South West 1 East was an English, level six, rugby union league in south and south-west England; mainly Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Dorset, Gloucester, Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire, Warwickshire and Wiltshire. Originally a single division known as South West 2, it was split into two regional leagues in 1996 – South West 1 East and South West 1 West.
The champions were promoted to South West Premier (formerly National League 3 South West) and the runner-up played the second team in South West 1 West, with the winning team gaining promotion. Relegated sides were usually relegated to one of the two seventh-tier leagues (depending on location) – Southern Counties North or Southern Counties South.
2021–22 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. Old Patesians finished 9th in season 2019–20 but were level transferred to South West 1 West.
Participating teams and locations
TeamGroundCapacityTown/AreaPrevious season Banbury Bodicote Park 2,500 (250 seats) Banbury, Oxfordshire 3rd Beaconsfield Oak Lodge Meadow Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire 10th Bracknell Lily Hill 1,250 (250 seats) Bracknell, Berkshire Relegated from SW Premier (13th) Buckingham Floyd Field Maids Moreton, Buckingham, Buckinghamshire 7th Chippenham Allington Fields 9500 Chippenham, Wiltshire 8th Frome Gypsy Lane Frome, Somerset Promoted from Southern Counties South (runner-up) Grove Cane Lane Grove, Oxfordshire Promoted from Southern Counties South (champions) Marlborough The Common Marlborough, Wiltshire 5th Newbury Blues Monk's Lane 8,000 Newbury, Berkshire Relegated from SW Premier (12th) Oxford Harlequins Horspath Sports Ground 1,000 Oxford, Oxfordshire 4th Sherborne Gainsborough Park Sherborne, Dorset 6th Trowbridge Doric Park 9550 Hilperton, Trowbridge, Wiltshire 12th Windsor Home Park Windsor, Berkshire 11th Witney Witney Road Hailey, Witney, Oxfordshire Promoted from Southern Counties North (champions)
League table
2020–21 Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic the season was cancelled.
2019–20 The season ended before all the matches were completed because of the coronavirus pandemic and the RFU used a best playing record formula to decide the final table.
Participating teams and locations
TeamGroundCapacityTown/AreaPrevious season Banbury Bodicote Park 2,500 (250 seats) Banbury, Oxfordshire 3rd Beaconsfield Oak Lodge Meadow Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire 6th Buckingham Floyd Field Maids Moreton, Buckingham, Buckinghamshire Promoted from Southern Counties North (play-off) Chippenham Allington Fields 500 Chippenham, Wiltshire 8th Marlborough The Common Marlborough, Wiltshire 4th Old Centralians Saintbridge Sports Centre Gloucester, Gloucestershire Runner-up (lost play-off) Old Patesians Everest Road Cheltenham, Gloucestershire Relegated from South West Premier (14th) Oxford Harlequins Horspath Sports Ground 1,000 Oxford, Oxfordshire 10th Royal Wootton Bassett Ballard's Ash Sports Ground 5,000 Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire 5th Salisbury Castle Road 1,500 Salisbury, Wiltshire 7th Sherborne Gainsborough Park Sherborne, Dorset Promoted from Southern Counties South (champions) Trowbridge Doric Park Hilperton, Trowbridge, Wiltshire 11th Wimborne Leigh Park Wimborne, Dorset 9th Windsor Home Park Windsor, Berkshire Promoted from Southern Counties North (champions)
League table
2018–19
TeamGroundCapacityTown/AreaPrevious season Banbury Bodicote Park 2,500 (250 seats) Banbury, Oxfordshire Runners up (lost playoff) Beaconsfield Oak Lodge Meadow Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire Promoted from Southern Counties North (champions) Chippenham Allington Fields 500 Chippenham, Wiltshire 3rd Marlborough The Common Marlborough, Wiltshire Promoted from Southern Counties South (playoff) Newbury Blues Monk's Lane 8,000 Newbury, Berkshire Relegated from South West Premier (12th) Old Centralians Saintbridge Sports Centre Gloucester, Gloucestershire 7th Oxford Harlequins Horspath Sports Ground 1,000 Oxford, Oxfordshire 4th Royal Wootton Bassett Ballard's Ash Sports Ground 5,000 Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire 6th Salisbury Castle Road 1,500 Salisbury, Wiltshire 5th Stratford-upon-Avon Pearcecorft Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire 9th Swindon Greenbridge Road Swindon, Wiltshire 11th Trowbridge Doric Park Hilperton, Trowbridge, Wiltshire Promoted from Southern Counties South (champions) Wimborne Leigh Park Wimborne, Dorset 10th Witney Witney Road Hailey, Witney, Oxfordshire 8th
Participating teams and locations
Promotion play-off This seasons play-off for promotion to the South West Premier was between Launceston and Old Centralians. Launceston had the better playing record and hosted the match at Polson Bridge, winning 33 – 22. This was the 19th play-off match, the first for Launceston and the second for Old Centralians who won promotion in 2013 beating Camborne by 25 – 15. It was the 13th win for the home team and south-west teams have also won the match on 13 occasions.
2017–18 Participating teams and location
The 2017–18 South West 1 East consisted of fourteen teams; five from Oxfordshire, four from Wiltshire, two from Gloucestershire and one each from Buckinghamshire, Dorset and Warwickshire. Nine of the fourteen teams participated in last season's competition.
TeamGroundCapacityTown/AreaPrevious season Banbury Bodicote Park 2,500 (250 seats) Banbury, Oxfordshire 6th Bicester Oxford Road Bicester, Oxfordshire Promoted from Southern Counties North (play-off) Chippenham Allington Fields 500 Chippenham, Wiltshire 9th Grove Cane Lane Grove, Oxfordshire 11th Marlow Riverwoods Drive Marlow, Buckinghamshire Promoted from Southern Counties North (champions) Old Centralians Saintbridge Sports Centre Gloucester, Gloucestershire 4th Old Patesians Everest Road Cheltenham, Gloucestershire 3rd Oxford Harlequins Marston Ferry Road Oxford, Oxfordshire 10th Royal Wootton Bassett Ballard's Ash Sports Ground 5,000 Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire 8th Salisbury Castle Road 1,500 Salisbury, Wiltshire Relegated from National League 3 South West (13th) Stratford-upon-Avon Pearcecorft Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire Level transfer from Midlands 1 West (5th) Swindon Greenbridge Road Swindon, Wiltshire 7th Wimborne Leigh Park Wimborne, Dorset Promoted from Southern Counties South (champions) Witney Witney Road Hailey, Witney, Oxfordshire 5th
2016–17
Participating teams and location
The 2016–17 South West 1 East consisted of fourteen teams; five from Berkshire, four from Oxfordshire, three from Wiltshire and two from Gloucestershire. Eight of the fourteen teams participated in last season's competition. The season started on 3 September 2016 and the last league matches were played on 22 April 2017. The play-off match was played a week later on 29 April 2017.
TeamGroundCapacityTown/VillagePrevious season Banbury Bodicote Park 2,500 (250 seats) Banbury, Oxfordshire promoted from Midlands 2 West (South) (champions) Chippenham Allington Fields 500 Chippenham, Wiltshire relegated from National League 3 South West (14th) Grove Cane Lane Grove, Oxfordshire 10th Maidenhead Braywick Park 1,750 Maidenhead, Berkshire 5th Newbury Blues Monk's Lane 8,000 Newbury, Berkshire 3rd Old Centralians Saintbridge Sports Centre Gloucester, Gloucestershire relegated from National League 3 South West (12th) Old Patesians Everest Road Cheltenham, Gloucestershire relegated from National League 3 South West (13th) Oxford Harlequins Marston Ferry Road Oxford, Oxfordshire 6th Reading Holme Park Sonning, Reading, Berkshire 11th Reading Abbey Rosehill Emmer Green, Reading, Berkshire promoted from Southern Counties North (champions) Royal Wootton Bassett Ballard's Ash Sports Ground 5,000 Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire promoted from Southern Counties South (champions) Swindon Greenbridge Road Swindon, Wiltshire 7th Windsor Home Park Windsor, Berkshire 8th Witney Witney Road Hailey, Witney, Oxfordshire 4th
League table
Promotion play-off Each season, the runners-up in South West 1 East and Tribute South West 1 West, participate in a play-off for promotion to National League 3 South West. The team with the best playing record, in this case Newbury, hosted the match and they beat their opponents Clevedon 25 – 22.
2015–16 The 2015–16 South West 1 East consisted of fourteen teams; four from Berkshire, three from Oxfordshire, three from Wiltshire and one each from Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Dorset and Northamptonshire. The season started on 5 September 2015 and ended on 23 April 2016. Towcestrians finished in first place and were promoted to National League 3 South West for next season, along with the runner-up and play-off winner Salisbury.
Participating teams and location Ten of the fourteen teams participated in last season's competition. The 2014–15 champions Chippenham were promoted to National League 3 South West while Bletchley and Buckingham were relegated to Southern Counties North and Devizes to Southern Counties South.
TeamGroundCapacityTown/VillagePrevious season Grove Cane Lane Grove, Oxfordshire 10th High Wycombe Kingsmead Road High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire promoted from Southern Counties North (champions) Leighton Buzzard Wright's Meadow Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire 7th Maidenhead Braywick Park 1,750 Maidenhead, Berkshire 11th Newbury Blues Monk's Lane 8,000 Newbury, Berkshire 6th Oxford Harlequins Marston Ferry Road Oxford, Oxfordshire relegated from National League 3 South West (13th) Reading Holme Park Sonning, Reading, Berkshire 9th Salisbury Castle Road 1,500 Salisbury, Wiltshire promoted from Southern Counties South (play-off) Swanage & Wareham Bestwall Road Wareham, Dorset promoted from Southern Counties South (champions) Swindon Greenbridge Road Swindon, Wiltshire 4th Towcestrians Greens Norton Road Towchester, Northamptonshire 2nd (lost promotion play-off) Trowbridge Doric Park Hilperton, Trowbridge, Wiltshire 8th Windsor Home Park Windsor, Berkshire 3rd Witney Witney Road Hailey, Witney, Oxfordshire 5th
League table
Promotion play-off Each season, the runners-up in South West 1 East and Tribute South West 1 West, participate in a play-off for promotion to National League 3 South West. The team with the best playing record, in this case Salisbury, hosted the match and they beat their opponents Thornbury 26 – 24.
Teams 2014–15 Bletchley – promoted from Southern Counties North Buckingham Chippenham – relegated from National League 3 South West Devizes Grove Leighton Buzzard Maidenhead Newbury Blues Reading Swindon Towcestrians Trowbridge – promoted from Southern Counties South Windsor Witney
Teams 2013–14 Buckingham Cheltenham Devizes – promoted from Southern Counties South Grove – promoted from Southern Counties North Maidenhead – relegated from National League 3 South West Marlow Newbury Blues Oxford Harlequins – relegated from National League 3 South West Reading Salisbury Swindon Towcestrians - transferred from Midlands 1 East Windsor Witney
Teams 2012–13 Bletchley Bracknell Cheltenham Coney Hill High Wycombe Marlow Newbury Blues – relegated from National League 3 South West Old Centralians Reading Salisbury Swanage & Wareham Swindon Windsor Witney
Original teams When league rugby began in 1987 this division (known as South West 2) contained the following teams:
Barnstaple Berry Hill Brixham Cinderford Devon & Cornwall Police Devonport Services Henley Launceston Newbury Reading Reading Abbey
South West 1 East honours South West 2 (1987–1993) Originally South West 1 East and South West 1 West were combined in a single division called South West 2. It was a tier 6 league with promotion up to South West 1 and relegation down to either Western Counties or Southern Counties.