1998–99 National League 2 North

1998–99 National League 2 North
Countries	England
Champions	Preston Grasshoppers (1st title)
Runners-up	Stourbridge (not promoted)
Relegated	Winnington Park, Lichfield, Hinckley
Matches played	182
← 1997–98 1999–00 →

The 1998–99 National League 2 North was the twelfth full season of rugby union within the fourth tier (north) of the English league system. It is counterpart to National League 2 South, which covers the southern half of the country.

As with the previous season, the battle for the league was very competitive, with Preston Grasshoppers edging out Stourbridge by just 2 points to claim the title and only promotion spot to the 1999–00 National League 1. At the other end of the table Winnington Park, Lichfield, Hinckley were the three sides to be relegated, with newly promoted Hinckley being the most competitive of the three.^[1] Winnington Park would drop to North 1 while Lichfield and Hinckley fell to Midlands 1. The reason National League 2 North had so many relegation places compared to National League 2 South (3 to 1) was that both of the two teams relegated from the division above were based in the north of the country, requiring more places to accommodate for their arrival the following season.

Structure

Each team played home and away matches against each of the other teams, playing a total of twenty-six matches each. The league champions were promoted to National League 1 while the bottom three sides dropped to either North 1 or Midlands depending on locality.

Participating teams and locations

Team Ground Capacity City/Area Previous season Aspatria Bower Park Aspatria, Cumbria 9th Hinckley Leicester Road 2,000 Hinckley, Leicestershire 12th Kendal Mint Bridge 3,000 Kendal, Cumbria 3rd Lichfield Cooke Fields Lichfield, Staffordshire 14th New Brighton Hartsfield 2,000 Moreton, Merseyside Promoted from North 1 (champions) Nuneaton Harry Cleaver Ground Nuneaton, Warwickshire 7th Preston Grasshoppers Lightfoot Green 5,000 Preston, Lancashire 4th Sandal Milnthorpe Green Sandal Magna, Wakefield, West Yorkshire 8th Sedgley Park Park Lane 3,000 Whitefield, Greater Manchester 5th Sheffield Abbeydale Park 3,200 Dore, Sheffield, South Yorkshire 10th Stourbridge Stourton Park 3,500 Stourbridge, West Midlands 6th Walsall Broadway 1,150 Walsall, West Midlands 11th Whitchurch Edgeley Park Whitchurch, Shropshire Promoted from Midlands 1 (champions) Winnington Park Burrows Hill Northwich, Cheshire 13th

Aspatria Hinckley Kendal Lichfield New Brighton Nuneaton Preston Sandal Sedgley P Sheffield Stourbridge Walsall Whitchurch Winnington P class=notpageimage| 1998–99 National League 2 North teams in England

League table

^[1]

Sponsorship

National League 2 North is part of the Jewson National Leagues is sponsored by Jewson.

References