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.[1]
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
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.
If 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 2022 Source:[3]
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.[4]
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.[5][6][7][8] 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.
If 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 2021 Source: "National League 3 North". England Rugby.
If 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: 29 April 2017 Source: "National League 3 North". England Rugby.
Promotion play-off
Each season, the runners-up in the National League 3 North, and National League 3 Midlands participate in a play-off for promotion to National League 2 North. The team with the best playing record, in this case Rossendale, host the match and they lost to their opponents Sheffield 31 – 32.
Sheffield Tigers, are the champions, winning the league by 16 points. It was Sheffield's second promotion to National 2 North; in 2010–11 they won promotion via the play-off (as Midland representatives), beating Chester. Wirral, the second-placed team lost their play-off match against Hinckley and remain in this league for next season. Three clubs are relegated, Huddersfield YMCA to North East 1, and Birkenhead Park and Burnage, both to North West 1 .
Participating clubs and locations
Nine of the fourteen teams participated in last season's competition. They were joined by two teams relegated from National League 2 North, Hull and Stockport; and by three promoted teams, Birkenhead Park, Ilkley and Sheffield. The teams leaving the league were the 2014–15 champions, Sale who were promoted to National League 2 North, along with the runner-up Sandal, the play-off winner against Hinckley; Morley, South Shields West and Beverley were all relegated to North 1 East.
If 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: 27 April 2016 Source: "National League 3 North". England Rugby.
Promotion play-off
Each season, the runners-up in the National League 3 Midland, and National League 3 North participate in a play-off for promotion to National League 2 North. The team with the best playing record, in this case Hinckley, host the match and their opponents are Wirral.
In the first season of the English rugby union league pyramid, sponsored by Courage, there was four, tier five leagues. The geographical area for teams in the north of England covered the ceremonial counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, LancashireNorthumberland and Yorkshire There were eleven teams in the league and they played each other once, giving each team ten matches. The other tier five leagues were London Division One, Midlands Division One and South West Division One.[20] This system prevailed for five seasons, and in 1992–93 the number of teams increased from eleven to thirteen. The following season (1993–94) the league was reorganised and the four tier five leagues became two; National 5 North and National 5 South.[21] After three seasons, in 1996–97, a further reorganisation occurred, and there was a return to four, tier five leagues; with North Division One covering the area of northern England.[22] This system prevailed until 2009–10 when the number of teams was increased from twelve to fourteen and renamed National League Three North.
North Division 1 (1987–1993)
The original North Division 1 was a tier 5 league with promotion to Area League 2 North and relegation to North Division 2 (later split into two leagues known as North 1 East and North 1 West).
At the end of the 1992–93 season the top six teams from North Division 1 and the top six from Midland Division 1 were combined to create National 5 North. North Division 1 dropped from a tier 5 league to a tier 6 league for the years that National 5 North was active.
For the end of the 1995–96 season National 5 North was discontinued and North Division One returned to being a tier 5 league. Promotion was to National 4 North (later known as National League 2 North), while relegation continued to North Division 2 until 2000–01, and then into either North 2 East or North 2 West (later known as North 1 East / North 1 West) in subsequent seasons.
For the 2009–10 season North Division One was renamed as National League 3 North following a restructuring of the national leagues leading to changes at all levels.
The division was renamed North Premier for the 2017–18 season in order to make it more obvious that this was a regional division and the top one in the north.
From 2000–01 season until 2018–19 there was a play-off, between the league runners-up of North Premier and Midlands Premier, for the third and final promotion place to National League 2 North. The team with the superior league record has home advantage. As of the end of the 2018–19 season the northern teams have been stronger with twelve wins to the Midlands seven, while the home team has won thirteen times compared to the away teams six.
North Premier v Midlands Premier promotion play-off results
^Williams, Tony; Mitchell, Bill (eds.). Courage Official Rugby Union Club Directory 1991–92 (4th ed.). Taunton: Football Directories. ISBN1-869833-15-5.
^Jones, Stephen; Griffiths, John (1994). Rothmans Rugby Union Yearbook 1994–95 (23rd ed.). London: Headline Book Publishing. pp. 163–179. ISBN0-7472-7850-4.
^Mick Cleary, ed. (1997). Rothmans Rugby Union Yearbook 1997–98 (26th ed.). London: Headline Book Publishers. ISBN0-7472-7732-X.
^ abcWilliams, Tony; Mitchell, Bill (1990). Courage Official Rugby Union Club Directory 1990–91. Windsor: Burlington Publishing Co Ltd. pp. 213–326. ISBN1-873057-024.
^Williams, Tony; Mitchell, Bill. Courage Official Rugby Union Club Directory 1991–92. Taunton: Football Directories. pp. 207–342. ISBN1-869833-15-5.
^Jones, Stephen; Griffiths, John (1992). Rothmans Rugby Union Yearbook 1992–93. London: Headline Book Publishing. pp. 170–185. ISBN0-7472-7907-1.
^Jones, Stephen; Griffiths, John (1993). Rothmans Rugby Union Yearbook 1993–94. London: Headline Book Publishing. pp. 151–167. ISBN0-7472-7891-1.