Regional 2 North West Explained

Regional 2 North West is a level six league in the English rugby union system, with the twelve teams drawn for the most part from Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Cheshire, Merseyside and the Isle of Mann with selected others from neighbouring counties. The other level six leagues in the Northern Division are Regional 2 North for teams in North East England and Cumbria; and Regional 2 North East for teams, predominantly, in Yorkshire. It was created as a product of the 2022 Adult Competition Review.^[1]

Birkenhead Park are the current champions and are promoted to Regional 1 North West.

Structure

The league consists of twelve teams who play the others on a home and away basis, to make a total of 22 matches each. The champions are promoted to Regional 1 North West and the bottom sides are relegated to Counties 1 ADM Lancashire & Cheshire.

The results of the matches contribute points to the league 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.

2024–25

Departing were Birkenhead Park,^[2] who were promoted to Regional 1 North West, and Liverpool St Helens, who were relegated to Counties 1 ADM Lancashire & Cheshire.^[3] Kirkby Lonsdale (11th) went on a level transfer to Regional 2 North^[4] as did Whitchurch on a level transfer back to Regional 2 West Midlands after just one season.

Joining were Sandbach^[5] and Northwich,^[6] relegated from Regional 1 North West, whilst Eccles^[7] and Widnes^[8] were promoted from Counties 1 ADM Lancashire & Cheshire.

Team	Ground	Capacity	City/Area	Previous season
	Stelfox Avenue			8th
Bowdon	Clay Lane			3rd
	Varley Park			5th
Crewe & Nantwich	Newcastle Road			4th
	Port-E-Chee			10th
Eccles	Gorton Street			Promoted from Counties 1 ADM Lancashire & Cheshire (runners-up)
	St Anthony's Road	9,000 (200 seats)		2nd
Northwich	Moss Farm			Relegated from Regional 1 North West (12th)
	Bradwall Road[9]			Relegated from Regional 1 North West (11th)
	Powder House Lane			7th
Widnes	Heath Road			Promoted from Counties 1 ADM Lancashire & Cheshire (champions)
	Burrows Hill			8th

2023–24

Departing were Anselmians promoted to Regional 1 North West^[10] while Broughton Park and Wilmslow^[11] were relegated to Counties 1 ADM Lancashire & Cheshire. Glossop (9th) and Rochdale (4th) went on a level transfer to Regional 2 North East.

Joining were Burnage^[12] and Kirby Lonsdale,^[13] relegated from Regional 1 North West, and Liverpool St Helens promoted from Counties 1 ADM Lancashire & Cheshire.^[14] Also coming in were Crewe & Nantwich and Whitchurch, both on a level transfer from Regional 2 West Midlands.

Team	Ground	Capacity	City/Area	Previous season
	Stelfox Avenue			6th
	Upper Park			3rd
Bowdon	Clay Lane			2nd
	Varley Park			Relegated from Regional 1 North West (11th)
Crewe & Nantwich	Newcastle Road			Level transfer from Regional 2 West Midlands (8th)
	Port-E-Chee			10th
	St Anthony's Road	9,000 (200 seats)		5th
	Underley Park			Relegated from Regional 1 North West (12th)
	Moss Lane			Promoted from Counties 1 ADM Lancashire & Cheshire (champions)
	Powder House Lane			7th
	Edgeley Park			Level transfer from Regional 2 West Midlands (9th)
	Burrows Hill			8th

League table

<															-- --> width=20% style="border:0px" Regional 2 North West 2023–24
	Team	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points for	Points against	Points diff	Try bonus	Loss bonus	Points	Points deducted
1	Birkenhead Park P	22	19	1	2	778	405	373	20	1	97	0
2		22	16	1	5	661	404	257	13	3	80	0
3	Bowden	22	15	1	6	555	442	113	12	4	76	0
4	Crew & Nantwich	22	14	1	7	549	390	159	9	3	70	0
5		22	10	0	12	623	549	74	13	8	61	0
6		22	10	0	12	425	481	−56	8	6	54	0
7		22	8	2	12	519	544	−136	7	4	47	0
8		22	8	1	13	456	592	−136	6	4	44	0
9		22	7	1	14	582	721	−139	10	3	43	0
10		22	8	2	12	377	428	−51	4	5	41	0
11		22	7	1	14	420	627	−207	6	5	41	0
12	Liverpool St Helens (R)	22	4	1	17	371	733	−362	5	5	26
If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order: Number of matches won Number of draws 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. Pink background are the relegation places. Updated: 7 November 2024 Source:[15]

2022–23

This was the first season following the Rugby Football Union (RFU) Adult Competition Review. The league was substantially similar to North 1 West (although smaller as 14 teams were reduced to 12) with nine teams returning supplemented by three from North 2 West - Anselmians, Rochdale and Winnington Park.

Team	Ground	Capacity	City/Area	Previous season
	Stelfox Avenue			10th North 1 West
Anselmians	Malone Field			1st North 2 West[16]
	Upper Park			5th North 1 West
Bowdon	Clay Lane			12th North 1 West
	Hough End			8th North 1 West
	Port-E-Chee			13th North 1 West
	St Anthony's Road	9,000 (200 seats)		4th North 1 West
Glossop	Hargate Hill Lane			7th North 1 West
	Moorgate Avenue			2nd North 2 West
	Powder House Lane			9th North 1 West
	Memorial Ground			11th North 1 West
	Burrows Hill			4th North 2 West[17]

League table

<															-- --> width=20% style="border:0px" Regional 2 North West 2022–23
	Team	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points for	Points against	Points diff	Try bonus	Loss bonus	Points	Points deducted
1		22	20	0	2	743	290	453	16	2	99	0
2	Bowden	22	19	0	3	772	472	300	18	0	94	0
3		22	16	0	6	785	409	376	15	4	83	0
4		22	15	0	7	592	401	191	13	3	76	0
5		22	13	0	9	673	554	119	12	3	67	0
6		22	10	0	12	483	490	−7	10	4	54	0
7		22	9	0	13	452	595	−143	8	1	45	0
8		22	8	0	14	530	702	−172	7	5	44	0
9	Glossop	22	8	0	14	489	675	−186	7	5	44	0
10		22	6	0	16	429	636	−207	5	4	33	0
11	Broughton Park (R)	22	3	1	18	374	829	−455	4	2	20	0
12	Wilmslow (R)	22	4	1	17	340	609	−269	3	2	18	−5
If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order: Number of matches won Number of draws 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. Pink background are the relegation places. Updated: 6 November 2024 Source:[18]

Regional 2 North West (2022–)

League restructuring by the RFU created twelve leagues at level six. The champions are promoted to Regional 1 North West and the bottom sides are relegated to Counties 1 ADM Lancashire & Cheshire

Regional 2 North West
Season	No of teams	No of matches	Champions	Runners-up	Relegated team(s)	Ref
2022–23	12	22		Boeden	Broughton Park (11th) and Wilmslow (12th)
2023–24	12	22			Cockermouth (12th)
Green background is the promotion place.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Future competition structure 2022/23 in the adult male game . RFU . 2020-12-18 . 2024-08-20.
2. Web site: League Trophies Presentation. Birkenhead Park FC. 2024-04-16.
3. Web site: All change at Moss Lane ahead of LSH's first game of year. St Helens Star. 2024-09-03.
4. Web site: First XV Fixtures for 2024-25. Kirby Lonsdale RFC. 2024-08-01.
5. Web site: Regional 2 North West League Fixtures Published (1st XV). Sandbach RUFC. 2024-06-13.
6. Web site: Northwich RUFC relegated after heavy defeat at Leek. Northwich Guardian. 2024-03-26.
7. Web site: Eccles secure back to back promotion. Eccles RUFC. 2024-04-11.
8. Web site: Widnes RUFC to join Regional 2 North West division next season. In Your Area Community. 2024-06-04.
9. Web site: Sandbach RUFC . Contact . 10 July 2023.
10. Web site: Northwich 29 Anselmians 28, rugby union match report. Northwich Guardian. 2023-09-13.
11. Web site: Glossop 16 Wilmslow 20. 30 March 2023 . Glossop RUFC. 2024-09-26.
12. Web site: Important Rugby News from Burnage RFC. 27 January 2023 . Burnage RFC. 2024-09-26.
13. Web site: Record 190-0 win is biggest in British rugby history. Rugby World. 2023-03-01.
14. Web site: LSH promoted as champions after beating Widnes at Moss Lane. St Helens Star. 2023-03-21.
15. Web site: Regional 2 North West . England Rugby . 7 November 2024.
16. Web site: St Anselmians to be crowned N2W Champions. Wirral Globe. 2022-04-26.
17. Web site: Park promoted to Regional 2 North West league – Level 6 rugby is back. Winnington Park RFC. 2022-05-25.
18. Web site: Regional 2 North West . England Rugby . 6 November 2024.