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2017–18 London & South East Premier

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The 2017–18 London & South East Premier season is the 31st season of level 5 in the London and South East region of English rugby union. It consists of thirteen teams from England and one from the Channel Island of Guernsey. It will be the first season organised under the London & South East Premier title following the rename from "National League 3 London & SE" during the off-season. This decision was made by the Rugby Football Union owing to the fact that it was felt that the league title was misleading as it was not a nationwide league but was instead the highest level of rugby in the London and South East region.[1]

2017–18 London & South East Premier
Countries England
 Guernsey
Date2 September 2017 – April 2018

The winners are promoted to National League 2 South with the runners-up entering a play-off against the runner-up of South West Premier.[2] The bottom three are relegated to either London 1 North or London 1 South.[3]

Teams edit

Fourteen teams will compete in the 2017–18 London & South East Premier season. Nine of the teams competing made up the previous year's National League 3 London & SE league. Leaving the league were Tonbridge Juddians who were promoted to National League 2 South as champions of the previous year.[4] Wimbledon were also promoted from the league after winning a play-off against National League 3 South West runners-up, Dings Crusaders.[2] Amersham and Chiltern, Chichester and Colchester were all relegated from the league due to finishing in the relegation places.[3][5]

Promoted into the league are Tring as champions of London 1 North[6] and Sidcup as winners of London 1 South.[7] The final promoted team is Tunbridge Wells who finished second in London 1 South and defeated Chingford in a promotion play-off to earn back-to-back promotions and play at Level 5 for the first time in their history.[8] Barnes also joined the league after being relegated from 2016–17 National League 2 South.[9] Owing to an imbalance in the leagues between the regions, Towcestrians were level transferred into London & South East Premier from Midlands Premier.[10]

Locations edit

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Locations of the 2017–18 London & South East Premier teams
Team Ground Capacity City/Area Previous season
Barnes Barn Elms Barnes, London Relegated from National League 2 South (15th)[9]
Dorking The Big Field Dorking, Surrey 8th[11]
Guernsey Footes Lane 5,000[12] Saint Peter Port, Guernsey 5th[11]
Guildford Broadwater Sports Club Farncombe, Surrey 9th[11]
Hertford Highfields Ware, Hertfordshire 3rd[11]
Shelford The Davey Field Great Shelford, Cambridgeshire 6th[11]
Sidcup Crescent Farm Sidcup, London Promoted from London 1 South (champions)[7]
Southend Saxons Warners Bridge Park Southend, Essex 11th[11]
Sutton & Epsom Rugby Lane Cheam, London 10th[11]
Towcestrians Greens Norton Road Towchester, Northamptonshire Level transfer from Midlands Premier (10th)[10]
Tring Pendley Sports Centre Tring, Hertfordshire Promoted from London 1 North (champions)[6]
Tunbridge Wells St Mark's Recreation Ground 3,000[13] Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent Promoted from London 1 South (play-off)[8]
Westcliff The Gables Eastwood, Southend-on-Sea, Essex 7th[11]
Westcombe Park Goddington Dene Orpington, London 4th[11]

Table edit

2017–18 London & South East Premier table
Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD TB LB Pts Qualification
1 Barnes (P) 26 22 0 4 944 380 +564 20 3 111 Promotion place
2 Guernsey (P) 26 22 0 4 962 446 +516 19 3 110 Play-off place
3 Tring 26 21 1 4 783 414 +369 16 3 105
4 Hertford 26 20 1 5 896 484 +412 20 3 105
5 Tunbridge Wells 26 14 0 12 681 557 +124 16 5 77
6 Westcliff 26 14 0 12 816 555 +261 15 4 75
7 Shelford 26 11 0 15 672 688 −16 12 3 59
8 Sidcup 26 11 0 15 654 790 −136 11 4 59
9 Dorking 26 10 1 15 646 725 −79 11 4 57
10 Sutton & Epsom 26 10 0 16 634 875 −241 13 4 57
11 Guildford 26 7 1 18 604 834 −230 15 7 52
12 Westcombe Park (R) 26 9 1 16 511 759 −248 8 3 49 Relegation place
13 Southend Saxons (R) 26 5 0 21 458 1052 −594 6 4 30
14 Towcestrians (R) 26 3 1 22 386 1088 −702 5 1 20
Updated to match(es) played on 07 June 2018. Source: "London & South East Premier". RFU.
Rules for classification: If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:
  1. Number of matches won
  2. Difference between points for and against
  3. Total number of points for
  4. Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams
  5. Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled

References edit

  1. ^ "Renaming of RFU National 3 Leagues". Oxfordshire RFU. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  2. ^ a b "Wimbledon RFC to join fourth tier of English rugby, National 2 South, next season (From Sutton Guardian)". Sutton Guardian. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  3. ^ a b Mike Bacon (27 March 2017). "O'Riordan pulls no punches as Colchester rugby club get set for life back in London 1". East Anglian Daily Times. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  4. ^ newsdesk. "Galbraith-Lowe scores three times to show why TJs are the team to beat". Times of Tunbridge Wells. Archived from the original on 11 August 2017. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  5. ^ "Got to give it a try! Relegated Chichester start promotion bid against Sevenoaks at Oaklands Park". Chichester News. 31 May 2017. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  6. ^ a b "Super Saturday for senior rugby at Tring". Tring Rugby. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  7. ^ a b "Havant coach positive despite play-off misery". Portsmouth Daily News. 24 April 2017. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  8. ^ a b newsdesk. "Tunbridge Wells survive play-off thriller to secure place among elite". Times of Tunbridge Wells. Archived from the original on 10 August 2017. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  9. ^ a b Heal, Chris (2 May 2017). "Old Elthamians reach the play-off while Barnes suffer relegation". Talkingrugbyunion.co.uk. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  10. ^ a b "2017/18 Pre-season and League fixture news". Nuneaton Rugby. 29 June 2017. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h i "2016–17 National League 3 London & SE table". RFU London. 22 April 2017. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
  12. ^ "Guernsey's Footes Lane improvements agreed". BBC News. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
  13. ^ Courage clubs championship Official Rugby Union club directory 1990–91. Bungay: Burlington Publishing. 1990. p. 584. ISBN 1-873057-01-6.
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