The 1987–88 Courage League National Division One was the first season of the first tier of the English rugby union league system . It was the first season of a truly national rugby union league, which is currently known as the Gallagher Premiership .
There was no fixture list; the teams arranged fixtures amongst themselves. One match would count between each of the twelve teams involved and the points scheme was such that a team received four points for a win, two for a draw and one point for a loss. Most teams played eleven games, although some played ten due to cancellations. There was also unequal home and away fixtures, with some sides (Coventry, Harlequins) playing up to seven games at home, while others (Waterloo) as little as four.
Leicester Tigers finished first in the league table and were crowned champions. Coventry and Sale were relegated to the 1988–89 Courage League National Division Two for next season, the latter side having lost all of its eleven matches. Rosslyn Park and Liverpool St Helens were promoted from the 1987–88 Courage League National Division Two for the following season.[1]
Participating teams [ edit ] Locations of the 1987–88 Courage League National Division One teams
Team Stadium Capacity City/Area Bath The Recreation Ground 8,200 Bath , Somerset Bristol Memorial Stadium 12,100 Bristol , Avon Coventry Coundon Road 9,000 Coventry , West Midlands Gloucester Kingsholm 11,000 Gloucester , Gloucestershire Harlequins The Stoop 8,500 Twickenham , London Leicester Tigers Welford Road 16,000 Leicester , Leicestershire Moseley The Reddings 10,000 Birmingham , West Midlands Nottingham Ireland Avenue 4,950 Beeston , Nottinghamshire Orrell Edge Hall Road 5,500 Orrell , Greater Manchester Sale Heywood Road 5,400 Sale , Greater Manchester Wasps Repton Avenue 3,000[2] Sudbury , London Waterloo St Anthony's Road 9,000 Blundellsands , Merseyside
League table [ edit ] Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts Qualification 1 Leicester Tigers (C) 10 9 0 1 225 133 +92 37 Champions 2 Wasps 11 8 1 2 218 136 +82 36 3 Harlequins 11 6 1 4 261 128 +133 30 4 Bath 11 6 1 4 197 156 +41 30 5 Gloucester 10 6 1 3 206 121 +85 29 6 Orrell 11 5 1 5 192 153 +39 27 7 Moseley 11 5 0 6 167 170 −3 26 8 Nottingham 11 4 1 6 146 170 −24 24 9 Bristol 10 4 1 5 171 145 +26 23 10 Waterloo 10 4 0 6 123 208 −85 22 11 Coventry (R) 11 3 1 7 139 246 −107 21 Relegated 12 Sale (R) 11 0 0 11 95 374 −279 11
Source:
[3] Rules for classification: Points are awarded as follows:
4 pts for a win 2 pt for a draw 1 pt for a loss(C) Champions; (R) Relegated Results table [ edit ] The home team is listed in the left column.
Source:
[citation needed ] Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Fixtures & results [ edit ] Clubs had to organise their own fixtures so there was no organised round by round fixture lists and also no equal allocation of home and away matches. Dates of games and results are given below in date order.[5]
September 1987 [ edit ] Nottingham 21 – 12[6] Moseley
Leicester Tigers 23 – 13 Bath
Harlequins 9 – 12 Leicester Tigers
Coventry 15 – 20 Nottingham
October 1987 [ edit ] Leicester Tigers 32 – 16 Coventry
The Recreation Ground Attendance: 7,000[7]
Gloucester 17 – 9 Nottingham
November 1987 [ edit ] Nottingham 13 – 22 Leicester Tigers
Harlequins 9 – 9 Gloucester
Leicester Tigers 12 – 9 Wasps
Moseley 3 – 21 Leicester Tigers
December 1987 [ edit ] Kingsholm Attendance: 7,000[7]
Leicester Tigers 15 – 10 Bristol
January 1988 [ edit ] February 1988 [ edit ] Orrell 30 – 6 Leicester Tigers
March 1988 [ edit ] Coventry 12 – 15 Harlequins
Leicester Tigers 42 – 15 Sale
April 1988 [ edit ] Harlequins 34 – 8 Nottingham
Leicester Tigers 39 – 15 Waterloo
League and cup double header. The 1988 John Player Cup final would also count as Harlequins v Bristol Courage League game. Cancelled games [ edit ] Leicester Tigers C – C Gloucester
National Division One is part of the Courage Clubs Championship and is sponsored by Courage Brewery
See also [ edit ] References [ edit ]
2024–25 teams Former clubs Seasons
National Division One Premiership Rugby
Other
Governing body National teams
International competitions
Competition divisions
European competitions National competitions London and South East competitions Midland competitions Northern competitions South West competitions County competitions Discontinued competitions Related articles Other