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

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. 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

Aspatria

Hinckley

Kendal

Lichfield

New Brighton

Nuneaton

Preston

Sandal

Sedgley P

Sheffield

Stourbridge

Walsall

Whitchurch

Winnington P

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1998–99 National League 2 North teams in England

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

League table

1998–99 National League 2 North table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Preston Grasshoppers (C)	26	23	0	3	822	341	+481	46	Promoted
2	Stourbridge	26	22	0	4	895	413	+482	44
3	New Brighton	26	20	0	6	703	329	+374	40
4	Kendal	26	18	0	8	635	347	+288	36
5	Nuneaton	26	14	2	10	597	533	+64	30
6	Sheffield	26	15	0	11	496	455	+41	30
7	Sandal	26	13	0	13	697	611	+86	26
8	Sedgley Park	26	12	1	13	710	553	+157	25
9	Walsall	26	10	1	15	515	720	−205	21
10	Aspatria	26	10	0	16	578	675	−97	20
11	Whitchurch	26	9	1	16	450	599	−149	19
12	Hinckley (R)	26	7	1	18	445	733	−288	15	Relegated
13	Lichfield (R)	26	3	0	23	371	950	−579	6
14	Winnington Park (R)	26	3	0	23	310	965	−655	6

Source:
Rules for classification: Points are awarded as follows: 2 pts for a win, 1 pt for a draw, 0 pts for a loss. If teams are level at any stage, difference between points for and against applies.
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated

Sponsorship

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