1997–98 Allied Dunbar Premiership Two

The 1997–98 Allied Dunbar Premiership Two was the eleventh full season of rugby union within the second tier of the English league system, currently known as the RFU Championship. New teams to the division included West Hartlepoool and Orrell who had been relegated from the Courage Premiership 1996–97 while Exeter and Fylde were promoted from National League 1. For the first time Premiership Two, along with the Premiership, was sponsored by the assurance company Allied Dunbar. For the previous ten seasons the league was known as the Courage Clubs Championship and sponsored by Courage Brewery.

1997–98 Allied Dunbar Premiership Two
Countries	England
Champions	Bedford
Runners-up	West Hartlepool London Scottish (also promoted)
Relegated	None
Matches played	132
Top point scorer	Mike Rayer (Bedford) 289 points
Top try scorer	Ben Whetstone (Bedford) Darragh O'Mahony (Moseley) 17 tries[1]
← 1996–97 1998–99 →

Bedford, the champions, were promoted to the Allied Dunbar Premiership for season 1998–99, along with runner-up West Hartlepool. From next season, the top two divisions would consist of fourteen teams, an increase of two per division. The bottom two teams in the top tier played the third and fourth teams in Premiership Two for the final two places in the top division. Third place London Scottish won promotion by beating Bristol in a two legged play-off, while fourth placed Rotherham lost to London Irish. There was no relegation to Jewson National League 1 because of the increase in teams in the top two divisions.^[2]

Participating teams

Bedford

Blackheath

Coventry

Exeter

Fylde

London Scottish

Moseley

Orrell

Rotherham

Wakefield

Waterloo

W Hartlepool

Locations of the 1997–98 Allied Dunbar Premiership Two teams

Team	Stadium	Capacity	City/Area
Bedford	Goldington Road	7,000	Bedford, Bedfordshire
Blackheath	Rectory Field	6,000	Greenwich, London
Coventry	Coundon Road	9,000	Coventry, West Midlands
Exeter	County Ground	5,200	Exeter, Devon
Fylde	Woodlands Memorial Ground	9,000	Lytham St Annes, Lancashire
London Scottish	Athletic Ground	6,500	Richmond, London
Moseley	The Reddings	10,000	Birmingham, West Midlands
Orrell	Edge Hall Road	5,500	Orrell, Greater Manchester
Rotherham	Clifton Lane	2,500	Rotherham, South Yorkshire
Wakefield	College Grove	3,000	Wakefield, West Yorkshire
Waterloo	St Anthony's Road	9,000	Blundellsands, Merseyside
West Hartlepool	Victoria Park	7,856	Hartlepool, County Durham

Final table

1997–98 Allied Dunbar Premiership Two table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Bedford (C)	22	20	0	2	791	365	+426	38[a]	Promoted
2	West Hartlepool	22	15	1	6	617	431	+186	31
3	London Scottish	22	14	1	7	517	404	+113	29
4	Rotherham	22	14	0	8	566	386	+180	28
5	Orrell	22	12	0	10	533	400	+133	24
6	Moseley	22	11	1	10	478	421	+57	23
7	Coventry	22	11	1	10	444	532	−88	23
8	Waterloo	22	11	0	11	510	525	−15	22
9	Blackheath	22	8	0	14	474	621	−147	16
10	Wakefield	22	6	0	16	382	556	−174	12
11	Exeter	22	6	0	16	334	553	−219	12
12	Fylde	22	2	0	20	258	710	−452	4

Source: moseleyrugby.co.uk at the Wayback Machine (archived 2016-03-08)
Rules for classification: Points are awarded as follows: two points for a win; one point for a draw; no points for a loss.

If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order: (1) difference between points for and against; (2) total number of points for.

There was no relegation this season.
(C) Champions
Notes:

1. Two points deducted for fielding three overseas players

Results

Round 1

30 August 1997

Bedford	18 – 11	Rotherham
	Report

Goldington Road

30 August 1997

Coventry	20 – 12	Moseley
	Report

Coundon Road

30 August 1997

London Scottish	35 – 9	Fylde
	Report

Richmond Athletic Ground

30 August 1997

Orrell	26 – 17	Blackheath
	Report

Edge Hall Road

30 August 1997

Wakefield	15 – 19	Exeter
	Report

College Grove

30 August 1997

West Hartlepool	19 – 21	Waterloo
	Report

Victoria Park

---

Round 2

7 September 1997

Coventry	29 – 8	Exeter

Coundon Road

7 September 1997

London Scottish	34 – 6	Blackheath

Richmond Athletic Ground

7 September 1997

Moseley	P – P	Fylde

The Reddings

• match postponed and rescheduled to 25 April 1998.

7 September 1997

Waterloo	30 – 18	Wakefield

St Anthony's Road

7 September 1997

West Hartlepool	P – P	Bedford

Victoria Park

• match postponed and rescheduled to 2 May 1998.

7 September 1997

Orrell	P – P	Rotherham

Edge Hall Road

• match postponed and rescheduled to 18 April 1998.

---

Round 3

13 September 1997

Blackheath	29 – 27	Wakefield
	Report

Rectory Field

13 September 1997

Exeter	17 – 32	Bedford
	Report

County Ground

13 September 1997

Fylde	15 – 23	Coventry
	Report

Woodlands

13 September 1997

Moseley	16 – 21	West Hartlepool
	Report

The Reddings

13 September 1997

Waterloo	17 – 36	London Scottish
	Report

St Anthony's Road

14 September 1997

Rotherham	14 – 29	Orrell
	Report

Clifton Lane

---

Round 4

20 September 1997

Bedford	45 – 33	London Scottish
	Report

Goldington Road

20 September 1997

Blackheath	50 – 16	Fylde
	Report

Rectory Field

20 September 1997

Exeter	24 – 20	Waterloo
	Report

County Ground

20 September 1997

Orrell	30 – 19	Moseley
	Report

Edge Hall Road

20 September 1997

Rotherham	33 – 21	West Hartlepool
	Report

Clifton Lane

20 September 1997

Wakefield	6 – 17	Coventry
	Report

College Grove

---

Round 5

27 September 1997

Coventry	15 – 22	Bedford
	Report

Coundon Road

27 September 1997

Fylde	18 – 25	Rotherham
	Report

Woodlands

27 September 1997

London Scottish	20 – 19	Orrell
	Report

Richmond Athletic Ground

27 September 1997

Moseley	23 – 22	Exeter
	Report

The Reddings

27 September 1997

Waterloo	51 – 16	Blackheath
	Report

St Anthony's Road

27 September 1997

West Hartlepool	31 – 20	Wakefield
	Report

Victoria Park

---

Round 6

4 October 1997

Bedford	34 – 21	Waterloo
	Report

Goldington Road

4 October 1997

Blackheath	28 – 27	Coventry
	Report

Rectory Field

4 October 1997

Exeter	19 – 20	West Hartlepool
	Report

County Ground

4 October 1997

Orrell	35 – 9	Fylde
	Report

Edge Hall Road

4 October 1997

Rotherham	24 – 3	London Scottish
	Report

Clifton Lane

4 October 1997

Wakefield	15 – 27	Moseley
	Report

College Grove

---

Round 7

11 October 1997

Coventry	18 – 12	Rotherham
	Report

Coundon Road

11 October 1997

Fylde	18 – 10	Exeter
	Report

Woodlands

11 October 1997

London Scottish	30 – 13	Wakefield
	Report

Richmond Athletic Ground

11 October 1997

Moseley	16 – 35	Bedford
	Report

The Reddings

11 October 1997

Waterloo	25 – 14	Orrell
	Report

St Anthony's Road

11 October 1997

West Hartlepool	32 – 21	Blackheath
	Report

Victoria Park

---

Round 8

18 October 1997

Bedford	22 – 9	West Hartlepool
	Report

Goldington Road

18 October 1997

Blackheath	11 – 9	Moseley
	Report

Rectory Field

18 October 1997

Exeter	16 – 22	London Scottish
	Report

County Ground

18 October 1997

Orrell	38 – 13	Coventry
	Report

Edge Hall Road

18 October 1997

Rotherham	16 – 26	Waterloo
	Report

Clifton Lane

18 October 1997

Wakefield	35 – 17	Fylde
	Report

College Grove

---

Round 9

25 October 1997

Coventry	24 – 17	Wakefield
	Report

Coundon Road

25 October 1997

Fylde	6 – 31	Blackheath
	Report

Woodlands

25 October 1997

London Scottish	15 – 22	Bedford
	Report

Richmond Athletic Ground

25 October 1997

Moseley	18 – 9	Orrell
	Report

The Reddings

25 October 1997

Waterloo	44 – 13	Exeter
	Report

St Anthony's Road

25 October 1997

West Hartlepool	22 – 21	Rotherham
	Report

Victoria Park

---

Round 10

8 November 1997

Bedford	77 – 3	Coventry
	Report

Goldington Road

8 November 1997

Blackheath	14 – 15	Waterloo
	Report

Rectory Field

8 November 1997

Exeter	10 – 20	Moseley
	Report

County Ground

8 November 1997

Orrell	13 – 27	London Scottish
	Report

Edge Hall Road

8 November 1997

Rotherham	32 – 16	Fylde
	Report

Clifton Lane

8 November 1997

Wakefield	12 – 28	West Hartlepool
	Report

College Grove

---

Round 11

13 December 1997

Coventry	24 – 22	Blackheath
	Report

Coundon Road

13 December 1997

Fylde	9 – 21	Orrell
	Report

Woodlands

13 December 1997

London Scottish	35 – 29	Rotherham
	Report

Richmond Athletic Ground

13 December 1997

Moseley	28 – 10	Wakefield
	Report

13 December 1997

Waterloo	14 – 28	Bedford
	Report

St Anthony's Road

13 December 1997

West Hartlepool	34 – 14	Exeter
	Report

Victoria Park

---

Round 12

20 December 1997

Bedford	32 – 16	Moseley
	Report

Goldington Road

20 December 1997

Blackheath	25 – 22	West Hartlepool
	Report

Rectory Field

20 December 1997

Exeter	24 – 15	Fylde
	Report

County Ground

20 December 1997

Orrell	23 – 6	Waterloo
	Report

Edge Hall Road

20 December 1997

Rotherham	46 – 8	Coventry
	Report

Clifton Lane

20 December 1997

Wakefield	15 – 10	London Scottish
	Report

College Grove

---

Round 13

27 December 1997

Coventry	P – P	Orrell

• postponed, match rescheduled to 24 January 1998.

27 December 1997

Fylde	7 – 67	Bedford
	Report

Woodlands

27 December 1997

London Scottish	P – P	Exeter

• postponed, match rescheduled to 24 January 1998.

27 December 1997

Moseley	23 – 25	Rotherham
	Report

The Reddings

27 December 1997

Wakefield	P – P	Blackheath

• postponed, match rescheduled to 18 April 1998.

27 December 1997

Waterloo	P – P	West Hartlepool

• postponed, match rescheduled to 11 April 1998.

---

Rescheduled match

10 January 1998

Waterloo	26 – 32	Rotherham
	Report

St Anthony's Road

---

Round 14

17 January 1998

Bedford	50 – 14	Fylde
	Report

Goldington Road

17 January 1998

Blackheath	34 – 25	London Scottish
	Report

Rectory Field

17 January 1998

Exeter	18 – 14	Coventry
	Report

County Ground

17 January 1998

Orrell	30 – 35	West Hartlepool
	Report

Edge Hall Road

17 January 1998

Rotherham	10 – 16	Moseley
	Report

Clifton Lane

17 January 1998

Wakefield	23 – 20	Waterloo
	Report

College Grove

---

Round 13 (rescheduled matches)

24 January 1998

Coventry	21 – 30	Orrell
	Report

Coundon Road

24 January 1998

London Scottish	22 – 10	Exeter
	Report

Richmond Athletic

---

Round 15

31 January 1998

Bedford	47 – 22	Orrell
	Report

Goldington Road

31 January 1998

Coventry	21 – 16	West Hartlepool
	Report

Coundon Road

31 January 1998

Exeter	20 – 18	Blackheath
	Report

County Ground

31 January 1998

Fylde	10 – 25	Waterloo
	Report

Woodlands

31 January 1998

Moseley	18 – 29	London Scottish
	Report

The Reddings

31 January 1998

Rotherham	41 – 9	Wakefield
	Report

---

Round 16

14 February 1998

Blackheath	18 – 31	Rotherham
	Report

Rectory Field

14 February 1998

London Scottish	18 – 18	Coventry
	Report

Richmond Athletic Ground

14 February 1998

Orrell	38 – 3	Exeter
	Report

Edge Hall Road

14 February 1998

Wakefield	13 – 24	Bedford
	Report

College Grove

14 February 1998

Waterloo	36 – 31	Moseley
	Report

St Anthony's Road

14 February 1998

West Hartlepool	66 – 12	Fylde
	Report

Victoria Park

---

Rescheduled match

21 February 1998

West Hartlepool	20 – 11	Orrell
	Report

Edge Hall Road

---

Rescheduled matches

28 February 1998

Fylde	10 – 30	Wakefield
	Report

Woodlands

28 February 1998

Moseley	29 – 16	Blackheath
	Report

The Reddings

---

Round 17

7 March 1998

Blackheath	13 – 37	Bedford
	Report

Rectory Field

7 March 1998

Coventry	41 – 33	Waterloo
	Report

Coundon Road

7 March 1998

Exeter	8 – 33	Rotherham
	Report

County Ground

7 March 1998

Fylde	P – P	Moseley

• postponed, match rescheduled to 4 April 1998.

7 March 1998

Wakefield	20 – 26	Orrell
	Report

College Grove

8 March 1998

London Scottish	31 – 17	West Hartlepool
	Report

Richmond Athletic Ground

---

Round 18

14 March 1998

Bedford	36 – 10	Wakefield
	Report

Goldington Road

14 March 1998

Coventry	37 – 10	London Scottish
	Report

Coundon Road

14 March 1998

Exeter	17 – 14	Orrell
	Report

County Ground

14 March 1998

Fylde	8 – 34	West Hartlepool
	Report

Woodlands

14 March 1998

Moseley	23 – 22	Waterloo
	Report

The Reddings

14 March 1998

Rotherham	40 – 10	Blackheath
	Report

Clifton Lane

---

Round 19

28 March 1998

Blackheath	26 – 15	Exeter
	Report

Rectory Field

28 March 1998

London Scottish	24 – 18	Moseley
	Report

Richmond Athletic Ground

28 March 1998

Orrell	16 – 29	Bedford
	Report

Edge Hall Road

28 March

Wakefield	15 – 14	Rotherham
	Report

College Grove

28 March 1998

Waterloo	22 – 12	Fylde
	Report

St Anthony's Road

28 March

West Hartlepool	42 – 31	Coventry
	Report

Victoria Park

---

Round 17 (rescheduled match)

4 April 1998

Fylde	14 – 13	Moseley
	Report

Woodlands

---

Round 20 (including postponed match from round 13)

11 April 1998

Blackheath	14 – 32	Orrell
	Report

Rectory Field

11 April 1998

Exeter	17 – 30	Wakefield
	Report

County Ground

11 April 1998

Fylde	7 – 22	London Scottish
	Report

Woodlands

11 April 1998

Moseley	P – P	Coventry

The Reddings

• postponed, match rescheduled to 22 April 1998.

11 April 1998

Rotherham	18 – 17	Bedford
	Report

Clifton Lane

11 April 1998

Waterloo	6 – 51	West Hartlepool
	Report

St Anthony's Road

• match rescheduled from round 13.

---

Round 21 (including postponed matches from rounds 2 & 13)

April 18

Bedford	16 – 3	Exeter
	Report

Goldington Road

April 18

Coventry	16 – 7	Fylde
	Report

Coundon Road

April 18

London Scottish	26 – 6	Waterloo
	Report

Richmond Athletic Ground

April 18

Orrell	3 – 9	Rotherham
	Report

Edge Hall Road

• match rescheduled from round 2.

April 18

Wakefield	21 – 24	Blackheath
	Report

College Grove

• match rescheduled from round 13.

April 18

West Hartlepool	18 – 18	Moseley
	Report

Victoria Park

---

Round 20 (rescheduled match)

April 22

Moseley	31 – 3	Coventry
	Report

The Reddings

---

Round 22

25 April 1998

Bedford	72 – 31	Blackheath
	Report

Goldington Road

25 April 1998

Moseley	44 – 9	Fylde
	Report

The Reddings

25 April 1998

Orrell	54 – 8	Wakefield
	Report

Edge Hall Road

25 April 1998

Rotherham	50 –27	Exeter
	Report

Clifton Lane

25 April 1998

Waterloo	24 – 21	Coventry
	Report

St Anthony's Road

25 April 1998

West Hartlepool	11 – 10	London Scottish
	Report

Victoria Park

---

Round 2 (rescheduled match)

2 May 1998

West Hartlepool	48 – 29	Bedford
	Report

Brierton Lane

Individual statistics

• Note that points scorers includes tries as well as conversions, penalties and drop goals.

Top points scorers Rank Player Team Appearances Points 1 Mike Rayer Bedford 21 289 2 Lyndon Griffiths Waterloo 22 263 3 Simon Binns Rotherham 22 244 4 Steven Vile West Hartlepool 17 238 5 Matt Jones Moseley 17 176 6 John Fabian Exeter 22 174 7 Simon Verbickas Orrell 18 170 8 Derrick Lee London Scottish 15 154 9 Greg Miller Wakefield 14 141 10 Jez Harris Coventry 14 133 [3]

Top try scorers Rank Player Team Appearances Tries 1 Ben Whetstone Bedford 19 17 Darragh O'Mahony Moseley 20 17 2 Conan Sharman London Scottish 20 14 Jason Forster Bedford 21 14 3 John Clarke Blackheath 14 13 Simon Verbickas Orrell 18 13 4 Greg Austin Rotherham 17 12 5 Emmet Farrell West Hartlepool 22 11 6 Steven Vile West Hartlepool 17 8 Simon Binns Rotherham 22 8 [4]

Season records

Team Largest home win — 74 pts 77 – 3 Bedford at home to Coventry on 8 November 1997 Largest away win — 60 pts 67 – 7 Bedford away to Fylde on 27 December 1997 Most points scored — 151 pts 77 – 3 Bedford at home to Coventry on 8 November 1997 Most tries in a match — 11 Bedford Blues at home to Coventry on 8 November 1997 Most conversions in a match — 8 (x3) Bedford at home to Coventry on 8 November 1997 Bedford away to Fylde on 27 December 1997 West Hartlepool at home to Fylde on 14 February 1998 Most penalties in a match — 6 (x9) N/A - multiple teams Most drop goals in a match — 2 (x4) Exeter at home to Bedford on 13 September 1997 Moseley at home to Orrell on 25 October 1997 Coventry at home to West Hartlepool on 31 January 1998 Wakefield at home to Rotherham on 28 March 1998 [5][6][7][8]

Player Most points in a match — 32 Mike Rayer for Bedford at home to Coventry on 8 November 1997 Most tries in a match — 4 (x3) John Clarke for Blackheath at home to Fylde on 20 September 1997 Jason Forster for Bedford at home to Fylde on 17 January 1998 Ben Wade for Rotherham at home to Exeter on 25 April 1998 Most conversions in a match — 8 (x3) Mike Rayer for Bedford at home to Coventry on 8 November 1997 Mike Rayer for Bedford away to Fylde on 27 December 1997 Steven Vile for West Hartlepool at home to Fylde on 14 February 1998 Most penalties in a match — 6 (x9) N/A - multiple players Most drop goals in a match — 2 (x3) Meeku Patidar for Exeter at home to Bedford on 13 September 1997 Matt Jones for Moseley at home to Orrell on 25 October 1997 Greg Miller for Wakefield at home to Rotherham on 28 March 1998 [9][10][11][12][13] Attendances Note that attendances were very poorly documented this season and there is no information available Highest — N/A N/A Lowest — N/A N/A Highest Average Attendance — N/A N/A Lowest Average Attendance — N/A N/A [14]

See also

• English rugby union system