Counties 2 Durham & Northumberland

Counties 2 Durham & Northumberland, formerly known as Durham/Northumberland 2, is an English rugby union league at the eighth tier of the domestic competition for teams from North East England. The champions and runner-up are promoted to Counties 1 Durham & Northumberland and the bottom two clubs are relegated to Counties 3 Durham & Northumberland. Each season two teams from Durham/Northumberland 2 are picked to take part in the RFU Senior Vase (a national competition for clubs at level 8) - one affiliated with the Durham County RFU, the other with the Northumberland RFU. Ponteland won their fourth title in 2020 with Sunderland also promoted.

Counties 2 Durham & Northumberland

Sport	Rugby union
Instituted	1987; 38 years ago (1987)
Number of teams	12
Country	England
Holders	Durham University (1st title) (2024-25) (promoted to Counties 1 Durham & Northumberland)
Most titles	Ponteland (4 titles)
Website	England RFU

Participating clubs 2025–26

Departing were Durham University and Gateshead, promoted to Counties 1 Durham & Northumberland as champions and runners-up respectively. DMP Elizabethans (12th) would have been relegated to Counties 3 Durham & Northumberland but instead withdrew from league competition.

Team Ground Capacity City/Area Previous season Ashington The Recreation Ground Ashington, Northumberland 5th Barnard Castle Birch Road Barnard Castle, County Durham 6th Blyth Plessey Road Blyth, Northumberland 11th Hartlepool Rovers New Friarage Hartlepool, County Durham 4th Houghton Dairy Lane Houghton-le-Spring, Tyne and Wear 3rd Jarrovians Community Centre Hebburn, Tyne and Wear Promoted from DN3 (champions) North Shields Preston Playing Fields Preston, North Shields, Tyne and Wear 7th Redcar Mackinlay Park Redcar, North Yorkshire 9th Sedgefield Sedgefield Cricket Club Sedgefield, County Durham 10th South Shields Westoe Grosvenor Road South Shields, Tyne and Wear 8th Whitley Bay Rockcliff Lovaine Avenue Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear Relegated from DN1 (12th) Yarm Wass Way Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham Promoted from DN3 (runners-up)

Ashington Barnard Castle Blyth Rovers Houghton Jarrovians North Shields Redcar Sedgefield South Shields Westoe Whitley Bay Yarm Locations of the 2025-26 Durham/Northumberland 2 teams

Participating clubs 2024–25

Departing were Horden and Peterlee and Darlington, promoted to DN1 as champions and runners-up respectively. Whitby (11th) and Seaham (12th) were relegated to DN3.

Team Ground Capacity City/Area Previous season Ashington The Recreation Ground Ashington, Northumberland 3rd Barnard Castle Birch Road Barnard Castle, County Durham 7th Blyth Plessey Road Blyth, Northumberland Promoted from DN3 (runners-up) DMP Elizabethans Northern Echo Arena Darlington, County Durham 8th Durham University Hollow Drift Durham, County Durham Promoted from DN3 (champions) Gateshead Eastwood Gardens Gateshead, Tyne and Wear 5th Hartlepool Rovers New Friarage Hartlepool, County Durham Relegated from DN1 (11th) Houghton Dairy Lane Houghton-le-Spring, Tyne and Wear 6th North Shields Preston Playing Fields Preston, North Shields, Tyne and Wear 9th Redcar Mackinlay Park Redcar, North Yorkshire 4th Sedgefield Sedgefield Cricket Club Sedgefield, County Durham 10th South Shields Westoe Grosvenor Road South Shields, Tyne and Wear Relegated from DN1 (12th)

Ashington Barnard Castle Blyth DMP Durham Uni Gateshead Rovers Houghton North Shields Redcar Sedgefield South Shields Westoe Locations of the 2024-25 Durham/Northumberland 2 teams

Participating clubs 2023–24

Departing were Ryton and Bishop Auckland, promoted to DN1 as champions and runners-up respectively. Winlaton Vulcans (11th) and Wallsend (12th) were relegated to DN3.

Team Ground Capacity City/Area Previous season Ashington The Recreation Ground Ashington, Northumberland 4th Barnard Castle Birch Road Barnard Castle, County Durham 6th Darlington Blackwell Meadows 3,000 Darlington, County Durham Relegated from DN1 (11th) DMP Elizabethans Northern Echo Arena Darlington, County Durham Promoted from DN3 (runners-up) Gateshead Eastwood Gardens Gateshead, Tyne and Wear 3rd Horden and Peterlee Eden Lane Park Peterlee, County Durham Relegated from DN1 (12th) Houghton Dairy Lane Houghton-le-Spring, Tyne and Wear Promoted from DN3 (champions) North Shields Preston Playing Fields Preston, North Shields, Tyne and Wear 7th Redcar Mackinlay Park Redcar, North Yorkshire 5th Seaham Seaham Leisure Centre Seaham, County Durham 8th Sedgefield Sedgefield Cricket Club Sedgefield, County Durham 9th Whitby Recreation Ground Whitby, North Yorkshire 10th

Ashington Barnard Castle Darlington DMP Gateshead Horden & Peterlee Houghton North Shields Redcar Seaham Sedgefield Whitby Locations of the 2023-24 Durham/Northumberland 2 teams

Participating clubs 2022–23

This was the first season following the RFU Adult Competetion Review.

Team Ground Capacity City/Area Previous season Ashington The Recreation Ground Ashington, Northumberland 7th Bishop Auckland West Mills Playing Fields Bishop Auckland, County Durham 4th Barnard Castle Birch Road Barnard Castle, County Durham 11th Gateshead Eastwood Gardens Gateshead, Tyne and Wear 5th North Shields Preston Playing Fields Preston, North Shields, Tyne and Wear 10th Redcar Mackinlay Park Redcar, North Yorkshire 9th Ryton Main Road Ryton, Tyne and Wear 6th Seaham Seaham Leisure Centre Seaham, County Durham 8th Sedgefield Sedgefield Cricket Club Sedgefield, County Durham 13th Wallsend Battle Hill Playing Field Wallsend, Tyne and Wear Promoted from DN3N Whitby Recreation Ground Whitby, North Yorkshire 12th Winlaton Vulcans Axwell View Winlaton, Blaydon-on-Tyne, Tyne and Wear 14th

Ashington Barnard Castle Bishop Auckland Gateshead North Shields Redcar Ryton Seaham Sedgefield Wallsend Whitby Winlaton Locations of the 2022-23 Durham/Northumberland 2 teams

Participating clubs 2021–22

The teams competing in 2021-22 achieved their places in the league based on performances in 2019-20, the 'previous season' column in the table below refers to that season not 2020-21.

Team Ground Capacity City/Area Previous season Ashington The Recreation Ground Ashington, Northumberland 7th Bishop Auckland West Mills Playing Fields Bishop Auckland, County Durham 9th Barnard Castle Birch Road Barnard Castle, County Durham Relegated from DN1 (14th) Darlington Blackwell Meadows 3,000 Darlington, County Durham 10th Gateshead Eastwood Gardens Gateshead, Tyne and Wear Relegated from DN1 (12th) Guisborough Belmangate Guisborough, North Yorkshire 3rd Hartlepool Mayfield Park Hartlepool, County Durham 4th North Shields Preston Playing Fields Preston, North Shields, Tyne and Wear Relegated from DN1 (13th) Redcar Mackinlay Park Redcar, North Yorkshire Promoted from DN3 (champions) Ryton Main Road Ryton, Tyne and Wear 6th Seaham Seaham Leisure Centre Seaham, County Durham Promoted from DN3 (runners-up) Sedgefield Sedgefield Cricket Club Sedgefield, County Durham 11th Whitby Recreation Ground Whitby, North Yorkshire 8th Winlaton Vulcans Axwell View Winlaton, Blaydon-on-Tyne, Tyne and Wear 5th

Ashington Barnard Castle Bishop Auckland Darlington Gateshead Guisborough Hartlepool North Shields Redcar Ryton Seaham Sedgefield Whitby Winlaton Locations of the 2021-22 Durham/Northumberland 2 teams

Season 2020–21

On 30 October 2020 the RFU announced ^[1] that due to the coronavirus pandemic a decision had been taken to cancel Adult Competitive Leagues (National League 1 and below) for the 2020/21 season meaning DN2 was not contested.

Participating clubs 2019-20

Team Ground Capacity City/Area Previous season Ashington The Recreation Ground Ashington, Northumberland 6th Bishop Auckland West Mills Playing Fields Bishop Auckland, County Durham 8th Blyth Plessey Road Blyth, Northumberland Promoted from DN3 (runners up) Darlington Blackwell Meadows 3,000 Darlington, County Durham 11th Gosforth Broadway West Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear 7th Guisborough Belmangate Guisborough, North Yorkshire Relegated from Yorkshire 1 (14th) (level transfer) Hartlepool Mayfield Park Hartlepool, County Durham 3rd Ponteland Ponteland Leisure Centre Ponteland, Tyne and Wear Relegated from DN1 (13th) Ryton Main Road Ryton, Tyne and Wear 9th Seaton Carew Hornby Park Seaton Carew, County Durham Promoted from DN3 (champions) Sedgefield Sedgefield Cricket Club Sedgefield, County Durham 10th Sunderland Ashbrooke Sports Club Ashbrooke, Sunderland, Tyne and Wear 4th Whitby Recreation Ground Whitby, North Yorkshire Relegated from DN1 (14th) Winlaton Vulcans Axwell View Winlaton, Blaydon-on-Tyne, Tyne and Wear 5th

Ashington Bishop Auckland Blyth Darlington Gosforth Guisborough Hartlepool Ponteland Ryton Seaton Carew Sedgefield Sunderland Whitby Winlaton Locations of the 2019-20 Durham/Northumberland 2 teams

Original teams

When league rugby began in 1987 this division contained the following teams:

• Bishop Auckland
• Consett
• Hartlepool
• Hartlepool B.B.O.B.
• Houghton
• North Durham
• Medicals
• Mowden Park
• Seaham
• Sunderland
• Wallsend

Durham/Northumberland 2 honours

Durham/Northumberland 2 (1987–1993)

The original Durham/Northumberland 2 was a tier 10 league with promotion up to Durham/Northumberland 1 and relegation down to Durham/Northumberland 3.

Durham/Northumberland 2
Season	No of Teams	Champions	Runners–up	Relegated Teams
1987–88	11	Mowden Park	Hartlepool	Houghton
1988–89	11	Whitby	Sunderland	Hartlepool B.B.O.B.
1989–90	11	Bishop Auckland	Darlington Railway Athletic	North Shields, Wallsend
1990–91	11	Consett	Hartlepool	Billingham
1991–92	11	Percy Park	Guisborough[a]	No relegation[b]
1992–93	13	North Durham	North Shields	Barnard Castle, Billingham
Green backgrounds are promotion places.

Durham/Northumberland 2 (1993–2000)

The creation of National 5 North for the 1993–94 season meant that Durham/Northumberland 2 dropped to being a tier 11 league. A further restructure at the end of the 1995–96 season saw Durham/Northumberland 2 remain at tier 11.

Durham/Northumberland 2
Season	No of Teams	Champions	Runners–up	Relegated Teams
1993–94	12	Ponteland	Wallsend	Newton Aycliffe, Seaton Carew
1994–95	13	Winlaton Vulcans	Medicals	Seaton Carew, Seghill
1995–96	13	Hartlepool	Guisborough	Multiple teams[c]
1996–97	10	Consett	North Durham	Wensleydale, Darlington Railway Athletic[d]
1997–98	10	Billingham	Novocastrians	Seaton Carew
1998–99[2]	9	Houghton	Seghill	Guisborough
1999–00[3]	10	Gosforth[e]	Hartlepool	Richmondshire, Chester-Le-Street, Barnard Castle
Green backgrounds are promotion places.

Durham/Northumberland 2 (2000–present)

Northern league restructuring by the RFU at the end of the 1999–2000 season saw the cancellation of North East 1, North East 2 and North East 3 (tiers 7–9). This meant that Durham/Northumberland 2 became a tier 8 league.

Durham/Northumberland 2
Season	No of Teams	Champions	Runners–up	Relegated Teams
2000–01[4]	12	Gosforth	Billingham	Novocastrians
2001–02[5]	12	Acklam	Hartlepool	Whitley Bay Rockcliff, Medicals
2002–03[6]	12	Consett	Houghton	Blyth, Whitby
2003–04[7]	12	Ryton	Ponteland	Sunderland, Barnard Castle
2004–05[8]	12	Gateshead	North Shields	Richmondshire, Yarm
2005–06[9]	12	Sunderland	Gosforth	Whitby, Hartlepool
2006–07[10]	12	Wallsend	West Hartlepool T.D.S.O.B.	Seaton Carew, Blyth
2007–08[11]	12	Ashington	Consett	Yarm, Guisborough
2008–09[12]	12	Team Northumbria	Hartlepool[f]	No relegation[g]
2009–10[13]	12	Ponteland	Medicals	Houghton, North Shields
2010–11[14]	12	Guisborough	Acklam	Prudhoe & Stocksfield
2011–12[15]	13	Blyth	Consett	Yarm, Whitby
2012–13[16]	13	Bishop Auckland	Novocastrians	Winlaton Vulcans, Seaham
2013–14[17]	13	Ryton	Sunderland	Prudhoe & Stocksfield, Whitby
2014–15[18]	14	Ponteland	Acklam	Hartlepool B.B.O.B., South Tyneside College
2015–16[19]	14	Barnard Castle	Hartlepool	Houghton, Wallsend
2016–17[20]	14	Redcar	Ponteland	Seaton Carew, South Shields, Blyth[h]
2017–18[21]	14	Acklam	Whitby	Richmondshire, Newton Aycliffe
2018–19[22]	14	Whitley Bay Rockcliff	North Shields	South Shields, Houghton
2019–20[23]	14	Ponteland	Sunderland	Blyth, Seaton Carew, Gosforth
2020–21	14	N/A	N/A	Uncontested due to the coronavirus pandemic
2021–22	14	Guisborough	Hartlepool	Sedgefield, Winlaton Vulcans
Green backgrounds are promotion places.

Counties 2 Durham & Northumberland (2022-)

Counties 2 Durham & Northumberland
Season	No of Teams	Champions	Runners–up	Relegated Teams
2022-23	12	Ryton	Bishop Auckland	Winlaton Vulcans, Wallsend
2023-24	12	Horden	Darlington	Whitby, Seaham
2024-25	12	Durham University	Gateshead	DMP Elizabethans

Number of league titles

• Ponteland (4)
• Consett (3)
• Ryton (3)
• Acklam (2)
• Bishop Auckland (2)
• Gosforth (2)
• Guisborough (2)
• Ashington (1)
• Barnard Castle (1)
• Blyth (1)
• Durham University (1)
• Gateshead (1)
• Guisborough (1)
• Hartlepool (1)
• Horden and Peterlee (1)
• Houghton (1)
• Mowden Park (1)

Notes

1. Runners up Guisborough alongside Whitby, Seaham and West Hartlepool TDSOB were promoted due to league restructuring caused by the cancellation of Durham/Northumberland 4 at the end of season.
2. Due to league restructuring caused by the cancellation of Durham/Northumberland 4 there would be no relegation this season.
3. Due to restructuring six clubs, including Sedgefield, Seaham, Hartlepool B.B.O.B., Houghton, Richmondshire, Billingham, were relegated to Durham/Northumberland 3. This was done to decrease league sizes and begin home and away fixtures in order to inaugurate North East 3 and the re-introduction of Durham/Northumberland 4 for the following season.
4. 9th placed Darlington Railway Athletic would be dissolved at the end of the season.
5. No promotion this season as division set to increase from 10 to 12 teams for 2000-01.
6. Redcar, Novocastrians were also promoted. The reason for more promotions than usual was because Durham/Northumberland 1 was due to increase from 12 to 14 teams for 2009-10.
7. Due to the increased number of teams being promoted from the division to Durham/Northumberland 1 there would be no relegation this season.
8. 3 teams relegated due to relegations from higher leagues.

See also

• Durham RFU
• Northumberland RFU
• English rugby union system
• Rugby union in England