Regional 1 North West

Regional 1 North West is a level five league in the English rugby union system, with the twelve teams drawn from across North West England. The other level five leagues are Regional 1 Midlands, Regional 1 North East, Regional 1 South Central, Regional 1 South East and Regional 1 South West.^[1]

Regional 1 North West

Current season or competition: 2024–25 Regional 1 North West
Sport	Rugby union
Instituted	2022
Number of teams	12
Country	England
Holders	Rossendale (2024–25)
Most titles	Lymm, Macclesfield, Rossendale (1 title)
Website	Northern Division

Rossendale are the current champions and are promoted to National League 2 North.

Format

The twelve teams in this league are drawn from across North West England, with the league champions promoted to National League 2 North. The league's bottom two teams are relegated to either Regional 2 North or Regional 2 North West depending on their geographic location.^[1]

The season runs from September to April and comprises twenty-two rounds of matches, with each club playing each of its rivals home and away. The results of the matches contribute points to the league table as follows:

• 4 points are awarded for a win
• 2 points are awarded for a draw
• 0 points are awarded for a loss, however
• 1 losing (bonus) point is awarded to a team that loses a match by 7 points or fewer
• 1 additional (bonus) point is awarded to a team scoring 4 tries or more in a match

2025–26

Departing were Rossendale, promoted to National League 2 North, whilst Stoke-on-Trent (11th) and Birkenhead Park (12th) were relegated to Regional 2 Midlands North and Regional 2 North West respectively. Also leaving were Kendal (9th) and Penrith (7th) on a level transfer to Regional 1 North East, as were Newport (Salop) (6th) to Regional 1 Midlands.

Participating teams and locations

Team Ground Capacity City/Area Previous season Anselmians Malone Field Eastham, Wirral 2nd Blackburn Ramsgreave Drive[2] Blackburn, Lancashire 8th Bowdon Clay Lane Timperley, Altrincham, Greater Manchester Promoted from Regional 2NW (1st) Burton Battlestead Croft, Tatenhill 5,500 (600 seats Burton, Staffordshire Level transfer from Regional 1 Midlands (4th) Derby Haslams Lane Derby, Derbyshire Level transfer from Regional 1 Midlands (9th) Huddersfield Lockwood Park 1,500 (500 seats) Huddersfield, South Yorkshire Level transfer from Regional 1 North East (runners-up) Leek Altrad Park Cheddleton, Staffordshire 10th Long Eaton West Park 1,000 Long Eaton, Derbyshire Level transfer from Regional 1 Midlands (8th) Manchester Grove Park[3] 4,000 (250 seats) Cheadle Hulme, Stockport, Greater Manchester 3rd Rochdale Moorgate Avenue Rochdale, Greater Manchester Promoted from Regional 2 North East Stockport The Memorial Ground[4] 500 Bramhall, Stockport, Greater Manchester 5th Wirral The Memorial Ground[5] Clatterbridge, Wirral 4th

Anselmians Blackburn Burton Derby Greater Manchester Huddersfield Leek Long Eaton Rochdale Wirral Locations of the 2025-26 Regional 1 North West teams Bowdon Manchester Stockport Locations of the 2025-26 Regional 1 North West teams in Greater Manchester

2024–25

Departing were Macclesfield, promoted to National League 2 West, whilst Sandbach and Northwich were relegated to Regional 2 North West.

Participating teams and locations

Team Ground Capacity City/Area Previous season Anselmians Malone Field Eastham, Wirral 9th Birkenhead Park Upper Park Birkenhead, Wirral Promoted from Regional 2NW (1st) Blackburn Ramsgreave Drive[6] Blackburn, Lancashire 3rd Kendal Mint Bridge Stadium[7] 3,500 (258 seats) Kendal, Cumbria 6th Leek Altrad Park Cheddleton, Staffordshire 10th Manchester Grove Park[8] 4,000 (250 seats) Cheadle Hulme, Stockport, Greater Manchester 5th Newport (Salop) The Old Showground Newport, Shropshire Relegated from Nat 2 West (13th) Penrith Winters Park[9] Penrith, Cumbria 8th Rossendale Marl Pits[10] 1,100 (100 stand) Rawtenstall, Rossendale, Lancashire 2nd Stockport The Memorial Ground[11] 500 Bramhall, Stockport, Greater Manchester 7th Stoke-on-Trent Hartwell Lane Barlaston, Staffordshire Level transfer from Regional 1 Midlands (5th) Wirral The Memorial Ground[12] Clatterbridge, Wirral 4th

Anselmians Birkenhead Blackburn Kendal Leek Manchester Newport Penrith Rossendale Stockport Stoke Wirral Locations of the 2024–25 Regional 1 North West teams

League table

Regional 1 North West 2024–25
	Team	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points for	Points against	Points diff	Try bonus	Loss bonus	Points
C	Rossendale	22	18	1	3	994	570	424	19	1	94
2	Anselmians	22	18	0	4	702	458	244	14	2	88
3	Manchester	22	17	0	5	835	502	333	18	1	87
4	Wirral	22	16	0	6	627	529	98	15	2	81
5	Stockport	22	14	0	8	778	562	216	16	3	75
6	Newport (Salop)	22	11	0	11	661	633	28	13	5	62
7	Penrith	22	8	3	11	723	679	49	15	5	58
8	Blackburn	22	7	1	14	594	805	−211	10	3	43
9	Kendal	22	6	1	15	564	649	−85	12	5	43
10	Leek	22	7	0	15	588	836	−248	10	4	42
R	Stoke-on-Trent	22	4	0	18	602	915	−313	15	3	34
R	Birkenhead Park	22	3	0	19	447	977	−530	7	2	21
If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order: Number of matches won Team with most draws Difference between points for and against Total number of points for Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled
Green background is the promotion place. Pink background are relegation places (subject to confirmation by the RFU). Updated: 15 April 2025 Source:[13]

2023–24

Departing were Lymm, promoted to National League 2 North whilst Kirkby Lonsdale and Burnage were relegated to Regional 2 North West.

Participating teams and locations

Team Ground Capacity City/Area Previous season Anselmians Malone Field Eastham, Merseyside Promoted from Regional 2 North West (1st) Blackburn Ramsgreave Drive[14] Blackburn, Lancashire 2nd Kendal Mint Bridge Stadium[15] 3,500 (258 seats) Kendal, Cumbria 10th Leek Esterchem Park Cheddleton, Staffordshire Promoted from Regional 2 North Midlands (1st) Macclesfield Priory Park 1,250 (250 seats) Macclesfield, Cheshire 5th Manchester Grove Park[16] 4,000 (250 seats) Cheadle Hulme, Stockport, Greater Manchester 8th Northwich Moss Farm Northwich, Cheshire 9th Penrith Winters Park[17] Penrith, Cumbria Promoted from Regional 2 North (1st) Rossendale Marl Pits[18] 1,100 (100 stand) Rawtenstall, Rossendale, Lancashire 3rd Sandbach Bradwall Road[19] Sandbach, Cheshire 4th Stockport The Memorial Ground[20] 500 Bramhall, Stockport, Greater Manchester 6th Wirral The Memorial Ground[21] Clatterbridge, Wirral 7th

Anselmians Blackburn Kendal Leek Macclesfield Manchester Penrith Sandbach Stockport Northwich Rossendale Wirral Locations of the 2023–24 Regional 1 North West teams

League table

Regional 1 North West 2023–24
	Team	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points for	Points against	Points diff	Try bonus	Loss bonus	Points
C	Macclesfield	22	20	1	1	908	378	+530	22	0	104
2	Rossendale	22	19	1	2	1081	402	+679	21	2	101
3	Blackburn	22	16	1	5	877	435	+442	19	2	87
4	Wirral	22	14	0	8	550	514	+36	14	3	73
5	Manchester	22	13	1	8	528	519	+9	11	2	67
6	Kendal	22	9	1	12	488	627	−139	8	3	49
7	Stockport	22	8	0	14	448	611	−163	9	4	45
8	Penrith	22	7	0	15	504	751	−247	10	4	42
9	Anselmians	22	7	2	13	382	653	−271	6	3	41
10	Leek	22	5	1	16	483	658	−175	4	7	33
R	Sandbach	22	5	0	17	395	680	−285	5	5	30
R	Northwich	22	5	0	17	390	806	−416	5	1	26
If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order: Number of matches won Team with most draws Difference between points for and against Total number of points for Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled
Green background is the promotion place. Pink background are relegation places. Updated: 12 May 2024 Source:[22]

Results

Home \ Away	ANS	BLA	KEN	LEE	MAC	MAN	NOR	PEN	ROS	SAN	STO	WIR
Anselmians	—	29–29	19–12	13–14	5–33	22–22	18–7	26–22	25–57	13–11	22–12	14–27
Blackburn	45–3	—	24–19	57–0	14–29	24–25	62–15	64–17	25–24	42–14	40–5	47–5
Kendal	5–28	38–80	—	20–17	14–25	14–25	47–20	13–0	17–34	26–18	33–24	31–30
Leek	47–20	20–50	25–25	—	11–24	17–28	64–20	41–43	19–34	18–13	11–18	17–22
Macclesfield	75–5	34–26	38–22	41–5	—	31–21	38–17	57–15	36–60	66–24	46–6	22–10
Manchester	18–12	17–24	38–34	20–15	13–29	—	29–18	40–32	26–46	29–14	28–17	33–28
Northwich	29–28	26–87	15–22	34–30	13–66	17–7	—	69–19	7–68	21–5	17–32	13–31
Penrith	38–15	15–21	27–7	21–27	24–33	17–34	35–5	—	35–66	19–14	29–12	23–24
Rossendale	71–7	40–21	45–14	54–12	26–26	27–5	43–3	106–14	—	45–7	40–10	61–33
Sandbach	35–19	8–47	17–30	44–38	12–41	24–12	33–7	21–24	12–75	—	18–17	24–37
Stockport	26–29	24–26	31–34	24–14	7–50	26–34	27–10	32–23	34–33	27–20	—	27–26
Wirral	18–10	28–22	27–15	33–21	32–48	31–24	15–7	24–12	14–26	27–7	28–10	—

Updated to match(es) played on 6 April 2024. Source: Regional 1 North West
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

2022–23

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

Eight of the twelve teams were drawn from the 2021–22 North Premier league sides with four promoted or transferred in. Of the remaining six North Premier clubs, four went to Regional 1 North East and the top two were promoted to National League 2 North.

Participating teams and locations

Team Ground Capacity City/Area Previous season Blackburn Ramsgreave Drive Blackburn, Lancashire North Premier (3rd) Burnage Varley Park Stockport, Greater Manchester North Premier (12th) Kendal Mint Bridge Stadium 3,500 (258 seats) Kendal, Cumbria Promoted from North 1 West (3rd) Kirkby Lonsdale Underley Park Kirkby Lonsdale, Cumbria North Premier (13th) Lymm Crouchley Lane 1,000 Lymm, Cheshire North Premier (5th) Macclesfield Priory Park 1,250 (250 seats) Macclesfield, Cheshire North Premier (6th) Manchester Grove Park 4,000 (250 seats) Cheadle Hulme, Stockport, Greater Manchester Promoted from North 1 West (2nd) Northwich Moss Farm Northwich, Cheshire North Premier (14th) Rossendale Marl Pits 1,100 (100 stand) Rawtenstall, Rossendale, Lancashire North Premier (8th) Sandbach Bradwall Road Sandbach, Cheshire Transferred from Midlands Premier (5th) Stockport The Memorial Ground 500 Bramhall, Stockport, Greater Manchester Promoted from North 1 West (champions) Wirral The Memorial Ground Clatterbridge, Wirral North Premier (9th)

Blackburn Burnage Kendal Kirkby Lonsdale Lymm Macclesfield Manchester Sandbach Stockport Northwich Rossendale Wirral Locations of the 2022–23 Regional 1 North West teams

Final league table

Regional 1 North West 2022–23
	Team	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points for	Points against	Points diff	Try bonus	Loss bonus	Points
P	Lymm	22	19	0	3	1089	373	716	19	1	96
2	Blackburn	22	19	0	3	1085	369	716	19	1	96
3	Rossendale	22	16	0	6	868	482	386	17	1	82
4	Sandbach	22	15	0	7	703	431	272	10	1	71
5	Macclesfield	22	13	0	9	760	579	181	15	4	71
6	Stockport	22	12	1	9	649	530	119	12	4	66
7	Wirral	22	11	0	11	603	561	42	13	3	60
8	Manchester	22	9	0	13	650	665	−15	14	6	56
9	Northwich	22	9	1	12	565	675	−110	10	2	50
10	Kendal	22	6	0	16	560	774	−214	9	4	37
R	Burnage	22	2	0	20	381	975	−594	4	2	14
R	Kirkby Lonsdale	22	0	0	22	189	1616	−1427	0	0	0
If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order: Number of matches won Difference between points for and against Total number of points for Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled
Green background is the promotion place. Pink background are relegation places. Updated: 17 April 2023 Source:[23]

Results

Home \ Away	BLA	BUR	KEN	KIR	LYM	MAC	MAN	NOR	ROS	SAN	STO	WIR
Blackburn	—	68–12	34–24	190–0	27–7	31–14	52–17	33–21	26–13	14–22	33–17	50–26
Burnage	7–45	—	7–39	38–7	14–87	24–43	10–33	13–23	27–31	10–44	26–45	5–38
Kendal	10–57	69–14	—	41–0	19–50	12–41	18–17	38–10	17–35	32–34	26–27	3–28
Kirkby Lonsdale	7–90	7–40	23–46	—	7–95	0–77	10–47	22–54	5–95	5–86	17–42	7–47
Lymm	38–21	90–12	79–21	118–3	—	32–36	43–10	81–5	35–22	29–14	30–14	52–26
Macclesfield	25–19	59–10	53–26	58–17	15–38	—	37–17	26–50	29–35	22–24	23–25	45–24
Manchester	28–50	37–28	50–19	65–5	7–36	31–17	—	28–31	28–34	13–18	31–25	59–21
Northwich	17–36	29–14	29–24	51–8	10–47	38–35	37–40	—	19–23	17–13	17–17	32–42
Rossendale	13–26	40–12	61–28	87–0	36–14	69–22	75–24	36–27	—	38–26	33–19	29–12
Sandbach	23–36	46–29	62–12	106–14	18–31	7–25	31–14	27–17	25–21	—	10–0	32–7
Stockport	15–35	66–7	26–19	79–17	24–26	29–35	36–29	28–14	48–37	15–22	—	24–22
Wirral	7–34	29–22	37–17	64–8	12–32	21–23	32–35	44–17	13–5	30–13	21–28	—

Updated to match(es) played on 25 March 2023. Source: Regional 1 North East
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

Regional 1 North West honours

List of Regional 1 North West honours
Season	No of teams	Champions	Runner–up	Relegated teams	Ref
2022–23	12	Lymm	Blackburn	Burnage and Kirkby Lonsdale
2023–24	12	Macclesfield	Rossendale	Sandbach and Northwich	[24]
2024–25	12	Rossendale	Anselmians RUFC	Stoke-on-Trent and Birkenhead Park	[13]
Green background is the promotion place.