1987–88 Courage League National Division One |
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Countries | England |
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Champions | Leicester Tigers (1st title) |
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Runners-up | Wasps |
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Relegated | Coventry Sale |
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Matches played | 64 |
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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
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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
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
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
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
Nottingham | 21 – 12[6] | Moseley |
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Leicester Tigers | 23 – 13 | Bath |
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Harlequins | 9 – 12 | Leicester Tigers |
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Coventry | 15 – 20 | Nottingham |
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October 1987
Leicester Tigers | 32 – 16 | Coventry |
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The Recreation Ground Attendance: 7,000[7] |
Gloucester | 17 – 9 | Nottingham |
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November 1987
Nottingham | 13 – 22 | Leicester Tigers |
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Harlequins | 9 – 9 | Gloucester |
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Leicester Tigers | 12 – 9 | Wasps |
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Moseley | 3 – 21 | Leicester Tigers |
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December 1987
Kingsholm Attendance: 7,000[7] |
Leicester Tigers | 15 – 10 | Bristol |
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January 1988
February 1988
Orrell | 30 – 6 | Leicester Tigers |
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March 1988
Coventry | 12 – 15 | Harlequins |
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Leicester Tigers | 42 – 15 | Sale |
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April 1988
Harlequins | 34 – 8 | Nottingham |
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Leicester Tigers | 39 – 15 | Waterloo |
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- League and cup double header. The 1988 John Player Cup final would also count as Harlequins v Bristol Courage League game.
Cancelled games
Leicester Tigers | C – C | Gloucester |
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National Division One is part of the Courage Clubs Championship and is sponsored by Courage Brewery
See also
References
- ^ "Courage League 1987–1988". Ipernews.com. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
- ^ "Dallaglio's turned into Nostradamus". The Rugby Paper. 21 May 2023.
- ^ "England - National Championship 1987/88". Retrieved 21 January 2024.
- ^ "Fixtures / Results (September 5, 1987 to April 30, 1988)". Rugby Archives. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
- ^ "Results". The Guardian. 7 September 1987. ProQuest 186753976.
- ^ a b Peter Hall and Colin Gale (29 August 2014). "1987 to 1988". Bath Rugby Heritage.
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