Eastern Counties 2

Eastern Counties 2 is an English level 10 Rugby Union League - currently divided into 3 regional divisions (north, south, west). Promoted teams move up to Eastern Counties 1 with teams in this league tending to be from Cambridgeshire, Norfolk or Suffolk. Currently a three divisions, Eastern Counties 2 has previously been divided into North and South divisions with teams from Essex taking part, and had relegation to Eastern Counties 3. In 2003-04 the Essex teams broke away, forming a new league - with Essex 2 being the equivalent division to Eastern Counties 2.

Eastern Counties 2

Current season or competition: 2019–20 Eastern Counties 2
Sport	Rugby union
Instituted	1987; 38 years ago (1987)
Number of teams	29 (across 3 regional divisions)
Country	England
Holders	Holt II (North - 1st title) Stowmarket (South - 1st title) Shelford IV (West - 1st title) (2018–19) (promoted to Eastern Counties 1)
Most titles	Cantabrigian, Hadleigh, Ipswich Y.M., Thetford, Wanstead (2 titles)
Website	ecrurugby.com

In 2014-15 Eastern Counties 2 split into three regional divisions - north, south and west^[1] to allow for more 2nd and 3rd teams to take part. Due to the reorganization of the divisions, relegation is now possible to Eastern Counties 3.

Participating Clubs 2013-14

• Fakenham
• Felixstowe
• Hadleigh (relegated from Eastern Counties 1)
• Haverhill & District
• Mildenhall Red Lodge
• Mistley
• Norwich Medics
• Norwich Union
• Thetford
• Thurston (relegated from Eastern Counties 1)

Participating Clubs 2012–13

• Broadland – Great Yarmouth
• Felixstowe
• Haverhill & District
• Mildenhall Red Lodge
• Mistley
• Norwich Medics
• Norwich Union
• Sawston
• Swaffham
• Thetford

Original teams

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

• Basildon
• Braintree
• Canvey Island
• Chelmsford
• Diss
• East London
• Ilford Wanderers
• Port of London Authority^[a]
• Upminster
• Wanstead
• Woodbridge

Eastern Counties 2 Honours

Eastern Counties 2 (1987–1993)

The original Eastern Counties 2 was a tier 9 league with promotion up to Eastern Counties 1 and relegation down to Eastern Counties 3.^[3]

Eastern Counties 2
Season	No of Teams	Champions	Runners–up	Relegated Teams
1987–88	11	Basildon	Canvey Island	Ilford Wanderers
1988–89	11	Old Edwardians	Braintree	Thetford
1989–90	11	Chelmsford	Woodbridge	Wanstead
1990–91	11	Campion	Port of London Authority[b]	Ipswich YMCA
1991–92	11	Maldon	Upminster[c]	No relegation[d]
1992–93	13	Wymondham	Harwich & Dovercourt	Redbridge, South Woodham Ferrers
Green backgrounds are promotion places.

Eastern Counties 2 (1993–96)

The creation of National 5 South meant that Eastern Counties 2 dropped from a tier 9 league to a tier 10 league for the years that National 5 South was active. Promotion and relegation continued to Eastern Counties 1 and Eastern Counties 3 respectively.

Eastern Counties 2
Season	No of Teams	Champions	Runners–up	Relegated Teams
1993–94	13	Diss	Holt	Ipswich YMCA, Crusaders
1994–95	12	Ilford Wanderers	Loughton	East London
1995–96	13	Cantabrigian	Wanstead	Old Bealonians, Lakenham Hewett
Green backgrounds are promotion places.

Eastern Counties 2 (1996–2000)

The cancellation of National 5 South at the end of the 1995–96 season meant that Eastern Counties 2 reverted to being a tier 9 league. Promotion continued to Eastern Counties 1, while relegation was to Eastern Counties 3, which would split into two regional divisions - north and south - ahead of the 1997–98 season.

Eastern Counties 2
Season	No of Teams	Champions	Runners–up	Relegated Teams
1996–97	13	Hadleigh	Bancroft[e]	Ravens
1997–98	10	Met Police Chigwell	Thetford	Loughton, Fakenham
1998–99[4]	9	Billericay	Old Cooperians	Southwold, Old Palmerians
1999–00[5]	9	Wanstead	Mersea Island	Harwich & Dovercourt
Green backgrounds are promotion places.

Eastern Counties 2: North / South (2000–2003)

East Counties 2 was split into two regional divisions - north and south - and the introduction of London 4 North East ahead of the 2000–01 season meant the divisions dropped to become tier 10 leagues. Promotion was to Eastern Counties 1 and relegation to Eastern Counties 3 - north or south.

Eastern Counties 2: North / South
Season	No of Teams	Champions	Runners–up	Relegated Teams	League Name
2000–01 [6][7]	10	Beccles	Ipswich Y.M.	Brightlingsea, Norwich Union, Southwold	East Counties 2 North
	9	Stanford Le Hope	Epping Upper Clapton	Old Cooperians	East Counties 2 South
2001–02 [8][9]	10	Colchester	Stowmarket	Harwich & Dovercourt	East Counties 2 North
	10	Wanstead	East London	May & Baker, Millwall	East Counties 2 South
2002–03 [10][11]	10	Ipswich Y.M.	Southwold[f]	No relegation	East Counties 2 North[g]
	10	Westcliff[h]	East London[12]	No relegation	East Counties 2 South[i]
Green backgrounds are promotion places.

Eastern Counties 2 (2003–2009)

Eastern Counties 2 re-merged into a single division ahead of the 2003–04 season, continuing to be a tier 10 league. Promotion continued to Eastern Counties 1 and after the cancellation of Eastern Counties 3 at the end of the 2003–04 season, there was no relegation.

Eastern Counties 2
Season	No of Teams	Champions	Runners–up	Relegated Teams
2003–04[13]	8	Crusaders	Wisbech	No relegation
2004–05[14]	9	Newmarket	Fakenham	No relegation
2005–06[15]	11	Woodbridge	Dereham	No relegation
2006–07[16]	11	Cantabrigian	Ely	No relegation
2007–08[17]	11	Thetford	Newmarket	No relegation
2008–09[18]	10	Southwold	Ely	No relegation
Green backgrounds are promotion places.

Eastern Counties 2 (2009–2014)

Eastern Counties 2 remained a tier 10 league despite national restructuring by the RFU. Promotion continued to Eastern Counties 1 and there was no relegation.

Eastern Counties 2
Season	No of Teams	Champions	Runners–up	Relegated Teams
2009–10[19]	10	Harwich & Dovercourt	Haverhill & District	No relegation
2010–11[20]	10	Ipswich Y.M.	Broadland - Great Yarmouth	No relegation
2011–12[21]	9	Hadleigh	Thurston	No relegation
2012–13[22]	9	Swaffham	Broadland - Great Yarmouth	No relegation
2013–14[23]	10	Thetford	Thurston	No relegation
Green backgrounds are promotion places.

Eastern Counties 2: North / South / West (2014–present)

Eastern Counties 2 was once again restructured - this time into three regional divisions - north, south and west. It remained a tier 10 league with promotion to Eastern Counties 1 and the reintroduction of Eastern Counties 3 meant there was once again relegation to one of its regional divisions - north, south or west.

Eastern Counties 2: North / South / West
Season	No of Teams	Champions	Runners–up	Relegated Teams	League Name
2014–15 [24]	10	Diss II	Broadland-Great Yarmouth	Watton	Eastern Counties 2 North
	10	Colchester II	Harwich & Dovercourt	Brightlingsea	Eastern Counties 2 South
	10	Cantabrigian II	Bury St Edmunds III	Sawston	Eastern Counties 2 North
2015–16 [25][26][27]	10	Broadland - Great Yarmouth	Norwich Medics	Beccles II	Eastern Counties 2 North
	10	Colchester III	Harwich & Dovercourt	Aldeburgh & Thorpeness	Eastern Counties 2 South
	10	Bury St Edmunds III	Cantabrigian II	March Bears	Eastern Counties 2 West
2016–17 [28][29][30]	10	Fakenham	Diss II	Dereham	Eastern Counties 2 North
	9	Mersea Island	Ipswich II	Felixstowe	Eastern Counties 2 South
	9	Cottenham Renegades	Shelford III	Ely II	Eastern Counties 2 West
2017–18 [31][32][33]	11	Wymondham II	Norwich II	Broadland - Great Yarmouth II	Eastern Counties 2 North
	9	Halstead Templars	Colchester IV	Ipswich Y.M. II	Eastern Counties 2 South
	6	March Bears	St Ives II	No relegation	Eastern Counties 2 West
2018–19 [34][35][36]	10	Holt II	Watton	West Norfolk II	Eastern Counties 2 North
	9	Stowmarket	Braintree II	Mersea Island II	Eastern Counties 2 South
	10	Shelford IV[j]	Haverhill & District	Sawston	Eastern Counties 2 West
2019–20	10				Eastern Counties 2 North
	9				Eastern Counties 2 South
	10				Eastern Counties 2 West
2020–21	10				Eastern Counties 2 North
	9				Eastern Counties 2 South
	10				Eastern Counties 2 West
Green backgrounds are promotion places.

Promotion play-offs

From 2000 to 2002 there was a playoff between the runners-up of Eastern Counties 2 North and Eastern Counties 2 South for the third and final promotion place to Eastern Counties 1 with the team with the superior league record has home advantage in the tie. The promotion playoffs were discontinued when a single Eastern Counties 2 division was created for the 2002–03 season.

Eastern Counties 2 North v Eastern Counties 2 North promotion play-off results
Season	Home team	Score	Away team	Venue	Attendance
2000-01[37]	Epping Upper Clapton (S)	21-15	Ipswich Y.M. (N)	Upland Road, Thornwood, Essex
2001-02[38]	Stowmarket (N)	21-12	East London (S)	Chilton Fields, Stowmarket, Suffolk
Green background is the promoted team. N = Eastern Counties 2 North and S = Eastern Counties 2 South

Number of league titles

• Cantabrigian (2)^[k]
• Hadleigh (2)
• Ipswich Y.M. (2)
• Thetford (2)
• Wanstead (2)
• Basildon (1)
• Beccles (1)
• Billericay (1)
• Broadland - Great Yarmouth (1)
• Bury St Edmunds III (1)
• Campion (1)
• Cantabrigian II (1)
• Chelmsford (1)
• Colchester (1)^[l]
• Colchester II (1)
• Colchester III (1)
• Cottenham Renegades (1)
• Crusaders (1)
• Diss (1)^[m]
• Diss II (1)
• Fakenham (1)
• Halstead Templars (1)
• Harwich & Dovercourt (1)
• Holt II (1)
• Ilford Wanderers (1)
• Maldon (1)
• March Bears (1)
• Mersea Island (1)
• Met Police Chigwell (1)
• Newmarket (1)
• Old Edwardians (1)
• Shelford IV (1)
• Southwold (1)
• Stanford Le Hope (1)
• Stowmarket (1)
• Swaffham (1)
• Westcliff (1)
• Woodbridge (1)
• Wymondham (1)^[n]
• Wymondham II (1)

See also

• London & SE Division RFU
• Eastern Counties RU
• Essex RFU
• English rugby union system
• Rugby union in England

Notes

1. Runners up and promoted side Port of London Authority would be renamed as Ravens for the following season when they competed in Eastern Counties 1.^[2]
2. Runners up and promoted side Port of London Authority would be renamed as Ravens for the following season when they competed in Eastern Counties 1.^[2]
3. 3rd place Lowestoft & Yarmouth also promoted.
4. There was no relegation as the league was to increase from 11 to 13 teams for the following season.
5. League restructuring meant that four clubs were promoted including Felixstowe and Westcliff.
6. 3rd and 4th place Thurston and Cantabrigian were also promoted.
7. This was the last season for East Counties 2 North due to restructuring of the Eastern Counties league as a new Essex league was introduced. Teams from East Counties 2 North would stay in the league and would move into either Eastern Counties 1 or Eastern Counties 2 for the next season depending on league position.
8. Westcliff transferred to Essex 1 for next season.
9. This was the last season for East Counties 2 South due to re-structuring of the Eastern Counties league. A new Essex league would be introduced for the next season with teams from East Counties 2 south joining either Essex 1 or Essex 2 for the next year depending on league position.
10. Champions Shelford IV cannot be promoted as Shelford III in Eastern Counties 1.
11. As a club Cantabrigian has won 3 titles - 2 by the 1st XV, 1 by the 2nd XV.
12. As a club Colchester has won 3 titles - 1 each by the 1st XV, 2nd XV and 3rd XV.
13. As a club Diss has won 2 titles - 1 by the 1st XV, the other by the 2nd XV.
14. As a club Wymondham has won 2 titles - 1 by the 1st XV, the other by the 2nd XV.

References

1. Andrew Sarek (23 May 2014). "Revised Eastern Counties Leagues for 2014/15". Retrieved 3 May 2015.
2. Barry Birkett (29 July 2013). "THE HISTORY OF RAVENS(PLA) RFC". Ravens RFC.
3. "EASTERN COUNTIES RUGBY UNION HANDBOOK 2015/16" (PDF). Eastern Counties RU. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 August 2016. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
4. "1998-19 London South-East Division". England Rugby. RFU. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
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10. "2002-03 London South-East Division". England Rugby. RFU. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
11. "2002-03 London South-East Division". England Rugby. RFU. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
12. East London transferred to Essex 1 for next season.
13. "2003-04 London South-East Division". England Rugby. RFU. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
14. "2004-05 London South-East Division". England Rugby. RFU. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
15. "2005-06 London South-East Division". England Rugby. RFU. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
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24. "London & SE Division - 2014-15 Eastern Counties Greene King Division Two North". Pitchero. Eastern Counties Rugby Union. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
25. "London & SE Division - 2015-16 Eastern Counties Greene King Division Two North". Pitchero. Eastern Counties Rugby Union. Retrieved 25 April 2016.
26. "London & SE Division - 2015-16 Eastern Counties Greene King Division Two South". Pitchero. Eastern Counties Rugby Union. Retrieved 25 April 2016.
27. "London & SE Division - 2015-16 Eastern Counties Greene King Division Two West". Pitchero. Eastern Counties Rugby Union. Retrieved 25 April 2016.
28. "London & SE Division - 2016-17 Eastern Counties Greene King Division Two North". Pitchero. Eastern Counties Rugby Union. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
29. "London & SE Division - 2016-17 Eastern Counties Greene King Division Two South". Pitchero. Eastern Counties Rugby Union. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
30. "London & SE Division - 2016-17 Eastern Counties Greene King Division Two West". Pitchero. Eastern Counties Rugby Union. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
31. "Eastern Counties Greene King Division Two North 2017-18". England Rugby. RFU. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
32. "Eastern Counties Greene King Division Two South 2017-18". England Rugby. RFU. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
33. "Eastern Counties Greene King Division Two West 2017-18". England Rugby. RFU. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
34. "Eastern Counties Greene King Division Two North 2018-19". England Rugby. RFU. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
35. "Eastern Counties Greene King Division Two South 2018-19". England Rugby. RFU. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
36. "Eastern Counties Greene King Division Two West 2018-19". England Rugby. RFU. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
37. "London & SE Division Play-Offs 2000-01". England Rugby. 19 May 2001.
38. "London & SE Division Play-Offs 2001-02". England Rugby. 27 April 2002.