bowes

It meant Yorkshire clubs could mainly play other Yorkshire clubs and Lancashire clubs mainly play other Lancashire clubs. The odd team like Keighley might have found themselves on the wrong side of that though.

The NCL doesn't exist anymore. But the Premier, Division 1 and 5 regional conferences are listed as the national leagues and then there are 5 regional leagues as part of the same structure (with 2 additional regional leagues that only exist on paper, at least at open age level: there is no West & South West Men's League nor a North East Men's League). There is supposed to be promotion and relegation between the 'national' regional conferences and the regional leagues, but not sure the full details of how this will work. It's likely to be roughly 2-up 2-down but vary to preserve the geographical split of the different regional conferences. But there will be 16 team playoffs for promotion from the regional conferences to division 1. 16 teams in 4 groups then quarterfinals, semifinals and final. 4 teams from the NW Conference, 7 from the Yorkshire Conferences*, 3 from Cumbria and 2 from the South. The playoff finalists get promoted to replace the bottom 2 of division 1. *I don't know if the 4th place team with the best playing record qualifies or one of the two conferences is seeded to get an extra team in the playoffs. https://www.rugby-league.com/uploads/docs/NCRL Open Age (Male) 2026 Structure.pdf

Apparently Teesside Steelers entered Yorkshire League division 5 in 1998-99. I don’t know if they finished the season though. I’m not sure about Gateshead Panthers though but they won the North East League that season (which also had Whitley Bay Barbarians in). I do remember the Rugby League Conference well, I went to a few finals because they tended to be in the midlands. One final I was talking to someone I met at the match and didn’t realise until he said that I was talking to Harry Jepson who the Trophy was named after. It was quite nice to see teams playing each other from different leagues. I believe the Harry Jepson Trophy still exists but it’s just a single match between the Midlands Men’s League and London & East Men’s League winners now.

It would have been the Yorkshire League likely in the late 1990s. Possibly the early 2000s at the very latest. I’ll check my book to see what it says as I believe that is where I heard this. It gives a little background to the new Rugby League Conference clubs in the early days (though Gateshead Panthers never actually made it to the starting line in the RLC)

Gateshead Panthers and Teesside Steelers did go on to play in Yorkshire for a bit though.

I do actually have something on the EMARLA and London League in 1998-99 (but not the North East League). It was in a book I have ‘Beyond the Heartlands’ about the early Rugby League Conference. Final season for both leagues: EMARLA Derby City Garibaldi A Nottingham Crusaders A Birmingham Toyota-Ilkeston Derby City were champions but I don’t have the other teams. London League London Colonials (champions) South London Saints (runners-up) Metropolitan Police London Skolars A I’m not sure which way round the last 2 teams were. South London Saints became South London Storm when they joined the Rugby League Conference.

Portobello Playboys was another good game in the Scottish League

Thank you. Only a few years left of the expansion area winter leagues now. I wasn’t aware of Glasgow in the North East League. Basingstoke Beasts is a great club name, shame they didn’t last.

Between these twin clubs and Highfield, it did get very complicated tracking who was who from season to season. Constant relocations.

I'm very familiar with the league with Nottingham Outlaws and Featherstone Lions in. I often saw Coventry Bears play them. Then I remember Coventry Bears joining the National Conference League for a couple of seasons before they went professional. One funny story was when Coventry Bears were playing Crosfields, I turned up to watch the match and ended up being asked to touch judge the match. I'd touch judged a couple of matches in the merit league where the reserve team were playing and so I ended up the most suitable person when one touch judge couldn't make it. What I hadn't factored in was that I couldn't actually keep up with the pace of the game at that level, so it was difficult to run fast enough to make the right calls. Luckily I was sent to the far touchline away from the supporters. Chorley Borough/Lancashire Lynx/Chorley Lynx/Blackpool Panthers lasted longer but were technically a new club. They split off from the original Blackpool when not everyone at the club agreed with the relocation from Chorley to Trafford, and we ended up with two clubs. Both of which got relegated into the National Conference League, but Chorley managed a lot better and were let back into the league after a couple of seasons when they reverted to three divisions. Sadly they rather stupidly promised the players a bonus for each point they scored against Gateshead Thunder. They came close to a record score, well over 100 and the club ended up getting a points deduction for breaking the salary cap and later going bankrupt (likely they were already overspending but this made it worse).

Thank you. I never realised the North East League had as many as 10 teams in it. A surprising number of Welsh teams too, though unsure how many actually played in the league. It did help they had student and military teams in the same league as clubs though. That seems to have helped keep the numbers up. That Regal Trophy first round is memorable because until recently they were the two biggest wins in professional rugby league in the U.K.

Thank you. I believe Blackpool Gladiators kept going until 1997, though not sure whether they completed that Alliance season. Hemel and Blackpool switching is likely linked to the move to summer. Hemel ended up joining the Rugby League Conference as a fallback option when the Alliance closed, but it was clearly a step down. East Midlands and North East teams playing in Yorkshire is an interesting tradition that is still going with Derby Elks and Newcastle Lightning. Until recently also Nottingham Outlaws and Sherwood Wolfhunt. That Nottingham City Outlaws name is interesting given that the new club formed from the ashes of Nottingham Crusaders became Nottingham Outlaws. Nottingham Outlaws and Derby City joining the Rugby League Conference was effectively the league absorbing the EMARLA, though Garibaldi kept playing in Yorkshire a little longer. The Yorkshire Sunday League went on a bit longer than I realised, though guessing by that point it didn't have many teams. Was it a merger of the West Yorkshire Sunday League and York & District Sunday League?

Thank you. Nottingham City only kept going for their second NCL season by linking up with Nottingham Crusaders and bringing in players from them. Who weren’t NCL standard but at least meant they fulfilled their fixtures. Northampton tried to arrange a merger with Leicester and Peterborough to keep going at NCL level but it fell through. (The merged club would have been called East Midlands Knights). Out of interest where did Blackpool Gladiators finish in the 1994-95 division 1? Just interested to see if they also collapsed like Nottingham.

Thank you. Northampton Knights in the NCL I was aware of. I believe they lasted a season and a half. At one point there were two midlands teams in the NCL as they overlapped with Nottingham City. They started as Nene Valley in the Eastern Counties League.

Thank you again. Always really interesting. So many clubs coming and going. But some lasted a long time.