1. Structure of League Competitions - Season 24-25: 

Subject to the provisions of this Appendix 2, in the 2024-2025 Season there shall be:

• (a) Premiership (formerly Level 1): comprising ten Clubs;
• (b) Championship (formerly Level 2): comprising twelve Clubs;
• (c) National 1 League (formerly Level 3): one league comprising fourteen Clubs;
• (d) National 2 League (formerly Level 4): three leagues each comprising fourteen Clubs;
• (e) Regional 1 League (formerly Level 5): six leagues each comprising twelve Clubs;
• (f) Regional 2 League (formerly Level 6): twelve leagues each comprising twelve Clubs;
• (g) Counties Leagues (formerly Level 7 and below): such number of Constituent Body based leagues comprising such numbers of Clubs or teams up to a maximum of twelve Clubs as determined by the Regional Organising Committee, unless otherwise approved by the Committee.

2. In the 2024-25 Season, the following principles shall apply:

• a) Regional 2 League and above (formerly Level 6 and above): (i) where applicable, in respect of promotion and relegation in and out of these levels, the decision and criteria for determining which specific league in the respective level in which all Clubs will be placed will be as determined by the Committee (or such other group as they may nominate) and communicated to Clubs and any such decision will be final; (ii) only Club 1st XVs are permitted to take part in the Regional 1 League and above and therefore Lower XVs are not eligible for promotion out of Regional 2;
• b) Counties Leagues and below (formerly Level 7 and below): Lower XVs can take part in the League subject to meeting the eligibility criteria specified by the RFU and with the consent of the Clubs, Constituent Bodies and Regional Organising Committees involved;
• c) teams from the same Club shall not be permitted to play together in the same league and not more than two lower leagues may support a higher league, unless agreed by the Committee having taken advice from the Organising Committee;
• d) subject to below, in the event it becomes apparent to the Committee or an Organising Committee is advised on or after 1st June prior to any season that a Club for any reason whatsoever is withdrawing from or is unable to participate in the Competition or in its League then the League in question will for the ensuing season comprise the remaining participating Clubs;
• e) a Club may only play in Counties 1 and below according to its RFU Constituent Body allocation unless otherwise specifically agreed by the Committee;
• f) in the event it becomes apparent to the RFU Board of Directors or the RFU Board of Directors is advised before 1 August prior to the Season that a Premiership Club or a Championship Club for any reason whatsoever is withdrawing from or is unable to participate in or is removed from the Premiership or the Championship (as the case may be), the RFU Board of Directors may, in its absolute discretion and subject to such terms as it may decide, require that:
  • (i) a Club which would otherwise play in the Championship play in the Premiership; and/or
  • (ii) a Club which would otherwise play in the National 1 League (formerly Level 3) play in the Championship;
• g) where such decisions referred to above are made on or after 1 June prior to any season the National League (formerly Level 3) will for the ensuing season comprise fewer than fourteen Clubs.

3. Principles of Promotion:

At the conclusion of the 2024-25 Season the following principles of promotion shall apply (subject to the above):

• (a) Premiership and Championship: promotion and relegation as between the Premiership and the Championship shall be as more specifically set out in the Premiership Regulations and Championship Regulations;
• (b) National 1 League (formerly Level 3): subject to the provisions of the Championship Regulations, the highest placed Club in the National League shall be promoted to the Championship;
• (c) National 2 League to Regional 2 League inclusive (formerly Levels 4 to 6): the highest placed Club in each League will be promoted to the Level above, save that Lower XVs are not eligible for promotion out of Regional 2;
• (d) Counties 1 Leagues (formerly Level 7), the highest placed Club in each League will be promoted to Regional 2. Any remaining spaces in the Regional 2 Leagues that are needed to be populated will be determined in the following order:
  • (i) the 2nd placed First XV Clubs in Leagues where the highest placed Club is a Lower XV. In the event there are more of these than spaces available, this will be determined by the Best Playing Record;
  • (ii) the 2nd placed Club (including Lower XVs) with the Best Playing Record;
  • (iii) A 3rd placed Club will not be promoted out of Counties 1 Leagues until all 2nd placed Clubs have been promoted;
• (e) at Counties 2 Leagues (formerly Level 8) and below, the following will apply unless otherwise determined by the ROC and agreed by the Committee:
  • (i) where one League feeds into one higher League: the two highest placed Clubs in the supporting League at the end of the Season will be promoted to the Level above;
  • (ii) where two Leagues feed into one higher League: the highest placed Club in each of the supporting Leagues at the end of the Season will be promoted to the Level above;
  • (iii) in respect of all cases, any remaining spaces in the higher league will be determined by at the end of the Season by the Committee by such applicable criteria as notified by the RFU to the Clubs;
• (f) the position of the team(s) not eligible for promotion shall be disregarded in the event that a team would be promoted into a League in which another team of the same Club plays, as prohibited by regulation 6.18.

4. Principles of Relegation:

At the conclusion of the 24-25 Season the following principles of relegation shall apply:

• a) Premiership: promotion and relegation as between the Premiership and the Championship shall be as more specifically set out in the Premiership Regulations and Championship Regulations;
• b) Championship: relegation from the Championship shall be as more specifically set out in the Championship Regulations;
• c) National 1 League (formerly Level 3): the bottom three (3) clubs will be relegated or such other number as notified by the RFU to the Clubs;
• d) National League 2 to Regional 2 inclusive (formerly Levels 4 to 6): the bottom two (2) Clubs in each League will be relegated, with Clubs relegated from Regional 2 returning to their respective Constituent Body Counties Leagues, unless otherwise determined by the ROC and approved by the Committee;
• e) Counties Leagues and below (formerly Level 7 and below): the number of Clubs relegated will vary and be determined by the Committee based on such number of Constituent Body based leagues and notified by the Regional Organising Committees to the Clubs so that after promotion has taken place in accordance with these regulations, the requisite number of Clubs or teams shall be relegated at the end of the Season so that in the following season there are in all Leagues at Counties Leagues and below the same number of Clubs or teams as in the Season before or such other number of Clubs or teams as the Committee may decide;
• f) Counties Leagues and below (formerly Level 7 and below): if a first XV is relegated into a League in which the Lower XV from the same Club plays, that Lower XV shall automatically be relegated as one of the requisite number of Clubs to be relegated.

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