London 3 Eastern Counties
Current season or competition:
2019–20 London 3 Eastern Counties
SportRugby union
Instituted2017 (2017)
Number of teams11
Country England
HoldersWest Norfolk (1st title) (2019–20)
(promoted to London 2 North East)
Most titlesStowmarket, West Norfolk, Wymondham (1 title)
Websiteenglandrugby.com

London 3 Eastern Counties is an English rugby union league that is at the eighth level of the English rugby union system and is available to club sides based in Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk (Eastern Counties). Promoted teams move up to London 2 North East with league champions going up automatically and the runners up playing a playoff against the runners up from London 3 Essex, while demoted teams usually drop down to Eastern Counties 1, with new teams also coming up from this league, although only 1st XV sides are allowed in London 3 Eastern Counties. Each year all clubs in the division also take part in the RFU Senior Vase - a level 8 national competition.

The division was created for the 2017-18 as part of an RFU reorganization of the London & South East regional league. Originally there had been a London 3 North East league which had involved teams from the Eastern Counties as well as Essex and parts of north-east London. Due to the distances involved for teams travelling potentially from London to Norfolk and vice versa, at the end of the 2016–17 season, this league was discontinued. Teams in Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk who had played in London 3 North East were transferred into the new look London 3 Eastern Counties 3 along with additional promoted teams from Eastern Counties 1, while the Essex and London sides went into another new division called London 3 Essex.

Participating teams 2021-22

The teams competing in 2021-22 achieved their places in the league based on performances in 2019-20, the 'previous season' column in the table below refers to that season not 2020-21.

Ahead of the new season Crusaders, who finished 6th in 2019-20 withdrew from the league (and will instead participate in Eastern Counties Greene King Division Two North) meaning London 3 EC will run with 10 teams for this season.

Season 2020–21

On 30 October the RFU announced [1] that a decision had been taken to cancel Adult Competitive Leagues (National League 1 and below) for the 2020/21 season meaning London 3 Eastern Counties was not contested.

Participating teams 2019-20

Participating teams 2018-19

Participating teams 2017-18

London 3 Eastern Counties honours

London 3 Eastern Counties is a tier 8 league with promotion up to London 2 North East and relegation down to Eastern Counties 1.

London 3 Eastern Counties
Season No of teams Champions Runners–up Relegated Teams
2017–18[2]11StowmarketSouthwoldNewmarket
2018–19[3]11WymondhamHoltNo relegation
2019–20[4]11West NorfolkCantabrigianBeccles
2020–2111
Green backgrounds are promotion places.

Promotion play-offs

Since the 2017–18 season there has been a play-off between the runners-up of London 3 Eastern Counties and London 3 Essex for the third and final promotion place to London 2 North East. The team with the superior league record has home advantage in the tie. At the end of the 2019–20 season the London 3 Eastern Counties have been the most successful with two wins to the London 3 Essex teams none; and the home team has won promotion on two occasions compared to the away teams none.

London 3 (Eastern Counties v Essex) promotion play-off results
Season Home team Score Away team Venue Attendance
2017–18[5]Southwold (EC)49-3Millwall (EX)The Common, Southwold, Suffolk300[6]
2018–-19[7]Holt (EC)31-22East London (EX)Bridge Road, Holt, Norfolk
2019–20Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom. Best ranked runner up - Cantabrigian (EC) - promoted instead.
2020–21
Green background is the promoted team. EC = London 3 Eastern Counties and EX = London 3 Essex

Number of league titles

  • Stowmarket (1)
  • West Norfolk (1)
  • Wymondham (1)

See also

Notes

    References

    1. ↑ "RFU Cancels Adult Competitive Leagues for the 2020/21 Season". RFU. 20 October 2020. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
    2. ↑ "2017–18 London South-East Division". England Rugby. RFU. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
    3. ↑ "2018-2019 London & South-East Division". England Rugby. RFU. Retrieved 13 April 2019.
    4. ↑ "Men's London & South East Level 8 and below leagues 2019–20" (PDF). England Rugby. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
    5. ↑ "Wold Simply Blow Their London Rivals Away To Gain Promotion". Southwold RFC (Pitchero). Retrieved 21 April 2018.
    6. ↑ "Rare smiles indeed from Buster and Fossett - it must have been a special day!". Southwold RFC (Pitchero). Retrieved 21 April 2018.
    7. ↑ "Holt earn promotion to London 2NE". Holt RFC (Pitchero). Retrieved 21 April 2018.
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