1987–88 Courage League

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 Aviva Premiership.

1987–88 Courage League National Division One
Countries	England
Champions	Leicester Tigers (1st title)
Runners-up	Wasps
Relegated	Coventry Sale
Matches played	64

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.

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

Bath

Bristol

Coventry

Gloucester

Harlequins

Leicester

Moseley

Nottingham

Orrell

Sale

Wasps

Waterloo

Locations of the 1987–88 Courage League National Division One teams

Team	Stadium	Capacity	City/Area
Bath	Bath	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 (est)	Birmingham, West Midlands
Nottingham	Ireland Avenue	4,950	Beeston, Nottinghamshire
Orrell	Edge Hall Road	3,000	Orrell, Greater Manchester
Sale	Heywood Road	5,400	Sale, Greater Manchester
Wasps	Repton Avenue		Sudbury, London
Waterloo	St Anthony's Road	9,000	Blundellsands, Merseyside

League table

1987–88 Courage League National Division One Table
	Club	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points For	Points Against	Points Difference	Points
1	Leicester Tigers	10	9	0	1	225	133	142	37
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	11	3	1	7	139	246	–107	21
12	Sale	11	0	0	11	95	374	–279	11
Points are awarded as follows: 4 pts for a win 2 pt for a draw 1 pt for a loss
Red background are teams relegated.

Results

The home team is listed in the left column.

Table of Results

Clubs	BAT	BRI	COV	GLO	HAR	LEI	MOS	NOT	ORR	SAL	WAS	WAT
Bath Rugby		15–9			21–9		14–0		23–18			10–17
Bristol Rugby				16–21			21–10			37–3	12–12
Coventry	9–9	25–3			12–15			15–20	11–24	24–19		15–10
Gloucester RFC	9–16		39–3				18–12	17–9		61–7	13–24
Harlequins		28–22[2]		9–9		9–12		34–8	6–12	66–0		37–4
Leicester Tigers	24–13	15–10	32–16							42–15	12–9	39–15
Moseley			26–3		11–32	3–21			28–10		19–12	27–3
Nottingham	25–15	3–16				13–22	21-12		12–12
Orrell		13–25		9–13		30–6				19–0		30–6
Sale	17–46						15–19	0–17			6–14
Wasps	19–15		49–6		17–16			17–9	23–15
Waterloo				16–6				10–9		29–13	13–22

Home Win

Draw

Away Win

First match

5 September 1987

Nottingham	21 – 12	Moseley

Ireland Avenue

[3]

Sponsorship

National Division One is part of the Courage Clubs Championship and is sponsored by Courage Brewery

See also

• English rugby union system

References

1. "Courage League 1987–1988". Ipernews.com. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
2. The 1988 final of the John Player Cup which took place on neutral ground at Twickenham also counts for the league.
3. "Results". The Guardian. 7 September 1987. ProQuest 186753976.