The 1988–89 National Division 1 (sponsored by Courage Brewery) was the second season of the top tier of the English rugby union league system, the Courage Clubs Championship, currently known as Premiership Rugby. Leicester were the defending champions, and Liverpool St Helens and Rosslyn Park the promoted sides.
Bath became champions for the first time winning the league by a convincing margin from runners–up Gloucester. Waterloo and Liverpool St.Helens finished in the bottom two and were relegated to the 1989–90 National Division 2.[2]
Structure
Each team played one match against each of the other teams, playing a total of eleven matches each. This was the first season of fixed Saturdays for league matches, where before clubs had organised fixture dates and the number of home games were fairer (although some teams played six and others five). The bottom two sides were relegated to National Division 2.
The points system was changed so that a win counted for 2 points, a draw 1 point and a loss no points (previously this had been 4 points for a win, 2 for a draw and 1 for a loss).
Participating teams
Locations of the 1988–89 Courage League National Division One teams
| Team
|
Stadium
|
Capacity
|
City/Area
|
Previous season
|
| Bath
|
Recreation Ground
|
8,300 (1,000 seats)[3][a]
|
Bath, Somerset
|
4th
|
| Bristol
|
Memorial Stadium
|
8,500 (1,200 seats)[4]
|
Bristol, Avon
|
9th
|
| Gloucester
|
Kingsholm
|
11,100 (1,100 seats)[5]
|
Gloucester, Gloucestershire
|
5th
|
| Harlequins
|
The Stoop
|
9,000 (2,000 seats)[6]
|
Twickenham, London
|
3rd
|
| Leicester
|
Welford Road
|
14,700 (9,200 seats)[7]
|
Leicester, Leicestershire
|
Champions
|
| Liverpool St Helens
|
Moss Lane
|
4,370 (370 seats)[8][9]
|
St Helens, Merseyside
|
Promoted from National 2 (2nd)
|
| Moseley
|
The Reddings
|
9,999 (1,800 seats)[10]
|
Birmingham, West Midlands
|
7th
|
| Nottingham
|
Ireland Avenue
|
4,990 (590 seats)[11]
|
Beeston, Nottinghamshire
|
8th
|
| Orrell
|
Edge Hall Road
|
5,300 (300 seats)[12]
|
Orrell, Greater Manchester
|
6th
|
| Rosslyn Park
|
The Rock
|
4,630 (630 seats)[13]
|
Roehampton, London
|
Promoted from National 2 (1st)
|
| Wasps
|
Repton Avenue
|
3,200 (1,200 seats)[14][15]
|
Sudbury, London
|
2nd
|
| Waterloo
|
St Anthony's Road
|
9,950 (950 seats)[16]
|
Blundellsands, Merseyside
|
10th
|
Table
Source:
[17]Rules for classification: Points are awarded as follows:
- 2 pts for a win
- 1 pt for a draw
- 0 pt for a loss
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Results table
The home team is listed on the left column.
Source:
[18]Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Fixtures & Results
Round 1
Kingsholm Referee: Colin High |
| Rosslyn Park | 9 – 18 | Nottingham |
| | |
| Waterloo | 6 – 12 | Liverpool St Helens |
| | |
[19]
Round 2
Recreation Ground Attendance: 8,000[20] Referee: Steve Griffiths |
| Liverpool St Helens | 12 – 23 | Leicester |
| | |
| Moseley | 7 – 13 | Rosslyn Park |
| | |
[19]
Round 3
Kingsholm Referee: Daniel Salles |
| Harlequins | 15 – 6 | Liverpool St Helens |
| | |
[19]
Round 4
Recreation Ground Attendance: 9,000[20] |
| Liverpool St Helens | 9 – 31 | Gloucester |
| | |
Moss Lane Referee: Laurie Prideaux |
| Nottingham | 12 – 12 | Leicester |
| | |
[19]
Round 5
| Orrell | 20 – 4 | Liverpool St Helens |
| | |
| Rosslyn Park | 8 – 26 | Gloucester |
| | |
The Rock Referee: S V Trevithick |
[19]
Round 6
Kingsholm Referee: Steve Griffiths |
| Harlequins | 23 – 24 | Waterloo |
| | |
| Leicester | 28 – 15 | Rosslyn Park |
| | |
| Liverpool St Helens | 15 – 22 | Nottingham |
| | |
[19]
Round 7
| Leicester | 21 – 31 | Harlequins |
| | |
| Moseley | 18 – 15 | Liverpool St Helens |
| | |
| Rosslyn Park | 18 – 16 | Bristol |
| | |
| Waterloo | 15 – 15 | Gloucester |
| | |
[19]
Round 8
| Gloucester | 28 – 0 | Leicester |
| | |
Kingsholm Referee: Roger Quittenton |
| Liverpool St Helens | 7 – 21 | Bath |
| | |
Moss Lane Referee: D Hudson[20] |
| Rosslyn Park | 12 – 16 | Harlequins |
| | |
[19]
Round 9
Recreation Ground Referee: D W Matthews[20] |
| Harlequins | 26 – 11 | Gloucester |
| | |
The Stoop Referee: Fred Howard |
| Wasps | 16 – 10 | Liverpool St Helens |
| | |
| Waterloo | 14 – 24 | Rosslyn Park |
| | |
[19]
Round 10
- Waterloo are relegated.[20]
| Liverpool St Helens | 12 – 32 | Rosslyn Park |
| | |
- Liverpool St Helens are relegated.
| Nottingham | 12 – 0 | Harlequins |
| | |
Edge Hall Road Referee: Tony Trigg |
[19]
Round 11
| Bristol | 50 – 14 | Liverpool St Helens |
| | |
| Gloucester | 13 – 6 | Nottingham |
| | |
Kingsholm Referee: A L Mason |
[19]
Notes
- ^ The Courage Official League book gave the Recreation Ground a total capacity of 8,300 in their 1990–91 directory, despite Bath achieving a crowd of around 9,000 versus Bristol on 22 October 1988. It may be that additional temporary seating was provided for this game or that the crowd figure was inflated.[3]
See also
References
- ^ a b Ross Young, ed. (1993). "Season by Season Leading Scorers". Courage Official Rugby Union Club Directory 1993–94. Taunton: Tony Williams Publications. p. 47.
- ^ "Courage Club Championship 1988/89". Moseley Rugby Club. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
- ^ a b Tony Williams and Bill Mitchell, ed. (1990). "Bath F.C. (Ground Details)". Courage Official Rugby Union Club Directory 1990–91 (3rd ed.). Windsor: Burlington Publishing Co. Ltd. p. 40.
- ^ Tony Williams and Bill Mitchell, ed. (1990). "Bristol F.C. (Ground Details)". Courage Official Rugby Union Club Directory 1990–91 (3rd ed.). Windsor: Burlington Publishing Co. Ltd. p. 43.
- ^ Tony Williams and Bill Mitchell, ed. (1990). "Gloucester R.F.C. (Ground Details)". Courage Official Rugby Union Club Directory 1990–91 (3rd ed.). Windsor: Burlington Publishing Co. Ltd. p. 46.
- ^ Tony Williams and Bill Mitchell, ed. (1990). "Harlequins F.C. (Ground Details)". Courage Official Rugby Union Club Directory 1990–91 (3rd ed.). Windsor: Burlington Publishing Co. Ltd. p. 50.
- ^ Tony Williams and Bill Mitchell, ed. (1990). "Leicester F.C. (Ground Details)". Courage Official Rugby Union Club Directory 1990–91 (3rd ed.). Windsor: Burlington Publishing Co. Ltd. p. 54.
- ^ Tony Williams and Bill Mitchell, ed. (1990). "Liverpool St Helens F.C. (Ground Details)". Courage Official Rugby Union Club Directory 1990–91 (3rd ed.). Windsor: Burlington Publishing Co. Ltd. p. 58.
- ^ "Liverpool St Helens". Rugby Journal. Retrieved 22 October 2024.
- ^ Tony Williams and Bill Mitchell, ed. (1990). "Moseley F.C. (Ground Details)". Courage Official Rugby Union Club Directory 1990–91 (3rd ed.). Windsor: Burlington Publishing Co. Ltd. p. 61.
- ^ Tony Williams and Bill Mitchell, ed. (1990). "Nottingham R.F.C. (Ground Details)". Courage Official Rugby Union Club Directory 1990–91 (3rd ed.). Windsor: Burlington Publishing Co. Ltd. p. 66.
- ^ Tony Williams and Bill Mitchell, ed. (1990). "Orrell R.U.F.C. (Ground Details)". Courage Official Rugby Union Club Directory 1990–91 (3rd ed.). Windsor: Burlington Publishing Co. Ltd. p. 70.
- ^ Tony Williams and Bill Mitchell, ed. (1990). "Rosslyn Park F.C. (Ground Details)". Courage Official Rugby Union Club Directory 1990–91 (3rd ed.). Windsor: Burlington Publishing Co. Ltd. p. 74.
- ^ Tony Williams and Bill Mitchell, ed. (1990). "Wasps F.C. (Ground Details)". Courage Official Rugby Union Club Directory 1990–91 (3rd ed.). Windsor: Burlington Publishing Co. Ltd. p. 82.
- ^ "Dallaglio's turned into Nostradamus". The Rugby Paper. 21 May 2023.
- ^ Tony Williams and Bill Mitchell, ed. (1990). "Waterloo F.C. (Ground Details)". Courage Official Rugby Union Club Directory 1990–91 (3rd ed.). Windsor: Burlington Publishing Co. Ltd. p. 126.
- ^ "guinness 1988–1989". Ipernews.com. Retrieved 2011-11-06.
- ^ Tony Williams and Bill Mitchell, ed. (1990). Courage Official Rugby Union Club Directory 1990–91 (3rd ed.). Windsor: Burlington Publishing Co. Ltd.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Fixtures / Results (September 10, 1988 to April 22, 1989)". Rugby Archives. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f Peter Hall and Colin Gale. "1988 to 1989". Bath Rugby Heritage. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
|
|---|
| 2025–26 teams | |
|---|
| Former clubs | |
|---|
| Seasons | | National Division 1 | |
|---|
| Premiership 1 | |
|---|
Premiership Rugby | |
|---|
|
|---|
| Other | | Awards | |
|---|
| Competitions | |
|---|
| In season events | |
|---|
|
|---|