5 Teams You Might Not Know Played In The English Top Flight

Once a powerhouse of the English rugby union game, the men’s 1st XV now play in North 1 West at the sixth level of English rugby union system, following their relegation from National League 3 North at the end of the 2016-17 season.

They competed in the top division of English rugby for the first two seasons after the league structure was introduced but were relegated in 1989.

Rugby Lions, nicknamed The Lions, are a rugby union club based in Rugby, Warwickshire in England. They are one of only 3 teams in England permitted to wear an all-white strip, with England and Rugby School being the others.

They reached the top flight of English rugby in 1991 and survived despite only winning two games with Nottingham and Rosslyn park subsequently relegated. They finished the following 1992/93 season rock bottom with a single win.

Following years in the National Leagues, on 17 August 2012, the Rugby Advertiser released an announcement, within which was an RFU statement, which confirmed that the Lions had failed to pay off their debts in time, and had been removed from National League 2 South.

The Lions' bid to be accepted back into the RFU league system a year later was successful, although they were forced to rejoin at the lowest possible level, Midlands 5 West (South). They're now in Midlands 1 West.

Before the game turned professional, the club enjoyed several seasons in the Courage League and Allied Dunbar premiership during the 1990s before finally being relegated in the 1998–99 season.

There followed a drop through the divisions over the next three years that took them out of the national leagues and into the regional leagues.

Some significant signings during that period include a number of All Blacks: Alan Whetton, Gary Whetton and Mike Brewer.

Liverpool and St Helens merged in 1986 and played at Moss Lane which had been the St Helens club’s ground.

In the early years of the merger, the club had two seasons in the top league split by one season in Division Two. During this time internationals Dewi Morris and Simon Mason played for Liverpool St Helens, but afterwards they sank to Division Four and spent virtually the whole of the 1990s coming to terms with the professional era.

They now play in South Lancs/Cheshire 1.

The first ever season in 1987 would prove to be Coventry’s only ever season in the top flight, spending the next 30 years stuck between the second third tier of rugby, although they almost returned to the Premiership in 1997 but were edged out by a well-funded Newcastle Falcons.

Most recently, they returned to the Championship for the first time in eight years for the 2018/19 season after winning promotion from National League One.