A division swap solution to appease the purists

Winter League

Picking up on the outcomes from the Winter League's Management Committee meeting held last Thursday to look at the four bids made by host clubs to save their teams from relegation or promotion. The four clubs involved being Netherton Con B, Huddersfield RUFC, Primrose Hill Lib and Lockwood Con C.

Three of those four had finished the 2025-26 season in promotion places in their respective divisions with Netherton Con B being the odd one out. The fate of Primrose Hill Lib and Lockwood Con C was quickly determined with problems highlighted in providing catering services should these team members availability be threatened by playing on another day of the week. Both teams finished last season in the promotion places and that is not something you concede without good reason. Both cases were accepted and both teams will continue to play in the hosting matchdays on their own green.

Which teams will replace those two teams will not be decided until the Management Committee meets in July to set the format of all the Divisions for the 2026-27 season. By then we will know how many new teams we are looking to accommodate and how many host greens we have.

Huddersfield RUFC provided a different solution to the automatic acceptance of any Decline Promotion and Avoid Relegation bids as an alternative for the RUFC and Netherton Con B teams. This was explained to the Management Committee offering a different solution with Netherton Con B accepting relegation from Division 6 and the RUFC accepting promotion from Division 7.

This solution would affect the RUFC team who finished in a Division 7 promotion spot and that of Netherton Con B who finished in a Division 6 relegation place for a third consecutive season. Each time they have appealed to remain in the division they have been hosting and each time that has been accepted. If we destabalise any of our host clubs and lose those clubs as a result we haven't got a League. It is as simple as that, without our host clubs continuing to support the League we would be out of business.

That doesn't prevent the purists being uncomfortable about this situation and indeed it is not ideal but we have to be realistic and pragmatic about the situation we are in. Indeed it is not just the purists who are concerned but the League has long ago accepted that we are different in most respects to any other League and this is another example of that difference and how we handle it.

However this year is different in that the Rugby Club have offered an alternative solution for their Division 7 team's promotion placing and also for the relegation of the Netherton Con B team. This solution would see the two teams accepting their promotion and relegation. In addition the proposal being that the two clubs swap their respective divisions around. So that the RUFC take over hosting the Division 6 programme including the promoted from Division 7 two-some which included their own team. That would also allow the Netherton Con B side to accept their relegation as swapping the Divisions around would see Netherton Con taking over the Division 7 fixture programme which would include a relegated Netherton Con B team. Problem solved.

Both host clubs retain the matchday involvement of their catering teams as they are promoted and relegated. This also impacts on the four teams in each of those divisions who finished outside of the promotion and relegation places. They would swap with the division-swap and their 2026-27 base green would change. But as both Divisions will continue to play on the same day of the week - Thursday - and are only separated by two miles, the disruption to their matchdays is minimal.

The resolution was accepted by the meeting and this will leave the make-up of Divisions 6 and 7 looking like the tables below although this is still prone to further change when the Management Committee meets in July to form the make-up of all the divisions to incorporate any new teams, new host greens and any team withdrawals. But this will be the starting point for any such discussions.

Lockwood Con C have already been granted a Decline Promotion place back in Division 8 for next season but are included here for convenience until another team is allocated that place.

Lockwood Con C are included in this table until another team is allocated in due course as they have already been awarded a Decline Promotion place in Division 8 for the 2026-27 season