1990–91 Courage National 4 South

The 1990–91 Courage National 4 South was the fourth full season of rugby union within the fourth tier of the English league system, currently known as National League 2 South, and counterpart to the Courage National 4 North (now National League 2 North). It was the first season for the division using the name National 4 South, having been known as Area League South the previous year. In what was otherwise a very competitive league, Redruth were dominant, finishing as league champions with a perfect record of 12 wins from 12 games to gain promotion to the 1991–92 National Division 3 - 6 points clear of runners up Basingstoke.

1990–91 Courage National 4 South
Countries	England
Champions	Redruth (1st title)
Runners-up	Basingstoke
Relegated	Cheltenham, Maidenhead
Matches played	156

At the other end of the table Cheltenham and Maidenhead finished in the bottom two places and were relegated. It was especially tough on Maidenhead who finished level with 11th placed Maidstone on 9 points each but went down due to a worst for/against ratio. Both Cheltenham and Maidenhead would drop down to South West 1.[1]

Structure

Each team played one match against each of the other teams, playing a total of twelve matches each. The champions are promoted to National Division 3 and the bottom two teams are relegated to either London Division 1 or South West 1 depending on their locality.

Participating teams and locations

Team Ground Capacity City/Area Previous season Basingstoke Down Grange 2,500 Basingstoke, Hampshire 8th Camborne Recreation Ground 9,000 Camborne, Cornwall 4th Cheltenham Prince of Wales 2,000 Cheltenham, Gloucestershire 9th Ealing Horsenden Hill Horsenden Hill, Ealing, London Promoted from London 1 (runners up) Havant Hook's Lane 1,500 Havant, Hampshire 5th London Welsh Old Deer Park 5,850 Richmond, London Relegated from National 3 (12th) Maidenhead Braywick Park 1,750 Maidenhead, Berkshire Promoted from South West 1 (champions) Maidstone William Davey Memorial Maidstone, Kent 10th North Walsham Norwich Road 1,200 Scottow, Norfolk Promoted from London 1 (champions) Redruth Recreation Ground 12,000 Redruth, Cornwall 3rd Southend Warners Park Southend, Essex 7th Sudbury Moorsfield Sudbury, Suffolk 6th Weston-super-Mare Recreation Ground 6,000 Weston-super-Mare, Somerset Promoted from South West 1 (runners up) [2]

Basingstoke Camborne Cheltenham Ealing Havant L Welsh Maidstone Maidenhead N Walsham Redruth Southend Sudbury Weston Locations of the 1990–91 Courage National 4 South teams

League table

1990–91 Courage National League 4 South Table
	Club	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points for	Points against	Points diff	Points
1	Redruth (C)	12	12	0	0	225	79	146	24
2	Basingstoke	12	9	0	3	187	104	83	18
3	London Welsh	12	7	0	5	235	165	70	14
4	Camborne	12	6	0	6	204	179	25	12
5	Weston-super-Mare	12	6	0	6	192	182	10	12
6	North Walsham	12	5	2	5	170	180	-10	12
7	Sudbury	12	6	0	6	160	172	-12	12
8	Havant	12	5	0	7	157	173	-16	10
9	Southend	12	5	0	7	152	194	-42	10
10	Ealing	12	5	0	7	174	218	-44	10
11	Maidstone	12	4	1	7	122	164	-42	9
12	Maidenhead (R)	12	4	1	7	130	208	-78	9
13	Cheltenham (R)	12	2	0	10	150	240	-90	4
Points are awarded as follows: 2 pts for a win 1 pt for a draw 0 pts for a loss If teams are level at any stage, difference between points for and against applies
Green background are promotion places. Pink background are relegation places. Updated: 2 December 2017

[1]

Sponsorship

National League 4 South is part of the Courage Clubs Championship and is sponsored by Courage Brewery.

References

1. "Courage League - Division 4 1990/91". The Rugby Archive. 2 December 2017.
2. Williams, Tony; Mitchell, Bill (eds.). Courage Official Rugby Union Club Directory 1991–92 (4th ed.). Taunton: Football Directories. ISBN 1 869833 15 5.