2004–05 National Division One

2004–05 National Division One
Countries	England
Champions	Bristol
Runners-up	Exeter
Relegated	Orrell and Henley
Attendance	266,588 (average 1,599 per match)[a 1]
Highest attendance	10,349 Bristol Shoguns at home to Exeter Chiefs on 27 March 2005
Lowest attendance	237 Orrell at home to Plymouth Albion on 12 March 2005
Top point scorer	Leigh Hinton (Bedford Blues) 347 points
Top try scorer	Sean Marsden (Bristol Shoguns) 21 tries
← 2003–04 2005–06 →

The 2004–05 National Division One was the 18th full season of rugby union within the second tier of the English league system, currently known as the RFU Championship. New teams to the division included Rotherham Titans who were demoted from the 2003-04 Zurich Premiership while Sedgley Park and Nottingham were promoted from the 2003–04 National Division Two.^[1][2][3] Rotherham almost went into liquidation and dropped out of the leagues following their relegation from the Premiership but were saved by a local consortium which enabled them to continue playing in National One.^[4] As well as new teams Coventry had a new ground, moving from Coundon Road to the smaller but more modern Butts Park Arena.^[5][6]

By the end of the season, after two seasons spent in the division, Bristol Shoguns became champions and were promoted back to the Guinness Premiership for season 2005–06.^[7] Exeter Chiefs were runners–up, and Orrell (last seasons runners–up) along with Henley were relegated to the 2005–06 National Division Two.^[8][9][10]

Participating teams

Team	Stadium	Capacity	City/Area
Bedford Blues	Goldington Road	7,000	Bedford, Bedfordshire
Bristol Shoguns	Memorial Stadium	12,100	Bristol, Avon
Coventry	Butts Park Arena	4,000	Coventry, West Midlands
Exeter Chiefs	County Ground	5,200	Exeter, Devon
Henley Hawks	Dry Leas	4,000	Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire
London Welsh	Old Deer Park	5,850	Richmond, London
Nottingham	Ireland Avenue	4,950	Beeston, Nottinghamshire
Orrell	Edge Hall Road	3,000	Orrell, Greater Manchester
Otley	Cross Green	5,000	Otley, West Yorkshire
Penzance & Newlyn	Mennaye Field	3,500+	Penzance, Cornwall
Pertemps Bees	Sharmans Cross	1,000+	Solihull, West Midlands
Plymouth Albion	The Brickfields	6,500	Plymouth, Devon
Rotherham Titans	Clifton Lane	2,500	Rotherham, South Yorkshire
Sedgley Park	Park Lane	3,000	Whitefield, Greater Manchester

Table

2004–05 National Division One Table[11]
	Club	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points For	Points Against	Points Difference	Points Losses	Points Tries	Points
1	Bristol Shoguns	26	22	0	4	940	355	585	2	15	105
2	Exeter Chiefs	26	20	0	6	805	511	294	4	17	101
3	Plymouth Albion	26	19	2	5	653	494	159	2	12	94
4	Penzance and Newlyn	26	17	0	9	698	526	172	5	12	85
5	Otley	26	17	1	8	572	436	136	3	7	80
6	Coventry	26	16	1	9	666	565	101	2	10	78
7	Bedford Blues	26	16	1	9	679	536	143	2	8	76
8	Rotherham Titans	26	12	0	14	598	543	55	7	8	63
9	Pertemps Bees	26	10	0	16	541	667	-126	2	7	49
10	Sedgley Park	26	8	0	18	515	772	-257	4	4	40
11	Nottingham	26	7	0	19	525	752	-227	4	8	40
12	London Welsh	26	7	0	19	494	754	-260	5	4	37
13	Henley Hawks	26	6	0	20	483	811	-328	4	4	32
14	Orrell	26	2	1	23	439	886	-447	4	1	15
Points are awarded as follows: four points for a win; two points for a draw; no points for a loss; one bonus point for scoring four tries or more in a match; one bonus point for losing by seven points or less. If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order: (1) difference between points for and against; (2) total number of points for.
Green background are promotion places. Pink background are relegation places.

Results

Round 1

• Postphoned. Game rescheduled to 12 February 2005.

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Round 2

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Round 3

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Round 4

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Round 5

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Round 6

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Round 7

• Despite earlier winning the game 22-15 Coventry were in breach of RFU principal regulation 11.4 and the Titans were awarded the win.

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Round 8

• Postphoned. Game rescheduled to 5 March 2005.

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Round 9

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Round 10

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Round 11

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Round 12

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Round 13

• Postphoned. Game rescheduled to 5 February 2005.

• Postphoned. Game rescheduled to 5 February 2005.

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Round 14

• Postphoned. Game rescheduled to 12 February 2005.

• Postphoned. Game rescheduled to 12 February 2005.

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Round 15

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Round 16

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Round 17

• Postphoned. Game rescheduled to 19 March 2005.

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Round 18

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Round 13 (rescheduled games)

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Round 1 & 14 (rescheduled games)

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Round 19

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Round 20

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Round 8 (rescheduled game)

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Round 21

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Round 17 (rescheduled game)

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Round 22

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Round 23

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Round 24

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Round 25

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Round 26

Total Season Attendances

Club	Home Games	Total	Average	Highest	Lowest	% Capacity
Bedford Blues	13	26,733	2,056	3,949	1,224	29%
Bristol Shoguns	13	68,040	5,234	10,349	3,853	43%
Coventry	7[a 2]	12,400	1,771	2,700	950	44%
Exeter Chiefs	13	25,462	1,959	4,380	1,032	38%
Henley Hawks	11[a 3]	7,822	711	1,358	410	18%
London Welsh	13	14,020	1,078	1,900	350	18%
Nottingham	12[a 4]	11,232	936	2,122	560	19%
Orrell	12[a 5]	4,321	360	650	237	12%
Otley	5[a 6]	3,641	728	811	620	15%
Penzance & Newlyn	12[a 7]	24,018	2,002	5,000	1,436	54%
Pertemps Bees	9[a 8]	4,345	483	650	300	48%
Plymouth Albion	13	41,754	3,212	5,354	1,949	49%
Rotherham Titans	12[a 9]	16,051	1,338	2,000	950	54%
Sedgley Park	13	6,749	519	743	320	17%

^[13]

Individual Statistics

• Note if players are tied on tries or points the player with the lowest number of appearances will come first. Also note that points scorers includes tries as well as conversions, penalties and drop goals.

Season records

See also

• English rugby union system

References