# 1987–88 Courage League National Division One

The 1987–88 Courage League National Division One was the first season of the first tier of the English rugby union league system. It was the first season of a truly national rugby union league, which is currently known as the Gallagher Premiership.
There was no fixture list; the teams arranged fixtures amongst themselves. One match would count between each of the twelve teams involved and the points scheme was such that a team received four points for a win, two for a draw and one point for a loss. Most teams played eleven games, although some played ten due to cancellations. There was also unequal home and away fixtures, with some sides (Coventry, Harlequins) playing up to seven games at home, while others (Waterloo) as little as four.
Leicester Tigers finished first in the league table and were crowned champions. Coventry and Sale were relegated to the 1988–89 Courage League National Division Two for next season, the latter side having lost all of its eleven matches. Rosslyn Park and Liverpool St Helens were promoted from the 1987–88 Courage League National Division Two for the following season.

## Participating teams

| Team | Stadium | Capacity | City/Area |
| Bath | The Recreation Ground | 8,200 | Bath, Somerset |
| Bristol | Memorial Stadium | 12,100 | Bristol, Avon |
| Coventry | Coundon Road | 9,000 | Coventry, West Midlands |
| Gloucester | Kingsholm | 11,000 | Gloucester, Gloucestershire |
| Harlequins | The Stoop | 8,500 | Twickenham, London |
| Leicester Tigers | Welford Road | 16,000 | Leicester, Leicestershire |
| Moseley | The Reddings | 10,000 | Birmingham, West Midlands |
| Nottingham | Ireland Avenue | 4,950 | Beeston, Nottinghamshire |
| Orrell | Edge Hall Road | 5,500 | Orrell, Greater Manchester |
| Sale | Heywood Road | 5,400 | Sale, Greater Manchester |
| Wasps | Repton Avenue | 3,000 | Sudbury, London |
| Waterloo | St Anthony's Road | 9,000 | Blundellsands, Merseyside |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Leicester Tigers (C) | 10 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 225 | 133 | +92 | 37 | Champions |
| 2 | Wasps | 11 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 218 | 136 | +82 | 36 | |
| 3 | Harlequins | 11 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 261 | 128 | +133 | 30 | |
| 4 | Bath | 11 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 197 | 156 | +41 | 30 | |
| 5 | Gloucester | 10 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 206 | 121 | +85 | 29 | |
| 6 | Orrell | 11 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 192 | 153 | +39 | 27 | |
| 7 | Moseley | 11 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 167 | 170 | −3 | 26 | |
| 8 | Nottingham | 11 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 146 | 170 | −24 | 24 | |
| 9 | Bristol | 10 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 171 | 145 | +26 | 23 | |
| 10 | Waterloo | 10 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 123 | 208 | −85 | 22 | |
| 11 | Coventry (R) | 11 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 139 | 246 | −107 | 21 | Relegated |
| 12 | Sale (R) | 11 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 95 | 374 | −279 | 11 | Relegated |
* 4 pts for a win
* 2 pt for a draw
* 1 pt for a loss (C) Champions; (R) Relegated

## Results table

The home team is listed in the left column.
| Home \ Away | BAT | BRI | COV | GLO | HAR | LEI | MOS | NOT | ORR | SAL | WAS | WAT |
| Bath Rugby | | 15–9 | | | 21–9 | | 14–0 | | 23–18 | | | 10–17 |
| Bristol Rugby | | | | 16–21 | | | 21–10 | | | 37–3 | 12–12 | |
| Coventry | 9–9 | 25–3 | | | 12–15 | | | 15–20 | 11–24 | 24–19 | | 15–10 |
| Gloucester RFC | 9–16 | | 39–3 | | | | 18–12 | 17–9 | | 61–7 | 13–24 | |
| Harlequins | | 28–22 | | 9–9 | | 9–12 | | 34–8 | 6–12 | 66–0 | | 37–4 |
| Leicester Tigers | 24–13 | 15–10 | 32–16 | | | | | | | 42–15 | 12–9 | 39–15 |
| Moseley | | | 26–3 | | 11–32 | 3–21 | | | 28–10 | | 19–12 | 27–3 |
| Nottingham | 25–15 | 3–16 | | | | 13–22 | 21–12 | | 12–12 | | | |
| Orrell | | 13–25 | | 9–13 | | 30–6 | | | | 19–0 | | 30–6 |
| Sale | 17–46 | | | | | | 15–19 | 0–17 | | | 6–14 | |
| Wasps | 19–15 | | 49–6 | | 17–16 | | | 17–9 | 23–15 | | | |
| Waterloo | | | | 16–6 | | | | 10–9 | | 29–13 | 13–22 | |

## Fixtures & results

Clubs had to organise their own fixtures so there was no organised round by round fixture lists and also no equal allocation of home and away matches. Dates of games and results are given below in date order.

### September 1987

* 5 September 1987
| Nottingham | 21 – 12 | Moseley |
* Ireland Avenue
* 12 September 1987
| Gloucester | 30 – 3 | Coventry |
* Kingsholm Referee: Laurie Prideaux
* 12 September 1987
| Leicester Tigers | 23 – 13 | Bath |
* Welford Road Referee: Fred Howard
* 12 September 1987
| Sale | 0 – 17 | Nottingham |
* Heywood Road
* 19 September 1987
| Bath | 14 – 0 | Moseley |
* The Recreation Ground
* 26 September 1987
| Bristol | 16 – 21 | Gloucester |
* Memorial Stadium Referee: Roger Quittenton
* 26 September 1987
| Coventry | 24 – 19 | Sale |
* Coundon Road
* 26 September 1987
| Harlequins | 9 – 12 | Leicester Tigers |
* The Stoop
* 26 September 1987
| Nottingham | 12 – 12 | Orrell |
* Ireland Avenue
* 30 September 1987
| Coventry | 15 – 20 | Nottingham |
* Coundon Road

### October 1987

* 3 October 1987
| Leicester Tigers | 32 – 16 | Coventry |
* Welford Road
* 3 October 1987
| Sale | 15 – 19 | Moseley |
* Heywood Road
* 10 October 1987
| Bristol | 12 – 12 | Wasps |
* Memorial Stadium
* 10 October 1987
| Moseley | 28 – 10 | Orrell |
* The Reddings
* 10 October 1987
| Nottingham | 25 – 15 | Bath |
* Ireland Avenue Referee: Tony Trigg
* 17 October 1987
| Bath | 15 – 9 | Bristol |
* The Recreation Ground Attendance: 7,000 Referee: S K Trevithick
* 17 October 1987
| Waterloo | 10 – 9 | Nottingham |
* St Anthony's Road
* 24 October 1987
| Bristol | 37 – 3 | Sale |
* Memorial Stadium
* 24 October 1987
| Gloucester | 17 – 9 | Nottingham |
* Kingsholm Referee: Fred Howard
* 24 October 1987
| Moseley | 26 – 3 | Coventry |
* The Reddings
* 31 October 1987
| Nottingham | 3 – 16 | Bristol |
* Ireland Avenue
* 31 October 1987
| Waterloo | 16 – 6 | Gloucester |
* St Anthony's Road Referee: Tony Trigg

### November 1987

* 7 November 1987
| Orrell | 19 – 0 | Sale |
* Edge Hall Road
* 14 November 1987
| Nottingham | 13 – 22 | Leicester Tigers |
* Ireland Avenue
* 14 November 1987
| Orrell | 13 – 25 | Bristol |
* Edge Hall Road
* 14 November 1987
| Wasps | 19 – 15 | Bath |
* Repton Avenue
* 21 November 1987
| Coventry | 9 – 9 | Bath |
* Coundon Road
* 21 November 1987
| Harlequins | 9 – 9 | Gloucester |
* The Stoop Referee: Tony Spreadbury
* 21 November 1987
| Leicester Tigers | 12 – 9 | Wasps |
* Welford Road
* 28 November 1987
| Moseley | 3 – 21 | Leicester Tigers |
* The Reddings
* 28 November 1987
| Wasps | 17 – 9 | Nottingham |
* Repton Avenue

### December 1987

* 1 December 1987
| Gloucester | 9 – 16 | Bath |
* Kingsholm Attendance: 7,000 Referee: R Parks
* 12 December 1987
| Bath | 10 – 17 | Waterloo |
* The Recreation Ground
* 12 December 1987
| Bristol | 21 – 10 | Moseley |
* Memorial Stadium
* 19 December 1987
| Leicester Tigers | 15 – 10 | Bristol |
* Welford Road

### January 1988

* 1 January 1988
| Gloucester | 18 – 12 | Moseley |
* Kingsholm Referee: Laurie Prideaux
* 2 January 1988
| Wasps | 17 – 16 | Harlequins |
* Repton Avenue
* 2 January 1988
| Waterloo | 29 – 13 | Sale |
* St Anthony's Road
* 13 February 1988
| Gloucester | 13 – 24 | Wasps |
* Kingsholm Referee: Fred Howard

### February 1988

* 5 February 1988
| Moseley | 19 – 12 | Wasps |
* The Reddings
* 6 February 1988
| Coventry | 15 – 10 | Waterloo |
* Coundon Road
* 6 February 1988
| Harlequins | 6 – 12 | Orrell |
* The Stoop
* 20 February 1988
| Orrell | 30 – 6 | Leicester Tigers |
* Edge Hall Road
* 27 February 1988
| Harlequins | 37 – 4 | Waterloo |
* The Stoop

### March 1988

* 5 March 1988
| Moseley | 11 – 32 | Harlequins |
* The Reddings
* 12 March 1988
| Sale | 6 – 14 | Wasps |
* Heywood Road
* 19 March 1988
| Coventry | 12 – 15 | Harlequins |
* Coundon Road
* 19 March 1988
| Orrell | 9 – 13 | Gloucester |
* Edge Hall Road Referee: A P Thompson
* 26 March 1988
| Bath | 23 – 18 | Orrell |
* The Recreation Ground
* 26 March 1988
| Leicester Tigers | 42 – 15 | Sale |
* Welford Road

### April 1988

* 1 April 1988
| Harlequins | 34 – 8 | Nottingham |
* The Stoop
* 2 April 1988
| Waterloo | 13 – 22 | Wasps |
* St Anthony's Road
* 4 April 1988
| Leicester Tigers | 39 – 15 | Waterloo |
* Welford Road
* 9 April 1988
| Bath | 21 – 9 | Harlequins |
* The Recreation Ground
* 13 April 1988
| Wasps | 49 – 6 | Coventry |
* Repton Avenue
* 16 April 1988
| Gloucester | 61 – 7 | Sale |
* Kingsholm Referee: M J Edwards
* 16 April 1988
| Orrell | 30 – 6 | Waterloo |
* Edge Hall Road
* 23 April 1988
| Harlequins | 66 – 0 | Sale |
* The Stoop
* 23 April 1988
| Coventry | 25 – 3 | Bristol |
* Coundon Road
* 23 April 1988
| Wasps | 23 – 15 | Orrell |
* Repton Avenue
* 26 April 1988
| Moseley | 27 – 3 | Waterloo |
* The Reddings
* 30 April 1988
| Coventry | 11 – 24 | Orrell |
* Coundon Road
* 30 April 1988
| Harlequins | 28 – 22 | Bristol |
* Twickenham Stadium Attendance: 37,000 Referee: Fred Howard
* League and cup double header. The 1988 John Player Cup final would also count as Harlequins v Bristol Courage League game.
* 30 April 1988
| Sale | 17 – 46 | Bath |
* Heywood Road

### Cancelled games

| Bristol | C – C | Waterloo |
* Memorial Stadium
| Leicester Tigers | C – C | Gloucester |
* Welford Road

## Sponsorship

National Division One is part of the Courage Clubs Championship and is sponsored by Courage Brewery