Important Update on League Promotion & Relegation changes for the 2025 Season

During our dialogue with clubs throughout the last season, including at our roadshows, one of the most prominent issues raised by clubs was the current competition formats. In response, significant work has taken place to explore potential improvements that address these concerns.

Many of the options being considered are complex and therefore require further discussion and club consultation.

However, in the short term,  in collaboration with the Adult Comps Management Committee, we have gathered targeted feedback from clubs on how to create a competition format that keeps league seasons engaging right to the end, supports player retention, and helps drive club revenue.

The outcomes of this process have been to fast-track the below change and begin the process of modernising our competitions.

From the 2025/26 season, play-offs will be introduced in both National and Regional men’s leagues.

• In the Men’s National leagues, there will be promotion/relegation play-offs between National 1 and the Championship, and between National 1 and National 2.

• In the Men’s Regional Leagues, there will be promotion/relegation play-offs between Regional 1 and Regional 2, and play-offs for promotion into National 2. As a result, the current cup competition model will be removed for these levels.

These changes mean that for this coming season, there will be more meaningful matches throughout the entire season and clubs will be able to generate more revenue through competitive, exciting rugby right up to the final whistle of the league campaign.

Further updates will follow direct to all clubs involved.

Thank you to all the clubs that participated in the engagement process and contributed to shaping the future of our competitions.