Regional 1 South Central is a level five league in the

English rugby union system Men's Rugby union in England consists of 106 leagues, which includes professional leagues at the highest level, down to amateur regional leagues. Promotion and relegation are in place throughout the system. Women's Rugby union in England consi ...

, with the twelve teams drawn from across southern and

South East England South East England is one of the nine official regions of England, regions of England that are in the ITL 1 statistical regions of England, top level category for Statistics, statistical purposes. It consists of the nine counties of england, ...

. The other level five leagues are

Regional 1 Midlands Regional 1 Midlands (until 2021–22 known as Midlands Premier and up until 2016–17 known as National League 3 Midlands) is a level five semi-professional league in the English rugby union system. It is one of six leagues at this level. When ...

, Regional 1 North West,

Regional 1 North East Regional 1 North East is a level five league in the English rugby union system, with the twelve teams drawn from across North East England and the East Midlands. The other level five leagues are Regional 1 Midlands, Regional 1 North West, Re ...

Regional 1 South East Regional 1 South East (formerly known as London & South East Premier and National League 3 London & South East) is a level five league in the English rugby union system. It is one of six leagues at this level. When this division began in 1987 ...

and

Regional 1 South West Regional 1 South West (formerly South West Premier and National League 3 South West) is a level five league in the English rugby union system. It is one of six leagues at this level. When this division began in 1987 it was known as South West D ...

. Prior to 2022, Regional 1 South Central and Regional 1 South East were part of a unified level five league known as

London & South East Premier Regional 1 South East (formerly known as London & South East Premier and National League 3 London & South East) is a level five league in the English rugby union system. It is one of six leagues at this level. When this division began in 1987 ...

. London Welsh are the champions and are promoted to

National League 2 East National League 2 East is a rugby union league at level four in the English rugby union system and provides semi-professional competition for teams in London, South East England and the East of England. The remainder of England is covered by t ...

Format

The twelve teams in this league are drawn from across southern England, with the league champions promoted to National 2 East. The league's bottom two teams are relegated to either

Regional 2 Thames Regional 2 Thames is an English level 6 rugby union regional league for rugby clubs in London and the south-east of England including sides from Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Greater London, Hertfordshire, Middlesex and Surrey. It ...

Regional 2 South Central Regional 2 South Central is a level six league in the English rugby union system, one of twelve leagues, at this level. Originally part of the South West Division of the RFU, the league was transferred to the London & SE Division for season ...

depending on their geographic location. The season runs from September to April and comprises twenty-two rounds of matches, with each club playing each of its rivals home and away. The results of the matches contribute points to the league table as follows: * 4 points are awarded for a win * 2 points are awarded for a draw * 0 points are awarded for a loss, however * 1 losing (bonus) point is awarded to a team that loses a match by 7 points or fewer * 1 additional (bonus) point is awarded to a team scoring 4 tries or more in a match

2025-26 season

Departing were

London Welsh London Welsh Rugby Football Club () was a rugby union club formed in 1885. Based in Old Deer Park, Richmond-upon-Thames, London Welsh RFC played in the English Premiership in the 2012–13 and 2014–15 seasons, after gaining promotion from ...

, promoted to National 2 East while

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

(11th) and

Horsham Horsham () is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...

(12th) were relegated to Regional 2 South East.

Participating teams and locations

2024–25 season

Leaving the league are

Havant Havant ( ) is a town in the south-east corner of Hampshire, England. Nearby places include Portsmouth to the south-west, Southampton to the west, Waterlooville to north, Chichester to the east and Hayling Island to the south. The wider borough ...

who were promoted as champions the previous season, replaced by

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...

who were relegated from

. Also departing are

Bournemouth Bournemouth ( ) is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest ...

who were relegated to

. Marlborough RFC transferred across to

. Ordinarily

would have dropped to Regional 2 South East but due to obtaining the highest amount of points across those finishing in a relegation place (11th) they earned a reprieve as the demise of

Jersey Reds Jersey Reds was a rugby union club based in Jersey, Channel Islands. On 28th September 2023, the club ceased trading and shortly thereafter went into liquidation following the withdrawal of financial support from a key investor. Until seaso ...

meant there was a corresponding adjustment across multiple leagues. Promoted into the league are

Jersey Jersey ( ; ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an autonomous and self-governing island territory of the British Islands. Although as a British Crown Dependency it is not a sovereign state, it has its own distinguishing civil and gov ...

and Old Alleynians who were promoted as champions of

and Regional 2 South East respectively.

Participating teams and locations

League Table

2023–24 season

Teams leaving the league are the champions

, promoted to

, while two teams are relegated - RWB (11th position) and Sutton & Epsom (12th) to

and

respectively. Three teams are promoted from Regional 2 leagues; Hammersmith & Fulham,

and

Marlborough Marlborough or the Marlborough may refer to: Places Australia * Marlborough, Queensland * Principality of Marlborough, a short-lived micronation in 1993 * Marlborough Highway, Tasmania; Malborough was an historic name for the place at the sou ...

from

, Regional 2 South East and

respectively.

CS Rugby 1863 Civil Service Rugby, mostly known as CS Rugby 1863, currently CS STAGS 1863, is an England, English rugby union team based in Chiswick, Greater London. The club runs three senior sides and the first XV currently play in Regional 1 South Central ...

and

Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells (formerly, until 1909, and still commonly Tunbridge Wells) is a town in Kent, England, southeast of Central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the High Weald, whose sandstone ...

are both transferred from

. The remaining seven teams played in this league last season.

Participating teams and locations

League table

Results

2022–23

This was the first season following the

RFU The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the national governing body for rugby union in England. It was founded in 1871, and was the sport's international governing body prior to the formation of what is now known as World Rugby (WR) in 1886. It prom ...

Adult Competition Review. The new league was made up of teams from both the London & SE and

South West Southwest is a compass point. Southwest, south-west, south west, southwestern or south-western or south western may also refer to: * Southwest (direction), an intercardinal direction Geography *South West Queensland, Australia *South West (Weste ...

divisions.

Participating teams and locations

League table

Results

Regional 1 South Central honours

* Owing to the demise of

there was one less relegation place from the level five leagues. Of the six, 11th place teams,

had the highest amount of points and escaped relegation.https://www.pressreader.com/uk/west-sussex-county-times/20240411/282385519547013

References

{{Rugby union in England 5 Sports leagues established in 2022 2022 establishments in England