2008–09 National Division Three North
| 2008-09 National Division Three North | |
|---|---|
| Countries |
 England
|
| Champions | Nuneaton |
| Runners-up | Caldy |
| Relegated | Bradford & Bingley, Darlington Mowden Park |
| Attendance | 43,985 (average 262 per match) |
| Highest attendance | 1,644 Fylde at home to Hull Ionians on 21 March 2009 |
| Lowest attendance | 65 Loughborough Students at home to Huddersfield on 29 November 2008 |
| Top point scorer |
 Gavin RobertsCaldy 290 points |
| Top try scorer |
Gareth Collins Leicester Lions 29 tries |
|
← 2007-08
2009-10 →
|
|
The 2008–09 National Division Three North was the tenth and last season (twenty-second overall) of the fourth division (north) of the English domestic rugby union competition using the name National Division Three North. The division was set to be re-branded National League 2 North for the following season due to an RFU reshuffle of the entire league system. New teams to the division included Halifax and Nuneaton who were relegated from the 2007–08 National Division Two while promoted sides included Loughborough Students who came up as champions of Midlands Division 1 along with Kendal (champions) Huddersfield (playoffs) coming up from North Division 1. A further, final change to the division saw Rugby Lions transfer across to 2008–09 National Division Three South as the most southerly side in the division in order to address a team imbalance between the two leagues. The league system was 4 points for a win, 2 points for a draw and additional bonus points being awarded for scoring 4 or more tries and/or losing within 7 points of the victorious team. In terms of promotion the league champions would go straight up into what would be known as National League 1 from 2009-10 but unlike previous years, there would be no promotion playoff between the runners up of the division and the runners up of National Division Three South due to the league restructuring.
Nuneaton made it an instant return to the (newly named) 2009–10 National League 1 winning the league title and promotion ahead of nearest rivals Caldy who finished 9 points behind without the consolation of the usual north-south playoff. At the opposite end of the table Halifax suffered their second consecutive relegation being comfortably the worst team in the league with just 1 win and 1 draw for their efforts. Much more competitive but ultimately 8 points worse off than next highest team were Darlington Mowden Park who were relegated despite finishing runners up the previous season (narrowly losing in the playoffs). Darlington Mowden Park would drop down to the newly named National League 3 North (previously North Division 1). The second relegated team, Halifax, were initial supposed to join Darlington Mowden Park in that division but due to financial difficulties the club decided to drop out of the national leagues and start as an amateur club in Yorkshire 6 - the lowest level the club could drop to.
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