2015–16 National League 2 North
| 2015–16 National League 2 North | |
|---|---|
| Countries |
 England
|
| Date | 5 September 2015 – 14 May 2016 |
| Champions | Macclesfield (3rd title) |
| Runners-up | Sedgley Park |
| Relegated | Huddersfield, Broadstreet, Sandal |
| Matches played | 239 |
| Attendance | 65,338 (average 273 per match) |
| Highest attendance | 1,050 Harrogate v Otley on 5 September 2015 |
| Lowest attendance | 50 (x2) South Leicester v Sedgley Park on 12 September 2015 & Caldy on 10 October 2015 |
| Top point scorer |
Lewis Minikin Harrogate 299 points |
| Top try scorer |
Nick Royle Caldy 25 tries |
|
← 2014–15
2016–17 →
|
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The 2015–16 National League 2 North is the seventh season (29th overall) of the fourth tier of the English domestic rugby union competitions since the professionalised format of the second division was introduced. There was talk of this being the last season in this format due to RFU changes to tier four which were supposed to result in a restructuring of the league from two regional divisions (north and south) to three (north, south-east and south-west) for the 2016–17 season but this seems to have been put on hold due to protests from the northern clubs who stood to lose revenue from a smaller fixture list.
Teams joining the division include Macclesfield and Tynedale (both relegated from National League 1), Sale and Sandal (both promoted from National League 3 North) and South Leicester (promoted from National League 3 Midlands). A further change this season saw Harrogate play their first game at their new ground at Rudding Lane – a move from their previous ground of Claro Road where they had been stationed for the past 119 years – beating local rivals Otley in front of a club record crowd of 1,050.
At the end of the season, Macclesfield made an instant return to National League 1 after their relegation the previous season by winning the championship with three games to go, defeating Chester 40-12 to take the title at Priory Park – the club's third National League 2 North title and a record so far in the division. The two bottom clubs at the end of the season were Huddersfield, who went down in Round 27, and Broadstreet, who followed one week later. While both teams were fairly competitive (gaining 7 and 8 wins apiece) the third relegation spot was much more keenly fought with five teams facing the drop up on the last round of the season. In the end it was Sandal who went down after one season spent in National League 2 North, losing their final game against Luctonians, while their relegation rivals all won. It was a particularly interesting contest between Sandal and fellow promoted club, Sale, who were actually in the final relegation spot on the last day (although they did have a rescheduled game still to play) but the Heywood Road side won against high flying Caldy to stay in the division. Another interesting feature of the season was Caldy's Nick Royle whose 25 tries saw him finish not only as the top try scorer in the league but also as the record all-time try scorer in the division with 161 tries overall.
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