2016–17 National League 1
| 2016–17 National League 1 | |
|---|---|
| Countries |
 England
|
| Date | 3 September 2016 – 29 April 2017 |
| Champions | Hartpury College (1st title) |
| Relegated | Macclesfield |
| Matches played | 224 |
| Attendance | 127,608 (average 570 per match) |
| Highest attendance | 2,712 Coventry v Birmingham Moseley (18 December 2016) |
| Lowest attendance | 113 Loughborough Students v Blaydon (7 January 2017) Loughborough Students v Old Albanian (4 February 2017) |
| Tries scored | 1667 (average 7.442 per match) |
| Top point scorer |
 Harry Leonard(Rosslyn Park) (253 points) |
| Top try scorer |
 Jonas Mikalcius (Hartpury College) (28 tries) |
|
← 2015–16
2017–18 →
|
|
The 2016–17 National League 1, known for sponsorship reasons as the SSE National League 1 is the eighth season of the third tier of the English rugby union system, since the professionalised format of the second tier RFU Championship was introduced; and is the 30th season since league rugby began in 1987.
Hartpury College were crowned champions on 11 March 2017 after winning their 25th match and maintaining their 100% record.
The league consists of sixteen teams with all the teams playing each other on a home and away basis to make a total of thirty matches each. There is one promotion place with the champions promoted to the Greene King IPA Championship. There are usually three relegation places with the bottom three teams relegated to either National League 2 North or National League 2 South depending on the geographical location of the team. Due to the expulsion of the championship team London Welsh in January 2017, there will be no relegation from the championship and subsequently only two teams will be relegated from this league.
Twelve of the sixteen teams participated in last season's competition. The 2015–16 champions, Richmond, are promoted to the 2016–17 RFU Championship and are replaced by Birmingham Moseley (who changed their name from Moseley prior to the season) who are relegated from the 2015–16 RFU Championship. The three teams relegated last season, are Henley Hawks and Cinderford (both to the 2016–17 National League 2 South) and Wharfedale (2016–17 National League 2 North) – with Wharfedale dropping from the third tier for the first time in 20 years. The promoted teams are Cambridge and Macclesfield champions of the 2015–16 National League 2 South and 2015–16 National League 2 North respectively, and Old Albanian who won the promotion play-off against Sedgley Park.
...
Wikipedia