2019–20 National League 2 North

The 2019–20 National League 2 North was the eleventh season (33rd overall) of the fourth tier (north) of the English domestic rugby union competitions since the professionalised format of the second division was introduced.

2019–20 National League 2 North
Countries	England
Date	September 2019 – 14 March 2020
Champions	Caldy (2nd title)
Relegated	Scunthorpe
Matches played	199
Attendance	69,282 (average 348 per match)
Highest attendance	1,059 Fylde v Preston Grasshoppers 14 September 2019
Lowest attendance	110 (3) Scunthorpe v Luctonians 23 November 2019 Scunthorpe v Loughborough Students 7 March 2020 Scunthorpe v Chester 14 March 2020
Top point scorer	Gavin Roberts (Caldy) 269 points
Top try scorer	Dan Rundle (Stourbridge) 30 tries

On 22 February Scunthorpe were the first side to be relegated after suffering a massive 109–12 defeat against Chester, going down with eight games still to play. Although it was a miserable season on the pitch for Scunthorpe, comfortably the weakest side in the division in terms of results, the loss of their player James Walker, who passed away earlier in the season was a far keener felt blow.[1] On 7 March Caldy became champions with a resounding 49–5 win away to relegation threatened Preston Grasshoppers to seal an instant return to National League 1 and claim their second National League 2 North title.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, the Rugby Football Union officially cancelled the season on 20 March 2020, after an initially postponment of all rugby in England including training.[2][3] After the cancellation was announced the RFU used a best playing record formula to decide the final table.[4] With Caldy already promoted, Fylde claimed the runners up spot but missed out on promotion as the 2019–20 National League 2 South runner up, Tonbridge Juddian had a better comparative league record and went up instead (the playoff had been cancelled). Joining Scunthorpe in the relegation spots were Preston Grasshoppers and Otley. Although Preston were as good as down by the time the leagues were suspended, Otley were in a real battle against Luctonians, and will feel hard done by. Scunthorpe will drop to Midlands Premier while Otley and Preston Grasshoppers will drop to North Premier. For Otley, once a second tier club, the drop to the regional leagues will be the lowest level they have played at since the 1990s.

The league was an interesting one in terms of National League 2 North records, included records that might have been achieved had the full 30 games been played. For instance, Caldy, with 25 wins out of 25 were looking to break the record of 28 wins (out of 30) set by Hull Ionians in the 2012–13 season. They may also have shattered the 134 point record set by Ionians during the 2014–15 season with a maximum of 144 achievable. A club record that were achieved despite the premature ending were the 4 draws achieved by Huddersfield (breaking the record of 3 set by numerous teams), while Caldys Gavin Roberts, in finishing as league top scorer for the second time in his career, tied a record set by a number of other players such as the prolific Chris Johnson. Stourbridge's Dan Rundle, finishing as top try scorer with 30 tries would likely have beating the existing record of 32 tries in a season (set several times by Nick Royle).

While Caldy had been looking to break records, Scunthorpe were looking to avoid making any of their own. Although the early end of the season meant they wouldn't equal the 30 games lost by Manchester and Dudley Kingswinford in the 2010–11 and 2013–14 seasons respectively, the clubs relegation was their third from the division - equalling Morley and Sheffield. A final record that was set was the league average league attendance which reached an all time divisional high of 348, helped by good regular attendances at the likes of Fylde, Hinckley and Wharfedale. This was the first time in recent seasons that the National League North average attendances trumped those in National League South.