2004–05 National Division One

2004–05 National Division One
Countries	England
Champions	Bristol Shoguns
Runners-up	Exeter
Relegated	Orrell and Henley
Attendance	266,588 (average 1,687 per match)^{[a 1]}
Highest attendance	10,349 Bristol Shoguns at home to Exeter Chiefs on 27 March 2005
Lowest attendance	237 Orrell at home to Plymouth Albion on 12 March 2005
Top point scorer	England Leigh Hinton (Bedford Blues) 347 points
Top try scorer	England Sean Marsden (Bristol Shoguns) 21 tries
← 2003–04 2005–06 →

The 2004–05 National Division One was the 18th full season of rugby union within the second tier of the English league system, currently known as the RFU Championship. New teams to the division included Rotherham Titans who were demoted from the 2003–04 Zurich Premiership while Sedgley Park and Nottingham were promoted from the 2003–04 National Division Two.^[1]^[2]^[3] Rotherham almost went into liquidation and dropped out of the leagues following their relegation from the Premiership but were saved by a local consortium which enabled them to continue playing in National One.^[4] As well as new teams Coventry had a new ground, moving from Coundon Road to the smaller but more modern Butts Park Arena.^[5]^[6]

By the end of the season, after two seasons spent in the division, Bristol Shoguns became champions and were promoted back to the Guinness Premiership for season 2005–06.^[7] Exeter Chiefs were runners–up, and Orrell (last seasons runners–up) along with Henley were relegated to the 2005–06 National Division Two.^[8]^[9]^[10]

Participating teams

[edit ]

2004–05 National Division One is located in England

Bedford

Bristol

Coventry

Exeter

Henley

London Welsh

Nottingham

Orrell

Otley

Penzance & Newlyn

Pertemps Bees

Plymouth

Rotherham

Sedgley Park

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Locations of the 2004–05 National Division One teams

Team	Stadium	Capacity	City/Area
Bedford Blues	Goldington Road	7,000	Bedford, Bedfordshire
Bristol Shoguns	Memorial Stadium	12,100	Bristol
Coventry	Butts Park Arena	4,000	Coventry, West Midlands
Exeter Chiefs	County Ground	5,200	Exeter, Devon
Henley Hawks	Dry Leas	4,000	Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire
London Welsh	Old Deer Park	5,850	Richmond, London
Nottingham	Ireland Avenue	4,950	Beeston, Nottinghamshire
Orrell	Edge Hall Road	5,500	Orrell, Greater Manchester
Otley	Cross Green	5,000	Otley, West Yorkshire
Penzance & Newlyn	Mennaye Field	3,500+	Penzance, Cornwall
Pertemps Bees	Sharmans Cross	2,500	Solihull, West Midlands
Plymouth Albion	The Brickfields	6,500	Plymouth, Devon
Rotherham Titans	Clifton Lane	2,500	Rotherham, South Yorkshire
Sedgley Park	Park Lane	3,000	Whitefield, Greater Manchester

Table

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2004–05 National Division One table
Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	TB	LB	Pts	Qualification
1	Bristol Shoguns	26	22	0	4	940	355	+585	15	2	105	Promoted
2	Exeter Chiefs	26	20	0	6	805	511	+294	17	4	101
3	Plymouth Albion	26	19	2	5	653	494	+159	12	2	94
4	Penzance and Newlyn	26	17	0	9	698	526	+172	12	5	85
5	Otley	26	17	1	8	572	436	+136	7	3	80
6	Coventry	26	16	1	9	666	565	+101	10	2	78
7	Bedford Blues	26	16	1	9	679	536	+143	8	2	76
8	Rotherham Titans	26	12	0	14	598	543	+55	8	7	63
9	Pertemps Bees	26	10	0	16	541	667	−126	7	2	49
10	Sedgley Park	26	8	0	18	515	772	−257	4	4	40
11	Nottingham	26	7	0	19	525	752	−227	8	4	40
12	London Welsh	26	7	0	19	494	754	−260	4	5	37
13	Henley Hawks	26	6	0	20	483	811	−328	4	4	32	Relegated
14	Orrell	26	2	1	23	439	886	−447	1	4	15	Relegated

Source: ^[11]
Rules for classification: Points are awarded as follows: four points for a win; two points for a draw; no points for a loss; one bonus point for scoring four tries or more in a match; one bonus point for losing by seven points or less.

If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order: (1) difference between points for and against; (2) total number of points for.

Results

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Round 1

[edit ]

4 September 2004

Coventry 40 - 10 Nottingham

Club	Home Games	Total	Average	Highest	Lowest	% Capacity
Bedford Blues	13	26,733	2,056	3,949	1,224	29%
Bristol Shoguns	13	68,040	5,234	10,349	3,853	43%
Coventry	7^{[a 2]}	12,400	1,771	2,700	950	44%
Exeter Chiefs	13	25,462	1,959	4,380	1,032	38%
Henley Hawks	11^{[a 3]}	7,822	711	1,358	410	18%
London Welsh	13	14,020	1,078	1,900	350	18%
Nottingham	12^{[a 4]}	11,232	936	2,122	560	19%
Orrell	12^{[a 5]}	4,321	360	650	237	7%
Otley	5^{[a 6]}	3,641	728	811	620	15%
Penzance & Newlyn	12^{[a 7]}	24,018	2,002	5,000	1,436	54%
Pertemps Bees	9^{[a 8]}	4,345	483	650	300	19%
Plymouth Albion	13	41,754	3,212	5,354	1,949	49%
Rotherham Titans	12^{[a 9]}	16,051	1,338	2,000	950	54%
Sedgley Park	13	6,749	519	743	320	17%

Participating teams

Table

Results

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Round 6

Round 7

Round 8

Round 9

Round 10

Round 11

Round 12

Round 13

Round 14

Round 15

Round 16

Round 17

Round 18

Round 13 (rescheduled games)

Round 1 & 14 (rescheduled games)

Round 19

Round 20

Round 8 (rescheduled game)

Round 21

Round 17 (rescheduled game)

Round 22

Round 23

Round 24

Round 25

Round 26

Total Season Attendances

Individual statistics

Top points scorers

Top try scorers

Season records

Team

Player

Attendances

See also

References