Chairman’s Notes: Looking ahead to the new National League Rugby season

With the blue skies being replaced intermittently by the occasional downpour, let’s hope that, for the overwhelming majority of our clubs, the season can start as scheduled across September 4th and 5th. (Photo Credit: Tim Anger)

To that end, I thought it was an opportune time to mention a few things about the months ahead.

We are constantly striving to make National League Rugby a better proposition for sponsors, a better spectacle for spectators and a better experience for players.

To that end, the introduction of minimum facilities across the National Leagues should be finalised very shortly. Further information will be provided in due course.

Our Live Scores service on our National League Rugby app and website was hugely successful last season, and the ambition is to make it quicker and even more effective this year.

For those clubs that have not yet contacted our Media Manager Chris Heal at nationalleaguerugbymediateam@gmail.com to confirm how they will provide live score updates for this season, please could you do so before Friday 4th September.

For those clubs who have, thank you!

For many of you who spent the final, anxious few weeks of last season clutching your phone in one hand to check other scores, I’m sure you’ll agree that our Live Scores service was a considerable asset for NLR clubs across the board.

Elsewhere, in the world of Live Streaming, for those clubs interested in this – in particular the idea of streaming fixtures back to your clubhouse – we are close to signing a deal with Clubber TV that will be hugely beneficial to all our members.

I’d be grateful if you could pursue such plans with them, as they also currently provide live feeds for all Champ Rugby clubs and were a fantastic addition to the run-in in National One and National Two last term.

Contact: Alex Coakley at Alex@clubbertv.com

And finally,  April 19th 2027 – the final scheduled day of the regular season before the play-offs. It seems a long way away, but it will come around soon enough.

The play-offs WILL continue this year in the same format as 2025/26.

These will determine promotion to Champ Rugby and National One, as well as helping decide relegation from National One and National Two.

Full details of the play-off structure and fixtures will be communicated ahead of the relevant dates.

But before all of that, here’s to another eight months of rugby that surprises and thrills, and showcases to more and more people what a great product the National Leagues are.

All of us, on and off the field, can act as ambassadors for the sport at this level.

John Inverdale – National League Rugby Chairman

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