2014–15 National League 2 North
Team Stadium Capacity City/Area Previous season
Ampthill Dillingham Park 3,000 Ampthill , Bedfordshire transferred from National League 2 South
Birmingham & Solihull Portway Portway , Birmingham , West Midlands 6th
Broadstreet Ivor Preece Field 1,500 ( 250 seats ) Coventry , West Midlands promoted from National League 3 Midlands
Caldy Paton Field 4,000 Thurstaston , Wirral , Merseyside 8th
Chester Hare Lane 2,000 ( 500 seats ) Chester , Cheshire 5th
Harrogate Claro Road Harrogate , North Yorkshire 9th
Huddersfield Lockwood Park 1,500 ( 500 seats ) Huddersfield , West Yorkshire promoted from National League 3 North
Hull Ferens Ground 1,500 ( 288 seats ) Kingston upon Hull , East Riding of Yorkshire 13th
Hull Ionians Brantingham Park 1,500 ( 240 seats ) Brantingham , East Riding of Yorkshire relegated from National League 1
Leicester Lions Westleigh Park 2,000 Blaby , Leicestershire 7th
Luctonians Mortimer Park 2,500 ( 300 seats ) Kingsland , Herefordshire 10th
Otley Cross Green 5,000 Otley , Leeds , West Yorkshire 12th
Preston Grasshoppers Lightfoot Green 5,000 Preston , Lancashire 11th
Sedgley Park Park Lane 3,000 Whitefield , Bury , Greater Manchester 4th
Stockport The Memorial Ground 500 Stockport , Greater Manchester promoted from National League 3 north ( via play-off )
Stourbridge Stourton Park 3,500 ( 499 seats ) Stourbridge , West Midlands 3rd
Participating teams and locations
Eleven of the teams listed below participated in the 2013–14 National League 2 North season ; Hull Ionians were relegated from National League 1 , Huddersfield ( champions ) and Stockport ( play-offs ) were promoted from National League 3 North , Broadstreet were promoted from National League 3 Midlands and Ampthill were transferred from National League 2 South to ensure that both leagues were suitably balanced with the same number of teams . AmpthillB'ham & SolihullBroadstreetCaldyChesterHarrogateHuddersfieldHullHull IoniansLeicester LionsLuctoniansOtleyPrestonSedgley ParkStockportStourbridge Locations of the 2014–15 National League 2 North teams
The 2014-15 National League 2 North is the sixth season (28th overall) of the fourth tier of the English domestic rugby union competitions since the professionalised format of the second division was introduced. New teams to the division include Hull Ionians (relegated from National League 1 2013-14), Broadstreet (promoted from National League 3 Midlands), Huddersfield and Stockport (both promoted from National League 3 North). Ampthill was also transferred back to the division after spending the 2013-14 season in National League 2 South. At the end of the season the champions are promoted to National League 1 while the second placed team will play against the runners-up from the 2014-15 National League 2 South, with the winner also promoted. The bottom three teams, depending on geographical location, are usually relegated to either National League 3 North or National League 3 Midlands (in some cases teams may be relegated to the southern regional leagues). Hull Ionians claimed the title and promotion to National League One on the last day of the season, with Ampthill finishing as runners-up and having to be content with a promotion play-off. Both Hull Ionians and Ampthill were head and shoulders over the other teams in the division, with Ionians narrow 7 - 6 victory over Ampthill on the 24 January ultimately being the deciding factor in who would end up as champions. While the title chase was tight, the fight against relegation was even tighter. Apart from Stockport, who were relegated way before the end of the season, the next two relegation spots were contested up until the very last game with four teams in danger of the drop. In the end Hull's defeat to fellow relegation rivals Preston Grasshoppers meant they went straight down, while Birmingham & Solihull's bonus point victory was not enough due to Luctonians narrow win over Leicester Lions, meaning that Luctonians stayed up instead. On paper Birmingham & Solihull had a better attack and defence than Luctonians but were unable to translate this to enough wins over the course of the season. Stockport and Hull would drop down to National League 3 North while Birmingham & Solihull would go into National League 3 Midlands.