2017–18 National League 1
| 2017–18 National League 1 | |
|---|---|
| Countries |
 England
|
| Date | 2 September 2017 – 28 April 2018 |
| Matches played | 48 |
| Attendance | 31,024 (average 646 per match) |
| Highest attendance | 2,242 Coventry v Birmingham Moseley 9 September 2017 |
| Lowest attendance | 157 Hull Ionians v Old Albanian 23 September 2017 |
| Tries scored | 355 (average 7.396 per match) |
| Top point scorer | 82 points Dan Mugford (Plymouth Albion) |
| Top try scorer | 8 tries Dominic Lespierre (Old Elthamians) James Stokes (Coventry) |
|
← 2016–17
2018–19 →
|
|
The 2017–18 National League 1, known for sponsorship reasons as the SSE National League 1 is the ninth 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 31st season since league rugby began in 1987.
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.
Twelve of the sixteen teams participated in the preceding season's competition. The 2016–17 champions, Hartpury College, were promoted to the 2017–18 RFU Championship, replacing London Welsh who went into liquidation, in the second half of the season, and ceased to exist as a professional team. Due to London Welsh's liquidation only two teams (instead of the usual three) were relegated last season – Macclesfield and Blaydon – both of whom drop to the 2017–18 National League 2 North.
The promoted teams are Bishop's Stortford and Caldy, champions of the 2016–17 National League 2 South and 2016–17 National League 2 North respectively, and Old Elthamians who won the promotion play-off against Sale FC. National League 1 is the highest level all three of these sides have ever reached.
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