London 3 Essex

English rugby union league

London 3 Essex
Current season or competition: 2019–20 London 3 Essex

Sport	Rugby union
Instituted	2017; 7 years ago (2017)
Number of teams	12
Country	England
Holders	Chelmsford (1st title) (2019–20) (promoted to London 2 North East)
Most titles	Basildon, Chelmsford, Epping Upper Clapton (1 title)
Website	englandrugby.com

London 3 Essex is an English rugby union league that is at the eighth level of the English rugby union system and is available to club sides based in Essex and north-east London. Promoted teams move up to London 2 North East with league champions going up automatically and the runners up playing a playoff against the runners up from London 3 Eastern Counties, while demoted teams usually drop down to Essex Canterbury Jack 1, with new teams also coming up from this league. Each year all clubs in the division also take part in the RFU Senior Vase - a level 8 national competition.

The division was created for the 2017-18 as part of an RFU reorganization of the London & South East regional league. Originally there had been a London 3 North East league which had involved teams from Essex and north-east London along with teams from the Eastern Counties (Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk). Due to the distances involved for teams travelling potentially from London to Norfolk and vice versa, at the end of the 2016–17 season this league was discontinued. Teams in Essex and north-east London who had played in London 3 North East were transferred into the new look London 3 Essex along with additional promoted teams from the Essex regional leagues, while the Eastern Counties sides went into another new division called London 3 Eastern Counties.

Teams for 2021-22

The teams competing in 2021-22 achieved their places in the league based on performances in 2019–20, the 'previous season' column in the table below refers to that season not 2020–21.

Team	Ground	Capacity	City/Area	Previous season
Braintree	Robbswood		Braintree, Essex	4th
Campion	Cottons Park		Romford, London	8th
Canvey Island	Tewkes Creek		Canvey Island, Essex	Promoted from Essex 1 (runners up)
Dagenham	Central Park		Dagenham, London	Promoted from Essex 1 (champions)
East London	Memorial Park		West Ham, London	5th
Epping Upper Clapton	Upland Road		Thornwood, Epping, Essex	Relegated from London 2 NE (12th)
Harlow	Latton Park		Harlow, Essex	2nd
Kings Cross Steelers	Memorial Park	500	Plaistow, London	7th
Mavericks	Warley Playing Field		Warley, Brentwood, Essex	9th
Old Cooperians	Coopers' Company & Corborn School		Upminster, London	6th
Romford & Gidea Park	Crowlands		Romford, London	Relegated from London 2 NE (10th)
Upminster	Hall Lane		Upminster, London	3rd

Braintree

Canvey
Island

Epping

Harlow

Mavericks

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Locations of the 2021–22 London 3 Essex teams in Essex

Campion

Dagenham

East
London

KCS

Cooperians

R&GP

Upminster

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Locations of the 2021–22 London 3 Essex teams in Greater London

Season 2020–21

On 30 October the RFU announced ^[1] that a decision had been taken to cancel Adult Competitive Leagues (National League 1 and below) for the 2020/21 season meaning London 3 Essex was not contested.

Teams for 2019-20

Team	Ground	Capacity	City/Area	Previous season
Barking	Goresbrook	1,000	Becontree, London	9th
Basildon	Gardiners Close		Basildon, Essex	Relegated from London 2 NE (12th)
Braintree	Robbswood		Braintree, Essex	3rd
Campion	Cottons Park		Romford, London	8th
Chelmsford	Coronation Park		Chelmsford, Essex	4th
East London	Memorial Park		West Ham, London	Runners up (lost playoff)
Harlow	Latton Park		Harlow, Essex	Relegated from London 2 NE (11th)
Ilford Wanderers	Ilford Wanderers Sports Ground		Ilford, London	5th
Kings Cross Steelers	Memorial Park	500	Plaistow, London	6th
Mavericks	Warley Playing Field		Warley, Brentwood, Essex	Promoted from Essex 1 (runners up)
Old Cooperians	Coopers' Company & Corborn School		Upminster, London	7th
Upminster	Hall Lane		Upminster, London	Promoted from Essex 1 (champions)

Basildon

Barking

Braintree

Campion

Chelmsford

E London

Ilford

Harlow

KCS

Mavericks

Cooperians

Upminster

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Locations of the 2019–20 London 3 Essex teams

Teams for 2018-19

Team	Ground	Capacity	City/Area	Previous season
Barking	Goresbrook	1,000	Becontree, London	Relegated from London 2 SE (12th)
Braintree	Robbswood		Braintree, Essex	3rd
Campion	Cottons Park		Romford, London	7th
Canvey Island	Tewkes Creek		Canvey Island, Essex	5th
Chelmsford RFC	Coronation Park		Chelmsford, Essex	Relegated from London 2 NE (10th)
East London	Memorial Park		West Ham, London	4th
Epping Upper Clapton	Upland Road		Thornwood, Epping, Essex	Relegated from London 2 NE (11th)
Ilford Wanderers	Ilford Wanderers Sports Ground		Ilford, London	Promoted from Essex 1 (runners up)
Kings Cross Steelers	Memorial Park	500	Plaistow, London	Promoted from Essex 1 (champions)
Maldon	Drapers Farm Playing Fields		Heybridge, Essex	6th
Millwall	Millwall Park		Isle of Dogs, London	Runners up (lost playoff)
Old Cooperians	Coopers' Company & Corborn School		Upminster, London	Relegated from London 2 NE (12th)

Barking

Braintree

Campion

Canvey Island

Chelmsford

E London

Epping

Ilford

KCS

Maldon

Millwall

Cooperians

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Locations of the 2018–19 London 3 Essex teams

Teams for 2017-18

Team	Ground	City/Area	Previous season
Basildon	Gardiners Close	Basildon, Essex	8th (London 3 North East)
Braintree	Robbswood	Braintree, Essex	Promoted from Essex Canterbury Jack 1 (champions)
Campion	Cottons Park	Romford, Havering, London	Relegated from London 2 North East (12th)
Canvey Island	Tewkes Creek	Canvey Island, Essex	Promoted from Essex Canterbury Jack 1 (runners up)
Clacton	Valley Road	Clacton-on-Sea, Essex	Promoted from Essex Canterbury Jack 1 (4th)
East London	Memorial Park	West Ham, London	3rd (London 3 North East)
Maldon	Drapers Farm Playing Fields	Heybridge, Essex	Promoted from Essex Canterbury Jack 1 (3rd)
Mavericks	Warley Playing Field	Warley, Brentwood, Essex	Invited from Essex Merit Leagues
Millwall	Millwall Park	Isle of Dogs, London	Promoted from Essex Canterbury Jack 1 (5th)
Upminster	Hall Lane	Upminster, London	7th (London 3 North East)

Basildon

Braintree

Campion

Canvey Island

Clacton

East London

Maldon

Mavericks

Millwall

Upminster

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Locations of the 2017–18 London 3 Essex teams

London 3 Essex honours

London 3 Essex is a tier 8 league with promotion up to London 2 North East and relegation down to Essex 1.

London 3 Essex

Season

No of teams

Champions

Runners–up

Relegated Teams

2017–18^[2]

Basildon

Millwall

Mavericks, Upminster, Clacton

2018–19^[3]

Epping Upper Clapton

East London

Millwall, Maldon, Canvey Island

2019–20^[4]

Chelmsford

Harlow

Barking, Ilford, Basildon

2020–21

Green backgrounds are promotion places.

Promotion play-offs

Since the 2017–18 season there has been a play-off between the runners-up of London 3 Eastern Counties and London 3 Essex for the third and final promotion place to London 3 North East. The team with the superior league record has home advantage in the tie. At the end of the 2019–20 season the London 3 Eastern Counties have been the most successful with two wins to the London 3 Essex teams none; and the home team has won promotion on two occasions compared to the away teams none.

London 3 (Eastern Counties v Essex) promotion play-off results

Season

Home team

Score

Away team

Venue

Attendance

2017–18^[5]

Southwold (EC)

49-3

Millwall (EX)

The Common, Southwold, Suffolk

300^[6]

2018–19^[7]

Holt (EC)

31-22

East London (EX)

Bridge Road, Holt, Norfolk

2019–20

Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom. Best ranked runner up - Cantabrigian (EC) - promoted instead.

2020–21

Green background is the promoted team. EC = London 3 Eastern Counties and EX = London 3 Essex

Number of league titles

Chelmsford (1)
Basildon (1)
Epping Upper Clapton (1)

Notes

References

^ "RFU Cancels Adult Competitive Leagues for the 2020/21 Season". RFU. 20 October 2020. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
^ "2017–18 London South-East Division". England Rugby. RFU. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
^ "2018-2019 London & South-East Division". England Rugby. RFU. Retrieved 13 April 2019.
^ "Men's London & South East Level 8 and below leagues 2019–20" (PDF). England Rugby. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
^ "Wold Simply Blow Their London Rivals Away To Gain Promotion". Southwold RFC (Pitchero). Retrieved 21 April 2018.
^ "Rare smiles indeed from Buster and Fossett - it must have been a special day!". Southwold RFC (Pitchero). Retrieved 21 April 2018.
^ "Holt earn promotion to London 2NE". Holt RFC (Pitchero). Retrieved 21 April 2018.

Rugby union in England

Governing body

Rugby Football Union
Rugby Football Union for Women (merged into the RFU)

National teams

Men's	England England A 7's U-21 U-20 U-18 British & Irish Lions England Counties XV
Women's	Women's 7's

International competitions

Men's	World Cup Six Nations Rugby World Cup Sevens Sevens World Series Sevens Grand Prix Series Commonwealth Games
Women's	World Cup Six Nations World Series Sevens

Competition divisions

Men's	Premiership Championship National Leagues London and SE Division Northern Division Midland Division South West Division United Hospitals Cup
Women's	Premiership Women's Rugby