South Lancs/Cheshire 4
English rugby union league
South Lancs/Cheshire 4 was a regional English rugby union league at the ninth tier of national competition for teams from the South Lancashire, Cheshire and Manchester area. Teams were promoted to South Lancs/Cheshire 3 and generally there was no relegation - although there was up until 2002 when South Lancs/Cheshire 5 was still active. Despite retaining healthy numbers of teams South Lancs/Cheshire 4 was abolished by the end of the 2008-09 season with most teams moving automatically up into South Lancs/Cheshire 3.
Original teams
When this league was introduced in 1996 it contained the following teams:
Halton - relegated from Lancashire South (9th)
Hightown - relegated from Lancashire South (10th)
Holmes Chapel - relegated from Cheshire (9th)
Moore - relegated from Cheshire (8th)
Shell Stanlow - relegated from Cheshire (7th)
South Lancs/Cheshire 4 honours
South Lancs/Cheshire 4 (1996-2000)
The original South Lancs/Cheshire 4 league was ranked at tier 13 of the league system. Promotion was to South Lancs/Cheshire 3 and, as it was the lowest level in the North-West region, there was no relegation until the creation of South Lancs/Cheshire 5 at the end of the 1999–00 season.
South Lancs/Cheshire 4 (2000-2009)
Northern league restructuring by the RFU at the end of the 1999-2000 season saw the cancellation of North West 1, North West 2 and North West 3 (tiers 7-9). This meant that South/Lancs Cheshire 4 became a tier 10 league. The creation of South Lancs/Cheshire 5 meant that there was briefly relegation into that division until it ceased at the end of the 2000–01 season. South Lancs/Cheshire 4 was itself cancelled at the end of the 2008–09 season with the majority of teams transferred into South Lancs/Cheshire 3.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “South Lancs/Cheshire 4” is english rugby union league. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through South, Lancs and Cheshire, not as a finished interpretation.
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