The 2000âÂÂ01 National Division Three South was the first season (fourteenth overall) of the fourth division (south) of the English domestic rugby union competition using the name National Division Three South. New teams to the division included Reading and Blackheath who were relegated from the 1999âÂÂ2000 National League 1 while promoted teams included Basingstoke and Launceston, champions of London Division 1 and South West Division 1 respectively. The league system was 2 points for a win and 1 point for a draw. The promotion system was changed for this season with a playoff system being introduced. The champions of both National Division Three South and National Division Three North would automatically go up but the runners up of these two divisions would meet each other in a one off match (at the home ground of the side with the superior league record) to see who would claim the third and final promotion place to National Division Two.
Plymouth Albion finished the season as champions by winning an incredible 26 games out of 26 to gain promotion to the 2001âÂÂ02 National Division Two with runners up Launceston 11 points behind. It was an excellent season for newly promoted Launceston but they were unable to top it with promotion, losing 40 â 23 away to the 2000-01 National Division Three North runners up Sedgley Park. It was a great season for south-west based clubs in the division with all four sides occupying the top five league places and the twelve derby matches between the sides had over 21,000 spectators attending in total. At the other end of the table, Cheltenham, Basingstoke, Weston-super-Mare and Reading were the sides to be relegated with all sides being fairly competitive across the course of the season but not having quite enough to keep safe. Cheltenham and Weston-super-Mare would drop to the South West Division 1 for the following season while Basingstoke would make an instant return to London Division 1.
Each team played home and away matches against each of the other teams, playing a total of twenty-six matches each. The league champions were promoted to National Division 2 while the bottom three sides dropped to either London 1 or South West 1 depending on locality.
Be aware that some of the early season scores from Rugby Statbunker are incorrect (possibly due to an automatic scoring system used on that website) as they are different from those reported in the Telegraph. I have used references from the Telegraph wherever possible which should tie in with the results from the England rugby website.
The league runners up of National Division Three South and North would meet in a playoff game for promotion to National Division Two. Sedgley Park were runners-up in the north and because they had a better league record than south runners-up, Launceston, they hosted the play-off match.
72 - 6 Plymouth Albion at home to Basingstoke on 23 December 2000
68 - 17 Penzance & Newlyn away to Tabard on 6 January 2001
72 - 6 Plymouth Albion at home to Basingstoke on 23 December 2000
Plymouth Albion at home to Basingstoke on 23 December 2000
Penzance & Newlyn at home to North Walsham on 16 December 2000
Launceston away to Tabard on 11 November 2000<br> Clifton away to Launceston on 2 December 2000<br> Weston-super-Mare away to Reading on 2 December 2000<br> North Walsham at home to Launceston on 9 December 2000<br> Clifton at home to Penzance & Newlyn on 9 December 2000<br> Reading at home to Redruth on 10 March 2001<br> Barking at home to Westcombe Park on 14 April 2001
Plymouth Albion at home to North Walsham on 28 October 2000<br> Redruth at home to Plymouth on 18 November 2000
Nat Saumi for Penzance & Newlyn away to Tabard on 6 January 2001<br> Nat Saumi for Penzance & Newlyn at home to Cheltenham on 10 February 2001
Matt Bradshaw for Launceston at home to Cheltenham on 30 September 2000<br> Richard Newton for Penzance & Newlyn away to Tabard on 6 January 2001<br> Nat Saumi for Penzance & Newlyn at home to Cheltenham on 10 February 2001
Nat Saumi for Penzance & Newlyn at home to North Walsham on 16 December 2000
Danny Sloman for Launceston away to Tabard on 11 November 2000<br> Jon Martin for Clifton away to Launceston on 2 December 2000<br> Neil Coleman for Weston-super-Mare away to Reading on 2 December 2000<br> Phil Friel for North Walsham at home to Launceston on 9 December 2000<br> Jon Martin for Clifton at home to Penzance & Newlyn on 9 December 2000<br> Matt Senior for Reading at home to Redruth on 10 March 2001<br> Billy Murphy for Barking at home to Westcombe Park on 14 April 2001
Tom Barlow for Plymouth Albion at home to North Walsham on 28 October 2000<br> Bede Brown for Redruth at home to Plymouth on 18 November 2000
Plymouth Albion at home to Launceston on 31 March 2001
Tabard at home to Reading on 25 November 2000
Plymouth Albion
Clifton