London 3 Eastern Counties


London 3 Eastern Counties 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 Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. 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 Essex, while demoted teams usually drop down to Eastern Counties 1, with new teams also coming up from this league, although only 1st XV sides are allowed in London 3 Eastern Counties. 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 the Eastern Counties as well as Essex and parts of north-east London. 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 Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk who had played in London 3 North East were transferred into the new look London 3 Eastern Counties 3 along with additional promoted teams from Eastern Counties 1, while the Essex and London sides went into another new division called London 3 Essex.

Participating Teams 2019-20

TeamGroundCapacityCity/AreaPrevious season
BecclesBeef MeadowBeccles, SuffolkPromoted from Eastern Counties 1
CantabrigianSedley Taylor RoadCambridge, CambridgeshireRelegated from London 2 North East
CrusadersBeck HytheLittle Melton, Norwich, Norfolk8th
ElyDownham RoadEly, Cambridgeshire3rd
FakenhamEckersley DriveFakenham, Norfolk5th
Ipswich Y.M.The StreetIpswich, Suffolk11th
ThetfordMundford RoadThetford, Norfolk6th
ThurstonRobinson FieldThurston, Suffolk10th
West NorfolkGatehouse LaneNorth Wootton, King's Lynn, Norfolk4th
WisbechChapel RoadWisbech, Cambridgeshire7th
WoodbridgeHatchley BarnWoodbridge, Suffolk9th

Participating Teams 2018-19

TeamGroundCapacityCity/AreaPrevious season
CrusadersBeck HytheLittle Melton, Norwich, Norfolk9th
ElyDownham RoadEly, Cambridgeshire3rd
FakenhamEckersley DriveFakenham, NorfolkPromoted from Eastern Counties 1
HoltBridge RoadHolt, Norfolk5th
Ipswich Y.M.The StreetIpswich, SuffolkPromoted from Eastern Counties 1
ThetfordMundford RoadThetford, Norfolk4th
ThurstonRobinson FieldThurston, SuffolkPromoted from Eastern Counties 1
West NorfolkGatehouse LaneNorth Wootton, King's Lynn, Norfolk8th
WisbechChapel RoadWisbech, Cambridgeshire10th
WoodbridgeHeatherlandsWoodbridge, Suffolk7th
WymondhamThe Foster Harrison Memorial GroundWymondham, Norfolk6th

Participating Teams 2017-18

TeamGroundCapacityCity/AreaPrevious season
CrusadersBeck HytheLittle Melton, Norwich, NorfolkPromoted from Eastern Counties 1
ElyDownham RoadEly, Cambridgeshire5th
HoltBridge RoadHolt, NorfolkRelegated from London 2 North East
NewmarketNSDA PavilionNewmarket, SuffolkPromoted from Eastern Counties 1
SouthwoldThe CommonSouthwold, Suffolk4th
StowmarketChilton FieldsStowmarket, Suffolk6th
ThetfordMundford RoadThetford, NorfolkPromoted from Eastern Counties 1
West NorfolkGatehouse LaneNorth Wootton, King's Lynn, Norfolk9th
WisbechChapel RoadWisbech, CambridgeshirePromoted from Eastern Counties 1
WoodbridgeHeatherlandsWoodbridge, SuffolkPromoted from Eastern Counties 1
WymondhamThe Foster Harrison Memorial GroundWymondham, NorfolkPromoted from Eastern Counties 1

London 3 Eastern Counties Honours

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 2 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.

Number of league titles