The 2003–04 National Division One was the seventeenth full season of rugby union within the second tier of the English league system, currently known as the RFU Championship. New teams to the division included Bristol Shoguns who had been relegated from the Zurich Premiership 2002–03 while Penzance & Newlyn and Henley Hawks were promoted from the 2002–03 National Division Two. In terms of ground changes Plymouth Albion had a new home - moving from Beacon Park to newly built Brickfields which at 6,500 had twice the capacity of the original ground.
After three consecutive seasons finishing second, Worcester became champions and were promoted to the Zurich Premiership for season 2004–05. Orrell were runners–up, and Wakefield and Manchester were relegated to the 2004–05 National Division Two. Wakefield's final match was on 26 April 2004 against Coventry, who won the match 15–11 and with that defeat, consigned Wakefield, after fourteen consecutive seasons in National Division One, to relegation; while Coventry finished above Wakefield only on points difference. Wakefield folded during the summer for financial reasons.
Participating teams
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!Team
!Stadium
!Capacity
!City/Area
|-
|Bedford Blues
|Goldington Road
|5,000
|Bedford, Bedfordshire
|-
|Bristol Shoguns
|Memorial Stadium
|8,500 (1,200 seats)
|Bristol
|-
|Coventry
|Coundon Road
|10,000 (1,100 seats)
|Coventry, West Midlands
|-
|Exeter Chiefs
|County Ground
|5,750 (750 seats)
|Exeter, Devon
|-
|Henley Hawks
|Dry Leas
|4,000
|Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire
|-
|London Welsh
|Old Deer Park
|4,500 (1,500 seats)
|Richmond, London
|-
|Manchester
|Grove Park
|4,000
|Cheadle Hulme, Greater Manchester
|-
|Orrell
|Edge Hall Road
|5,300 (300 seats)
|Orrell, Greater Manchester
|-
|Otley
|Cross Green
|7,000 (852 seats)
|Otley, West Yorkshire
|-
|Penzance & Newlyn
|Mennaye Field
|3,500
|Penzance, Cornwall
|-
|Pertemps Bees
|Sharmans Cross
|4,000
|Solihull, West Midlands
|-
|Plymouth Albion
|The Brickfields
|6,500
|Plymouth, Devon
|-
|Wakefield
|College Grove
|4,000 (500 seats)
|Wakefield, West Yorkshire
|-
|Worcester
|Sixways
|8,477
|Worcester, Worcestershire
|-
|}
Final table
Results
Round 1
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Round 2
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Round 3
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Round 4
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Round 5
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Round 6
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Round 7
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Round 8
- Postponed. Game rescheduled to 20 December 2003.
- Postponed. Game rescheduled to 21 February 2004.
- Postponed. Game rescheduled to 20 December 2003.
- Postponed. Game rescheduled to 20 December 2003.
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Round 9
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Round 10
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Round 11
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Round 12
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Round 8 (Rescheduled games)
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Round 13
- Postponed. Game rescheduled to 3 January 2004.
- Postponed. Game rescheduled to 3 January 2004.
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Round 13 (Rescheduled games)
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Round 14
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Round 15
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Round 16
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Round 17
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Round 18
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Round 19
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Round 8 & 25 (Rescheduled games)
- Game brought forward from 17 April 2004.
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Round 20
- Postponed. Game rescheduled for 7 March 2004.
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Round 20 & 25 (Rescheduled games)
- Game brought forward from 17 April 2004.
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Round 21
- Postponed. Game rescheduled for 27 March 2004.
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Round 22
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Round 21 (Rescheduled game)
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Round 23
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Round 24
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Round 25
- Coventry's last ever home game at Coundon Road.
- Game brought forward to 6 March 2004.
- Game brought forward to 21 February 2004.
- Postponed. Game rescheduled for 21 April 2004.
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Round 25 (Rescheduled game)
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Round 26
Total Season Attendances
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:right"
|-
!Club
!Home<br>Games
!Total
!Average
!Highest
!Lowest
!% Capacity
|-
| style="text-align:left"|Bedford Blues || 10 || 17,482 || 1,748 || 3,427 || 1,017 || 35%
|-
| style="text-align:left"|Bristol Shoguns || 13 || 47,895 || 3,684 || 4,217 || 2,831 || 30%
|-
| style="text-align:left"|Coventry || 9 || 15,447 || 1,716 || 3,100 || 1,000 || 17%
|-
| style="text-align:left"|Exeter Chiefs || 6 || 10,084 || 1,681 || 2,500 || 1,069 || 29%
|-
| style="text-align:left"|Henley Hawks || 8 || 8,240 || 1,030 || 2,020 || 450 || 26%
|-
| style="text-align:left"|London Welsh || 9 || 10,770 || 1,197 || 1,750 || 650 || 27%
|-
| style="text-align:left"|Manchester || 12 || 4,925 || 410 || 760 || 187 || 10%
|-
| style="text-align:left"|Orrell || 12 || 7,953 || 663 || 3,207 || 286 || 12%
|-
| style="text-align:left"|Otley || 7 || 4,585 || 655 || 790 || 575 || 9%
|-
| style="text-align:left"|Penzance & Newlyn || 9 || 19,810 || 2,201 || 5,100 || 1,000 || 58%
|-
| style="text-align:left"|Pertemps Bees || 8 || 5,385 || 673 || 2,000 || 300 || 17%
|-
| style="text-align:left"|Plymouth Albion || 10 || 28,467 || 2,847 || 4,342 || 1,648 || 44%
|-
| style="text-align:left"|Wakefield || 9 || 3,300 || 367 || 600 || 250 || 9%
|-
| style="text-align:left"|Worcester || 13 || 45,330 || 3,487 || 6,025 || 2,027 || 41%
|}
Individual statistics
- Note that points scorers include tries as well as conversions, penalties, and drop goals.
Top points scorers
{|class="wikitable"
! Rank !! Player !! Team !! Appearances !! Points
|-
| 1 || Tony Yapp || Exeter Chiefs || 26 || 320
|-
| 2 || Leigh Hinton || Orrell || 26 || 313
|-
| 3 || Simon Binns || Otley || 26 || 310
|-
| 4 || Tommy Hayes || Worcester || 25 || 303
|-
| 5 || Barry Reeves || Henley Hawks || 26 || 249
|-
| 6 || Tom Barlow || Plymouth Albion || 22 || 185
|-
| 7 || Gareth Cull || Coventry || 19 || 184
|-
| 8 || Danny Gray || Bristol Shoguns || 17 || 157
|-
| 9 || Seb Fitzgerald || London Welsh || 21 || 150
|-
| 10 || Ed Barnes || Bedford Blues || 19 || 144
|-
|}
Top try scorers
{|class="wikitable"
! Rank !! Player !! Team !! Appearances !! Tries
|-
| rowspan=2| 1 || Lee Robinson || Plymouth Albion || 25 || 23
|-
| Leigh Hinton || Orrell || 26 || 23
|-
| 2 || Daren O'Leary || Worcester || 26 || 19
|-
| 3 || Gavin Pfister || Worcester || 22 || 18
|-
| 4 || Dan Ward-Smith || Plymouth Albion || 26 || 16
|-
| 5 || Dave Knight || Pertemps Bees || 26 || 15
|-
| 6 || Chris Garrard || Worcester || 20 || 14
|-
| 7 || Nick Easter || Orrell || 23 || 13
|-
| rowspan=2| 8 || Nnamdi Obi || Henley Hawks || 17 || 12
|-
| Gary Truman || Worcester || 22 || 12
|-
|}
Season records
Team
;Largest home win — 79 pts
85 - 6 Exeter Chiefs at home to Manchester on 28 February 2004
;Largest away win — 54 pts
54 - 0 Exeter Chiefs away to Wakefield on 13 March 2004
;Most points scored — 85 pts
85 - 6 Exeter Chiefs at home to Manchester on 28 February 2004
;Most tries in a match — 13
Exeter Chiefs at home to Manchester on 28 February 2004
;Most conversions in a match — 10 (x2)
Exeter Chiefs at home to Manchester on 28 February 2004<br>
Orrell at home to Manchester on 10 April 2004
;Most penalties in a match — 7
Exeter Chiefs away to Otley on 20 September 2003
;Most drop goals in a match — 2
Coventry at home to Worcester on 10 April 2004
Player
;Most points in a match — 31
Leigh Hinton for Orrell at home to Bedford Blues on 6 December 2003
;Most tries in a match — 4 (x3)
Dan Ward-Smith for Plymouth Albion at home to Henley Hawks on 20 March 2004<br>
Richard Welding for Orrell at home to Manchester on 10 April 2004<br>
Lee Carruthers for Otley at home to Manchester 13 December 2003
;Most conversions in a match — 10 (x2)
Tony Yapp for Exeter Chiefs at home to Manchester on 28 February 2004<br>
Leigh Hinton for Orrell at home to Manchester on 10 April 2004
;Most penalties in a match — 7
Tony Yapp for Exeter Chiefs away to Otley on 20 September 2003
;Most drop goals in a match — 1
N/A - multiple players
Attendances
;Highest — 6,025
Worcester at home to Pertemps Bees on 24 April 2004
;Lowest — 187
Manchester at home to Pertemps Bees on 3 April 2004
;Highest Average Attendance — 2,460
Worcester
;Lowest Average Attendance — 367
Wakefield
See also
- English rugby union system