2001–02 National Division Three North
The 2001–02 National Division Three North was the second season (fifteenth overall) of the fourth division (north) of the English domestic rugby union competition using the name National Division Three North. New teams to the division included West Hartlepool who were relegated from the 2000–01 National Division Two while promoted teams included Scunthorpe who were champions of Midlands Division 1 while Darlington Mowden Park (champions) and Blaydon (playoffs) came up from North Division 1. The league system was 2 points for a win and 1 point for a draw with the promotion system changing for this season with a playoff system being introduced. The champions of both National Division Three North and National Division Three South 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 for the following season.
| 2001–02 National Division Three North | |
|---|---|
| Countries | England |
| Champions | Doncaster |
| Runners-up | Dudley Kingswinford |
| Relegated | West Hartlepool, Sandal, Whitchurch, Morley |
| Attendance | 20,025 (average 323 per match) |
| Highest attendance | 2,000 Doncaster v Dudley Kingswinford 26 January 2002 |
| Lowest attendance | 100 Sandal v Dudley Kingswinford 24 November 2001 Sandal v Whitchurch 16 February 2002 |
| Top point scorer | John Liley (Doncaster) 359 points |
| Top try scorer | Shaun Perry (Dudley Kingswinford) 25 tries |
After the havoc caused by the previous seasons foot-and-mouth crisis, this year's competition was much more straightforward with all fixtures being fulfilled. Doncaster were easily the top side in the competition, strolling to the league title with almost a perfect record (they lost just the one game) and gaining promotion to the 2002–03 National Division Two. As league runners up, Dudley Kingswinford had a tough playoff game away against 2001–02 National Division Three South runners up Launceston who were ultimately too strong for the Midlands side who lost 26 - 0 and had to spend another season in National Division Three North. Unlike 2000-01 the relegation process was much more straightforward expect that four teams would go down instead of the usual two. West Hartlepool were the first team to be relegated, suffering their fourth relegation in a row (the north-west club were actually a Premiership team at the start of this slide), followed swiftly by Sandal as easily the two worst sides in the league. Morley and Whitchurch were the other teams to be relegated, being much more competitive but not having quite enough to stay safe. West Hartlepool, Sandal and Morley dropped to North Division 1 while Whitchurch went into Midlands Division 1.