Even though the country is experiencing a heat wave and we are in the middle of the cricket season, the first game in the upcoming campaign is just around the corner and it is therefore interesting to look at York’s opponents this season

Remarkably of the 11 teams in the league in addition to York which finished last season only 6 remain, namely Alnwick, Blaydon, Driffield, Ilkley, Middlesborough and Sandal.

The rest Cleckheaton, Harrogate, Heath, Kendal and Penrith will play in different leagues

The 2 promoted sides are Heath who topped the league and therefore were promoted automatically, Harrogate managed to move to the higher league through the play offs

The 2 relegated sides were Cleckheaton and Penrith, the former finished bottom and the latter just above them. There were no sides relegated through the play offs as we beat Pocklington.

Kendal have been moved to Regional1 North West which will reduce the distances they have to travel

The 5 new additions to the league are North Ribblesdale, Scarborough, Northern, Hull and Scunthorpe

North Ribblesdale were promoted from Regional 2 North West with a very impressive playing record, winning 18 of their 22 games and losing 4

Scarborough were promoted from Regional 2 North East with a better playing record, winning 19 and losing 3. We did in fact play them away early in the season in the Yorkshire Cup and came away the winners

The third promoted side Northern remarkably had an even better playing record, winning 22 with only 1 defeat

Scunthorpe and Hull were both relegated from National League North, Scunthorpe managing only 1 season in the league which shows how difficult it is to make the step up from our league. Hull had been ever present for many years and no doubt will be aiming to go straight back up

The league does not get any easier!

There are no cup competitions this season. Play offs for promotion and relegation remain and hopefully we will not have a nerve racking end to the season as we did last.

The season begins with a home game against Alnwick on the 12th September and ends against the same opponents with an away game on the 10th April

Jonathan Leach

6th August 2026