Field of dreams for former Portsmouth RFC coach following Hampshire Premier title triumph

Just 12 months after being relegated from London 3 South West, Field have returned after being crowned champions of Hampshire Premier.

Former Portsmouth coach Jason Ford masterminded promotion in his first season as head coach, while specialist coach Jim Pearce will also be returning to Rugby Camp next season - he was Portsmouth’s director of rugby until the end of the 2017/18 season.

Field enjoyed a stellar 2019/20 campaign, winning 19 of their 21 league fixtures and losing just once.

They scored a whopping 926 points - an average of 44 points per game - and conceded only 253.

They scored 273 more points than anyone else in the division - Havant 2nds were next best with 653 - and conceded 80 points fewer than anyone else.

Runners-up Alton - who also won promotion - had the second best defensive record with 333 conceded. Alton were also the only team to beat Petersfield, 25-22 on October 12.

Field’s best win was a 124-0 annihilation of Eastleigh 2nds - the visitors arrived under-strength and finished the game with only 12 players - while they also trounced Farnborough twice (87-3 and 57-7), caned Fareham Heathens 68-0 and hammered Fordingbridge 55-12.

They also gained a 25-5 revenge win at Alton in January.

This is Field’s second promotion from Hampshire rugby to the London Leagues in four years. They were crowned Hampshire champions in 2016/17, but spent only two seasons in London 3 South West before being relegated.

While the RFU’s decision to honour promotion and relegations was good news for the likes of Petersfield and Havant - the latter were crowned London 1 South champions - it was bad news for Gosport & Fareham and Fareham Heathens.

Gosport & Fareham have been relegated from London 3 South West - the club’s second successive demotion.

They won only three of their 16 league games, and were 16 points adrift of third-bottom Trojans with only four matches left when the season was halted.

Gosport’s last win was in what proved to be their final game - a 19-15 victory at Basingstoke at the end of February.

Effingham & Leatherhead were also relegated for the second season running, finishing bottom of London 3 SW 12 months after being bottom of London 2 SW. Only two clubs were relegated from the division due to United Services Portsmouth withdrawing from the league before Christmas.

It is hoped that United Services will be returning to competitive rugby in Hampshire 1 next season.

As for Fareham Heathens, they will be playing Hampshire 1 rugby after finishing second bottom of Hampshire Premier.

Heathens had spent six seasons in the top tier of county rugby, but won five and lost 15 of their 20 league games in 2019/20.

The highlight of the campaign was a superb 17-14 success at fourth-placed Bognor in November, but a few weeks later they collapsed to a 71-12 drubbing at Alresford.

Like Gosport & Fareham, Heathens’ season did at least end on a winning note - a 14-7 home success against Ellingham & Ringwood in their last Hampshire Premier game on February 22.

Farnborough are also relegated from Hampshire Premier after finishing bottom, with Chichester 2nds and Overton promoted from Hampshire 1.

In addition to the first XVs both winning promotion, Havant’s 3rd XV and Petersfield’s 2nd XI finished in the top two places of Hampshire 2.

Aldershot & Fleet topped Hampshire 3.