1987–88 Area League North
The 1987–88 Area League North was the first full season of rugby union within the fourth tier of the English league system, currently known as National League 2 North, and was the counterpart to Area League South. Each team played one match against the other teams, playing a total of ten matches each. There was no set date for matches, clubs having to arrange the fixtures among themselves.
Rugby were the first ever champions, gaining promotion to the 1988–89 National Division 3 while Solihull, Derby and Birkenhead Park were the relegated sides. Solihull and Derby dropped to Midlands 1 while Birkenhead Park fell into North 1.
Structure
Each team played one match against each of the other teams, playing a total of ten matches each. The champions are promoted to National Division 3 and the bottom three teams were relegated to either North 1 or Midlands 1 depending on their locality. The reason that there were three relegated teams was that both teams relegated from National Division 3 were based in the northern section of the country.Participating teams and locations
| Team | Ground | Capacity | City/Area |
| Birkenhead Park | Upper Park | 8,000 | Birkenhead, Wirral |
| Broughton Park | Chelsfield Grove | 2,000 | Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester |
| Derby | Kedleston Road | 1,200 | Derby, Derbyshire |
| Durham City | Hollow Drift | 3,000 | Durham, County Durham |
| Lichfield | Cooke Fields | 5,460 | Lichfield, Staffordshire |
| Northern | McCracken Park | 1,200 | Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear |
| Preston Grasshoppers | Lightfoot Green | 2,250 | Preston, Lancashire |
| Roundhay | Chandos Park | 3,000 | Roundhay, Leeds West Yorkshire |
| Rugby | Webb Ellis Road | 3,200 | Rugby, Warwickshire |
| Solihull | Sharmans Cross | 4,000 | Solihull, West Midlands |
| Stourbridge | Stourton Park | 2,000 | Stourbridge, West Midlands |