Location | Birmingham, England |
---|---|
Coordinates | 52°25′19″N1°52′48″W / 52.422°N 1.880°W |
Owner | Birmingham City Council |
Capacity | 5,000 (1,300 seated) |
Surface | Grass + 3G all-weather training pitch |
Construction | |
Broke ground | 2005 |
Built | 2005 |
Expanded | 2014/15 |
Tenants | |
Birmingham Moseley RFC (2005–present), Moseley Oak RFC (2008–present), Birmingham Bulldogs RLFC (2016–present) |
Billesley Common is a recreational area of public open space in South Birmingham, England. It is situated along the Yardley Wood Road, between the suburbs of Moseley and Yardley Wood.
Birmingham's rugby union team, Birmingham Moseley Rugby Club of the National League 1 lease part of the common from Birmingham City Council for their pitches and clubhouse. The ground had a seating capacity of 1,450 in the original stand [1] which was replaced by a 5,000 seat stand and clubhouse. [2] Birmingham Moseley's sister club Moseley Oak (formally Selly Oak RFC) have played at Billesley Common since 2008. In 2016, Birmingham Bulldogs announced that they would play their home games at the common.
Billesley Common was first mentioned in 1774 as being 'common wasteland'.
During the 1960s Billesley Common was home to the Birmingham Medics RFC. [3]
Billesley is a ward within the council constituency and parliamentary constituency of Selly Oak, Birmingham, England. It is 7 kilometres (4 mi) south of the city centre and includes the area of Billesley and much of Yardley Wood as well as the Hollybank Road area of Kings Heath. It is contiguous with the Birmingham wards of Highter's Heath on the south-west, Brandwood and Kings Heath on the west, Moseley on the north and Hall Green South on the east. To the south-east is the Shirley West ward of Solihull.
Sport has always been important in Birmingham, England, from the hundreds of diverse grass-roots sports clubs to internationally famous teams, associations and venues.
The Shire Country Park is a country park in the south of Birmingham, England, taking its name from Tolkien's The Shire.
Birmingham Moseley Rugby Club is an English rugby union club, based in Birmingham, that compete in the third tier of English rugby. They were historically the premier rugby club in Birmingham, reaching the final of the John Player Cup three times in the late 1970s and early 1980s. They originally played at the Reddings, but after attempting to keep up with the transition to professional rugby, the club ran into financial difficulties and were forced to sell their 125-year home to property developers. An unsuccessful five-year spell based at the University of Birmingham followed, during which time they were relegated to National Division Two. In 2005 the club moved to its new home at Billesley Common, and were promoted to National Division One in 2006. In 2009 they won their first cup in 27 years beating Leeds 23–18 in the final of the National Trophy at Twickenham. On the weekend starting 15 April 2016; defeat to Bristol, combined with results elsewhere during the same weekend, confirmed Moseley's relegation to National League 1 for the 2016–17 season.
There have been three rugby clubs, each one a separate legal entity, that have borne the ‘Birmingham & Solihull’ name:
Stourbridge RFC is a rugby union side based in Stourbridge, West Midlands and play in the fifth tier of the English rugby union league system; Regional 1 Midlands. They play their home games at Stourton Park, which was redeveloped in 2003 to provide a larger clubhouse and social area which can also be used for weddings and other functions. The ground is in the hamlet of Stourton set amongst the Staffordshire countryside, on the outskirts of the town of Stourbridge.
Greet is a historical area in south Birmingham, England, around modern Sparkhill.
College Grove sports ground is a multi sport facility in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. It is owned and run by Wakefield Sports Club Ltd.
Yardley Wood is an area of Birmingham, United Kingdom, covering the easternmost quadrant of postcode area B14, and is located across the wards of Billesley and Highter's Heath in the south of the city.
Yardley & District RFC is an English rugby union club currently playing in the Midlands 4 West (North) Division.
Midlands 2 West (North) is a level 7 English Rugby Union league and level 2 of the Midlands League, made up of clubs from the northern part of the West Midlands region including Shropshire, Staffordshire, parts of Birmingham and the West Midlands and occasionally Cheshire, with home and away matches played throughout the season. When this division began in 1992 it was known as Midlands West 1, until it was split into two regional divisions called Midlands 3 West (North) and Midlands 3 West (South) ahead of the 2000–01 season. Further restructuring of the Midlands leagues ahead of the 2009–10 season, lead to the current name of Midlands 2 West (North).
The North Midlands Rugby Football Union is a governing body for rugby union in part of The Midlands, England. The union is the constituent body of the Rugby Football Union for the counties of Herefordshire, Shropshire, Worcestershire and the Greater Birmingham area.
Christ Church, Yardley Wood is a Grade II listed parish church in the Church of England in Birmingham.
Swanshurst Park is a public park in Birmingham, England, that is managed by Birmingham City Council.
North Midlands 3 was a tier 11 English Rugby Union league with teams from Birmingham, Herefordshire, Shropshire and Worcestershire taking part. Promoted teams moved up to North Midlands (South) 2 and since the cancellation of North Midlands 4 at the end of the 1991–92 campaign there was no relegation. North Midlands 3 was cancelled at the end of the 2003–04 season with teams transferred into either North Midlands (South) 2 or North Midlands (North).
The Inverleith Sports Ground is a rugby union stadium in Inverleith, Edinburgh, Scotland which is the home ground of amateur club Stewart's Melville RFC and was the home ground of the Scotland national rugby union team between 1899 and 1925.