Dings Crusaders Rugby Football Club

Dings Crusaders

Full name	Dings Crusaders Rugby Football Club
Union	Gloucestershire RFU
Founded	1897;125 years ago (1897)
Location	Frenchay, Bristol, England
Ground(s)	Shaftesbury Park (Capacity: 2,250 (250 seats))
Captain(s)	Stean Williams
League(s)	National League 2 South
2021–22	7th (transferred to National League 2 West)
Team kit
Official website
www.pitchero.com/clubs/dingscrusadersrfc/

Dings Crusaders RFC is an English rugby union team based in the Bristol suburb of Frenchay having previously been based in Lockleaze up until 2018. The club was relegated from National Division Two South, the fourth tier of the English rugby union system in 2015, to the South West Premier ^[1] After two seasons, the team won promotion back to National League 2 South for the 2018–19 season and currently play in National League 2 West

Dings is one of the oldest clubs in Bristol, with its roots in a slum area of Bristol stretching back over 110 years. The club is entirely amateur, as opposed to the semi-professional structure of other clubs. The mantra "we don't play for personal gain" is a poignant line in the club's anthem, being very much a part of the community of Lockleaze it is not uncommon to find that some players in the teams today are third generation Dings players.

Current standings

2022–23 National League 2 West Table v t e
		Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points for	Points against	Points diff	Try bonus	Losing bonus	Points
1	Leicester Lions	9	8	0	1	315	164	151	8	1	41
2	Dings Crusaders	9	8	0	1	316	233	83	7	0	39
3	Redruth	9	7	0	2	377	191	186	8	1	37
4	Clifton	9	7	0	2	371	192	179	7	0	35
5	Hinckley	9	6	1	2	252	225	27	6	0	32
6	Exeter University	9	6	0	3	296	265	31	7	1	32
7	Luctonians	9	5	0	4	262	178	84	6	2	28
8	Loughborough Students	9	4	1	4	304	292	12	7	2	27
9	Newport (Salop)	9	3	0	6	200	381	−181	5	1	18
10	Old Redcliffians	9	3	0	6	212	293	−81	4	1	17
11	Hornets RFC	9	2	0	7	244	339	−95	5	2	15
12	Barnstaple	9	2	0	7	158	266	−108	1	2	11
13	Stourbridge	9	1	0	8	225	368	−143	5	1	10
14	Bournville	9	0	0	9	184	329	−145	3	4	7
If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order: Number of matches won Difference between points for and against Total number of points for Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled
Green background is the promotion place. Pink background are relegation places. Updated: 10 November 2022

History

The Dings was a slum area of Bristol located between Barton Hill and Temple Meads. The Shaftesbury Crusade, a Christian mission in the area, encouraged sporting activity in the Dings. In 1897, H W Rudge founded Dings Crusaders as part of the Dings Boys Club. Dings is one of only two remaining members of the original Bristol Combination set up in 1901, the other being Bristol Saracens. In 1948, Jack Steadman instigated a move to Dings current home in Lockleaze. Since league structure was introduced, Dings gained three promotions between 1996 and 2003 to enter the National League for the first time. The club finished in the relegation places at the end of the 2003–04 season, their first in National Division Three South, but were spared demotion by the demise of Wakefield. Since then, the club has consolidated its position within the league.

In 2014 it was announced that the club would be moving from the 1,500 capacity Lockleaze ground to Shaftesbury Park, which is based on Frenchay Park Road in Frenchay, South Gloucestershire. ^[2] The new ground will be part of a £8 million pound sports facility with a main stand/club house, a gym and two court sports hall, eight changing rooms, two full size floodlight pitches including the main pitch which will have an 4G artificial surface, parking for up to 220 cars and multiple junior pitches. ^[3] Capacity will include 250 seated and up to 2,000 standing, bring the total figure up to approximately 2,250.

On 17 February 2018 after 10 years in the making, Dings finally played their first game at Shaftesbury Park in front of a crowd of around 1,000, defeating Weston-super-Mare 34–26 in a South West Premier league game. ^[4]

Honours

• Bristol Combination Cup winners (7): 1973–74, 1985–86, 1990–91, 1994–95, 1995–96, 2010–11, 2014–15
• Gloucestershire 1 champions: 1989–90
• Gloucestershire/Somerset champions: 1993–94
• Western Counties champions: 1995–96
• South West Division 2 West champions: 2000–01
• South West Premier champions (2): 2002–03, 2017–18

^{[5] [6] [7] [8] [9]}

Current squad

Note: Flags indicate national union as has been defined under WR eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-WR nationality.

Player Position Union Tim Brockett Prop England Ollie Caunt Lock England Sam Caven Centre England Alastair Crombie Centre England Gavin Curry Number 8 England Alex Dancer Centre England Neil Dipple Fullback England Sylvan Edwards Wing England Jack Gadd Centre England Tim Gear-Evans Centre England Ed Hack Flanker England Ed Haupt Wing England Ollie Hayes Hooker England Darren Jefferies Lock England Ricky Jones Scrum-half England

Player Position Union Gareth Lloyd Lock England Josh Lloyd Prop England Tom Lukjaniec Fly-half England Chas Meddick Prop England Pierre Panizzutti Flanker France Mitch Quoi Flanker England Rob Rees Lock England Orlando Stott Fullback France Richard Thomas Hooker England Jack Tovey Fullback England George Watkins Wing England Adam Westall Fly-half England Dave Wheeler Hooker England Stean Williams Flanker England Chris Wright-Hider Wing England Archie Stapleton Scrum-half England

Club officials

President : Raymond Bowden

Vice President : Phillip Knowles

General Secretary : Ian Haddrell

Treasurer : Jeff Kemp

Chairman : Steve Lloyd

Chairman of Selectors : Richard Grant

Commercial Manager : Richard Milsom

Membership Secretary : Richard Cecil

Head Coach : Luke Arscott

Director of Rugby : Stean Williams

Club Captain : Steve Plummer

References

1. "RFU National League 3 South West Rugby Fixtures". South West Sports News. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
2. "Dings Crusaders RFC to move after selling its site". Western Daily Press. 15 July 2014. Retrieved 13 December 2015.^{[ permanent dead link ]}
3. "Frenchay ground beginning to take shape". Fishponds Voice. 2 September 2016.
4. "Dings Crusaders kick off with a win!". Ferguson Mann Architects. Retrieved 17 February 2018.
5. "Bristol & District Rugby Football Combination". Pitchero. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
6. "Dings Crusaders see off Weston in Combination Cup final". Bristol Post. 5 May 2011. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
7. "RUGBY: Dings' season ends on a high with Combination Cup win". Bristol Post. 14 May 2015. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
8. "Final League Tables 2000-2001". Trelawny's Army. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
9. "Final League Tables 2002-2003". Trelawny's Army. Retrieved 13 December 2015.

External links

• Official website