History
In 1929 a handful of players, met and decided to form the club. The club was and still is a Rugby Union football club, the game of rugby having grown to be very distinct from what we now know as association football (soccer).
Loughborough regularly fields four men's sides on a Saturday, as well as having one of the best attended Mini and Junior sections in the county. Loughborough RFC is affiliated to the Leicestershire Rugby Union (LRU), the Rugby Football Union and the Rugby Football Union for Women. The club now plays its matches on Derby Road Playing Fields and has its own purpose built clubhouse, six changing rooms and four pitches.
The 1st XV played league fixtures in Midlands 1 East for the first time in the 2011-12 Season. In the 2010–11 season Loughborough finished second in Midlands 2 East (North), winning a promotion play-off against Peterborough Lions to gain promotion. The club managed to build on the success of the previous year and stayed in Midlands 1 East for another season, finishing . Andrew York stays on for a second term as 1st XV Captain, while Chris Campbell is continuing as head coach and Jason Button has been signed as Director of Rugby.
The club has reached the final of the Leicestershire County Bowl, beating Vipers RFC two years in succession to lift the trophy. (Oddly enough, the 'Bowl' is actually a cup. This should not be seen as being too odd though as when Loughborough won the Leicestershire County Plate, the plate was in fact a shield.) This season Loughborough's attempt to lift the trophy for a third successive year was thwarted by Leicester Forest, a close and hard-fought game ending with a 12-10 victory for the Leicester outfit.
Women's and youth teams
Loughborough, as many clubs have done, has responded to the calling and popularity of Women's Rugby and the Women's XV. The club uses the excellent Training facilities on offer at the University in the week and plays its matches at Derby Road on Sunday afternoons. The Women's team work in partnership with Loughborough Lightning creating a player pathway to the premiership and provide more opportunities for players, including Loughborough University students.
The team currently play in the Championship North since their Midlands win in 2013/14 season.
2012/13 season saw the Loughborough 1st XV won the Midlands One league title from Olney in a 'winner takes all' finale match at Derby Road, and from there progressed to a Northern Play-Off against Altrincham Kersal. Loughborough played their opponents off the park in a 29-7 win, and secured promotion to Level 2 of the women's game, Championship North 1. This promotion was the first time Loughborough had achieved a League title since they won four consecutive League Championships from 2001-2004. The Women's XV have also previously reached the final of the RFUW North Cup and the RFUW National Shield, RFUW Super 4 competition and regularly see players in the Leicestershire County representative senior team.
Loughborough also has a hugely successful youth set-up, including Mini-Midi rugby for those children (boys and girls) aged 7 to 12. Junior rugby is for boys aged between 13 and 17. Colts rugby is for those aged 18 and 19. It is hoped that the women's section will be able to add a Junior Girls section in the near future (age groups under 14 and under 17).
Loughborough is always open to new members, both players and social members, and encourages boys, girls, men and women to join the club, either as players or Social Members.
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The clubhouse and grounds are based at the JJ McDowell Memorial Grounds on Station Road, Sutton, Fingal.
The Club fields five senior sides with underage teams from under 6 age grade up to under 20, men's and women's.
Suttonians is one of only four Northside Dublin clubs to have played in the All Ireland Leagues.
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Regional 2 East Midlands is an English level 6 rugby union regional league for rugby clubs in the eastern region of the Midlands, including sides from Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Warwickshire and occasionally Bedfordshire, Derbyshire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Staffordshire and Worcestershire. When this division began in 1987 it was known as Midlands 2 East, and has been restructured several times, most notably as a single division known as Midlands 2 between 1992 and 2000, and Midlands 1 East before regionalising again to its present format as part of England Rugby's Future Competition Structure change at the start of the 2022-23 season.
Chess Valley RFC is a rugby union club originally from Rickmansworth but now based in Croxley Green, Hertfordshire. It is a member of the Hertfordshire Football Union and the Rugby Football Union. It is a community club and fields adult Men's, Youth and Minis sides
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Midlands 2 East (North) is a level 7 English Rugby Union league and level 2 of the Midlands League, made up of teams from the northern part of the East Midlands region including clubs from Derbyshire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and the occasional team from Leicestershire, with home and away matches played throughout the season. When this division began in 1992 it was known as Midlands East 1, until it was split into two regional divisions called Midlands 3 East (North) and Midlands 3 East (South) ahead of the 2000–01 season. Further restructuring of the Midlands leagues ahead of the 2009–10 season, led to the current name of Midlands 2 East (North).
Malvern Rugby Football Club is a Rugby Union club based in the town of Malvern, Worcestershire, England. They currently play in Midlands 2 West (South) - a tier 7 league in the English rugby union system - after being relegated from Midlands 1 West at the end of the 2018–19 season. The club has 3 very active senior sides; 1st XV, Development XV, and 3rd XV. It also boasts a thriving academy, the Ian Budd Academy, named after the late Ian Budd, the founder of the academy at Malvern RFC. The club also has junior and mini sides from Under 7s all the way up to U16s, before these players graduate into the Academy, and often into the senior sides from there.
Harrogate Rugby Union Football Club is an English rugby union team based in Harrogate, North Yorkshire. The club runs four senior sides. The first team play in National League 2 North, having been promoted from the North Premier in 2019–20. The second team, Harrogate Georgians, play in the Yorkshire RFU Merit Premiership and the third team play in the Yorkshire RFU 2 Central/North Merit League. The club also fields a ladies' team completing the four senior teams in the RFUW Championship, and eight junior teams.
Syston Rugby Football Club is an English rugby union team based in Queniborough, Leicestershire. The club runs four senior sides, a vets, colts and all age groups from under-7 to under-19. The first XV currently plays in Regional 1 Midlands, at the fifth tier of the English rugby union system, following their promotion from Midlands 1 East at the end of the 2019–20 season.
Kenilworth Rugby Club is an English rugby union team based in Kenilworth, Warwickshire. The club runs three senior sides, a veterans team and a full set of mini and junior teams. The first XV currently plays in Regional 1 Midlands − a league at level 5 of the English rugby union system The second XV currently plays in Counties 2 Midlands West South at level 8 of the RFU system. The Women's team is coached by Rich Bennett and play in the Championship North 1 at level 2 of the Women's league structure.
Dorking Rugby Football Club is an English rugby union football club, originally based in Dorking, Surrey and play in the nearby village of Brockham. The club currently play in the fourth tier of English club rugby.
The Leicestershire Rugby Union (LRU) is the governing body for the sport of rugby union in the counties of Leicestershire and Rutland in England. The union is the constituent body of the Rugby Football Union (RFU) for those counties. The LRU administers and organises rugby union clubs and competitions in those two counties and administers the Leicestershire county rugby representative teams.
Gareth Collins is a former English-Welsh rugby union player who is currently head coach at Leicester Lions and Head of Psychology at The King's School Grantham. A Leicester Tigers youth player, Collins was a versatile back who made his name scoring tries, being one of the most prolific finishers in National League 2 North history with 152 tries scored during his time with Rugby Lions and Leicester Lions, which included a joint divisional record 32 tries in a season. As well as playing club rugby he has also represented Warwickshire in the county championships and has captained the England Counties XV.
Loughborough Lightning are a women's rugby union club based in Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. They are the women's team of Loughborough Students RUFC and Loughborough University. Together with the netball team and the women's cricket team, the rugby union team is one of three women's sports teams based Loughborough University that use the Loughborough Lightning name. In 2017, they were selected as a franchise for the inaugural Premier 15s season.
Droitwich Rugby Football Club is an English rugby union team based in Droitwich Spa, Worcestershire. The club runs three senior sides and a veterans team, colts and a full set of mini and junior sides. The first XV currently plays in Midlands 1 West having been promoted as champions from Midlands 2 West (South) at the end of the 2017-18 season.
