Nottingham R.F.C.

Last updated

Nottingham R.F.C.
Nottingham rugby logo.png
Full nameNottingham Rugby Club
Union Notts, Lincs & Derbyshire RFU
Founded1877;147 years ago (1877)
Ground(s)Lady Bay Sports Ground (Capacity: 3,700 [a] )
ChairmanAlistair Bow
PresidentNigel Bettinson-Eatch
Director of Rugby Craig Hammond
League(s) RFU Championship
2023–24 8th
Kit left arm.svg
Kit body whitehoops.png
Kit body.svg
Kit right arm.svg
Kit shorts.svg
Kit socks hoops white.png
Kit socks long.svg
Home kit
Official website
www.nottinghamrugby.co.uk

Nottingham Rugby Club is a rugby union club based in Nottingham, England. The club's first team currently plays in the RFU Championship, the second tier of English Rugby.

Contents

The first XV are nicknamed The Archers, in reference to the famous Robin Hood. Now situated in the Lady Bay area of Nottingham, the club was formerly based at Meadow Lane, the home ground of Notts County F.C. They previously played at Ireland Avenue in Beeston until the end of the 2005–06 season.

History

The club was established circa 1877 by Alexander Birkin after returning from Rugby School, where he was introduced to the sport. The Birkin family later purchased the land at Ireland Avenue that would be the home of the club until 2006.

The club's heyday was in the late 1980s with a number of top international players representing the first XV. These included Simon Hodgkinson, Rob Andrew, Gary Rees, Dusty Hare and Brian Moore (also a Lion) representing England and Chris Gray representing Scotland.

The advent of professionalism[ citation needed ] saw the Green & Whites fall on hard times and the first XV narrowly avoided relegation to the regional divisions in 2002–03. The club has bounced back since then and was promoted into National League One in 2003–04. The club finished a creditable 7th in 2005–06 before leaving Ireland Avenue after 102 years. Alistair Bow was appointed chairman in 2010 after having been a director since 2008.

On 30 July 2010 the club signed an agreement to become part of Notts County PLC. [1]

In early July 2012 it was announced that Martin Haag had become the new director of rugby at the club. Martin Haag appointed Dan Montagu captain on 21 July 2015. He replaced Brent Wilson who retired at the end of 2014–15 season. Since then Ian Costello has been appointed as Head Coach, with Neil Fowkes and Alex O'Dowd rounding out the coaching team.

A change in funding by the RFU ahead of the 2020–21 season forced the club into become only a part-time professional club. [2]

Ground

Founded in 1877, the club originally played in a field behind the White Hart Inn in Lenton. In 1904 the club purchased land in the village of Beeston and were able to have their first permanent ground, initially known as Rylands Road but becoming Ireland Avenue by 1947. By the advent of league rugby in the late 1980's the capacity of Ireland Avenue was around 4,950 which included a covered grandstand with seating. The club would play at Ireland Avenue for over a century, eventually selling the ground for housing development in 2004. [3] [4]

The club spent a couple of seasons ground sharing at Notts County's home, Meadow Lane between 2004–2006. Since 2006 the club have been based at Lady Bay Sports Ground at Lady Bay. Ground capacity at Lady Bay was originally 3,500 but this has risen to 3,700 for the 2024–25 season, when a Lady Bay ground record of 3,690 watched the club's Premiership Rugby Cup game against Leicester Tigers on 22 November 2024. [5]

Honours

Current standings

2024–25 RFU Championship table
PosTeamPldWDLPFPAPDTBLBPtsQualification
1 Coventry 550017174+974024Promotion place
2 Ealing Trailfinders 5401247102+1455122
3 Bedford Blues 5401149138+114020
4 Hartpury University 5302164152+124117
5 Nottingham 5302155102+533116
6 Chinnor 5203150134+163112
7 London Scottish 5203104142382111
8 Ampthill 52031092231143011
9 Doncaster Knights 5203113142292010
10 Cambridge 5203108179712010
11 Cornish Pirates 510410913021239
12 Caldy 50059115261022Relegation place
Updated to match(es) played on 19 October 2024. Source: Source: RFU Championship [6]
Rules for classification: If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:
  1. Number of matches won
  2. Difference between points for and against
  3. Total number of points for
  4. Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams
  5. Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled

Current squad

The Nottingham squad for the 2023–24 season is: [7]

Note: Flags indicate national union under World Rugby eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-World Rugby nationality.

PlayerPositionUnion
Harry Clayton Hooker Flag of England.svg England
Jack Dickinson Hooker Flag of England.svg England
Antonio Harris Hooker Flag of England.svg England
Jake Bridges Prop Flag of England.svg England
Tom Manz Prop Flag of England.svg England
Kai Owen Prop Flag of England.svg England
Aniseko Sio Prop Flag of Samoa.svg Samoa
Archie van der Flier Prop Flag of England.svg England
Xavier Valentine Prop Flag of England.svg England
George Cox Lock Flag of England.svg England
Sebastian Ferreira Lock Flag of Germany.svg Germany
Sam Green Lock Flag of England.svg England
Iosefa Maloney-Fiaola Lock Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand
Come Joussain Lock Flag of France.svg France
Jack Shine Lock Flag of England.svg England
James Cherry Back row Flag of England.svg England
Richard Clift Back row Flag of Australia (converted).svg Australia
Jay Ecclesfield Back row Flag of England.svg England
Scott Hall Back row Flag of England.svg England
Josh Poullet Back row Flag of England.svg England
Nathan Tweedy Back row Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand
Jacob Wright Back row Flag of England.svg England
PlayerPositionUnion
Josh Goodwin Scrum-half Flag of England.svg England
Michael Stronge Scrum-half Flag of England.svg England
Will Yarnell Scrum-half Flag of England.svg England
Jamie Annand Fly-half Flag of Scotland.svg Scotland
Morgan Bunting Fly-half Flag of England.svg England
Sam Hollingsworth Fly-half Flag of England.svg England
Ronnie Du Randt Centre Flag of South Africa.svg South Africa
Michael Green Centre Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand
Marcus Ramage Centre Flag of England.svg England
Javiah Pohe Centre Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand
Dafydd Rhys Tiueti Centre Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Wales
Harry Graham Wing Flag of England.svg England
Henry Joule Wing Flag of England.svg England
Ellis Mee Wing Flag of England.svg England
Taiye Olowofela Wing Flag of England.svg England
Jack Stapley Wing Flag of England.svg England
George Daniels Fullback Flag of England.svg England
David Williams Fullback Flag of England.svg England

Notable former players

British & Irish Lions

The following Nottingham players have been selected for the Lions tours while at the club:

Rugby World Cup

The following are players which have represented their countries at the Rugby World Cup while playing for Nottingham:

TournamentPlayers selected England playersOther national team players
1987 2 Brian Moore, Gary Rees
1991 3 Gary Rees, Simon Hodgkinson Chris Gray Flag of Scotland.svg
2011 4 James Arlidge Flag of Japan.svg , Sione Kalamafoni Flag of Tonga.svg , Tim Usasz Flag of the United States.svg , Filipo Levi Flag of Samoa.svg
2019 1 Shane O'Leary Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg

Other notable former players

The following players have played for Nottingham and have been capped by their national side.

Notes

  1. Lady Bay capacity increased from 3,500 to 3,700 for the 2024–25 season.

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References

  1. "Ray Trew takes over Nottingham Rugby Club". BBC News. 30 July 2010.
  2. "PLANNING FOR NEXT SEASON". Nottingham Rugby. 17 April 2020. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
  3. "Ireland Avenue, Nottingham R.F.C, 1904-2004". The Rugby Journal. Retrieved 30 July 2010.
  4. "A last farewell to Ireland Avenue". BBC Sport. 27 April 2006.
  5. "Ten-try Tigers take charge to brush past Nottingham". The RugbyPaper. No. 845. 24 November 2024. p. 19.
  6. "RFU Championship". England Rugby.
  7. "Senior Squad – Nottingham Rugby". Nottingham Rugby. Retrieved 3 April 2024.