Richmond Women

Last updated
Richmond Women
UnionRFU
Founded1986

Richmond Women, formally Finchley RFC, is a women's rugby union team based in Richmond, London, England. They were founded in 1986 and played in the Women's Premiership. [1] [2] [3] They are also the women's team of Richmond F.C. [1]

Contents

History

Richmond Women were initially formed in 1986 as part of Finchley RFC. They were one of the first women's rugby union teams established in England. They later became a part of Richmond F.C., because of the financial support [4] that Richmond were able to give and they took on the name of Richmond Women as a result. The club used the name "Women" instead of "Ladies" because of a belief that Ladies would imply that it was not a serious team. [5] The team is one of the oldest and most successful in English women's rugby union with 25 league and cup victories, six National Sevens wins and four European Championship titles. [1] In 2000, they won the Rugby World National Cup after beating Wasps Ladies in the final at Twickenham Stadium in the first women's rugby union match to be played there. [6] between 2010 and 2012, they won three consecutive league titles. [7] They run three teams, [8] with Richmond II playing in Championship 1 South [9] and Richmond Women III playing in Championship 2 South East. [10]

In 1995, they had an honour's board erected in the clubhouse at the Athletic Ground however it was later removed by members of London Scottish, who share the Athletic Ground, claiming that Richmond didn't have permission to put one up. [11]

Notable players

Richmond women have had 118 international players play for them, including 18 in 2001. [5]

World Rugby Hall of Fame inductees

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rob Andrew</span> British Lions & England international rugby union footballer & cricketer

Christopher Robert Andrew is a former English rugby union player and was, until April 2016, Professional Rugby Director at the RFU.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Patesians R.F.C.</span> English amateur rugby (union & league) club

Old Patesians Rugby Football Club is a rugby union club based in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. The club currently play in Regional 2 Severn, a level six league in the English rugby union system, having been relegated from the South West Premier at the end of the 2018–19 season.

The Women's Premiership, also called the RFUW Premiership was the top level of women's rugby union in England until 2017. It was formed in 1990 and was run by the Rugby Football Union for Women. It was superseded in the 2017/18 season by Premier 15s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Middlesex Rugby Football Union</span> Rugby team

Middlesex Rugby is the governing body for rugby union in Middlesex, England; Middlesex is a historic county of England that covers areas in the ceremonial counties of Greater London, Surrey and Hertfordshire. The historic county is still in use when referring to sport, and some businesses in the area. Middlesex RFU was originally created as the Middlesex County Rugby Club but within six years was being referred to as the Middlesex County Rugby Football Union and is now known simply as Middlesex Rugby.

Rugby union is one of the most popular sports, in terms of both participants and spectators in London. London has several of England's leading rugby union clubs, and the city is home to 13 teams playing in national leagues, and many regional amateur leagues regulated by the London and South East Division Rugby Football Union. However, several of these teams, due to necessity, have found homes at stadia outside the boundaries of the capital. The sport is well established, especially in the middle-class suburbs to the north and west of the city. Four of the twelve clubs currently in the Gallagher Premiership have London origins.

Bristol Bears Women, formerly Clifton Ladies RFC, then Bristol Ladies, is a women's rugby union team based in Bristol, England. They are a standalone, independent rugby club, running in partnership with the Bristol Bears since becoming affiliated to them in 2008 and play their home matches at Dings RFC in the Premier 15s.

Lichfield Ladies Rugby Union Football Club is a women's rugby union club based in Lichfield, Staffordshire, England. They play their home matches at Cooke Fields and play in the Women's Premiership. They are also the women's team of Lichfield Rugby Union Football Club.

Wasps Women are a women's rugby union based in Acton, London, England. They were founded in 1984 and play in the Premier 15s. They are the women's team of Wasps FC, who are affiliated to Premiership Rugby team Wasps. They play their home matches at Wasps FC's Twyford Avenue Sports Ground.

Worcester Warriors Women, formerly known as Worcester Valkyries, are a women's rugby union club in Worcester, Worcestershire, England. They were founded in 1993, as Worcester Ladies, and play in the Premier 15s. They were originally created as the women's team of Worcester Wanderers, but became part of the English Premiership team Worcester Warriors' organisation ahead of the 2016/17 season. They subsequently became an independent entity during the 2022–23 season on the demise of their parent company.

Thurrock T-Birds, also called Thurrock Rugby Football Club Ladies, is a women's rugby club in Grays, Essex, England. The club began as a union side in 1988, however have also operated a league side since 2023. The union side plays in Championship 1 South after being relegated from the Women's Premiership in 2013, while the league side plays in the RFL Women's Super League South.

Mark Atkinson is an English professional rugby union player who currently plays for Gloucester in the Gallagher Premiership and England. Atkinson attended Saint Ambrose College in Cheshire during his early life.

Gary Street is an English rugby union coach. He coached the England women's national team from 2007 and soon left his role after England won the Women's Rugby World Cup in 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kay Wilson</span> England international rugby union player

Kay Wilson is an English rugby union player for England. She was included in the 2014 and 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup's.

Gloucester-Hartpury Women's Rugby Football Club is a women's rugby union club based in Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England. They are the unified women's team of Gloucester Rugby and Hartpury University R.F.C. They were founded in 2014 and as of 2017, play in the Premier 15s.

Harlequins Women, formerly known as Harlequins Ladies, are a women's rugby union club based in Guildford, Surrey, England and in Twickenham, Middlesex, England. They were founded in 1995 as the women's team of Harlequin F.C. and rebranded in 2017 after merging with Aylesford Bulls. In 2017, they were selected as one of the franchises for the new Premier 15s league, but they also cater for new, aspiring and social players within their 3rd XV squad.

The Premier 15s, currently known for sponsorship purposes as the Allianz Premier 15s, is the top tier of the women's English rugby union domestic league system run by the Rugby Football Union (RFU). The league was created mainly from teams in the Women's Premiership. Its first season began on 16 September 2017. The reigning champions are Saracens Women.

Leanne Infante is an English rugby union player. She made her debut for England in 2013 and was a finalist in the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup. At club level, she plays for Saracens.

The RFU Intermediate Cup is a rugby union national knockout cup competition in England run by the Rugby Football Union. It is contested by teams at level 7 of the English rugby union system. While the competition is a national one, it is however split into regions until the semi-finals with the final being held at Twickenham Stadium in London. It was first contested in 1997. Presently, the RFU Intermediate Cup is the third most important club cup competition in England, behind the Premiership Rugby Cup and RFU Championship Cup.

Donna Kennedy is a Scottish rugby union coach and former international player who played for the national team from 1993 to 2010. She was the world's most-capped women's player from 2004 to 2016 and the first Scottish player — woman or man — to reach 100 international caps. As of November 2017, she remains the most-capped player in Scotland with 115 caps.

The RFU Junior Vase is a rugby union national knockout cup competition in England run by the Rugby Football Union, which has been competed for since 1990. It is mostly contested by 1st XV teams at level 9 of the English rugby union system, although sides as low as level 12 or even outside the league system can sometimes enter. The competition is a national one, but split into regions until the national semi-finals with the final being held at Twickenham Stadium in London. Presently, the RFU Junior Vase is the fifth most important club cup competition in England, behind the Premiership Rugby Cup, RFU Championship Cup, RFU Intermediate Cup and RFU Senior Vase.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Richmond Ladies". RFU. Retrieved 2014-02-28.
  2. ↑ Ali Donnelly (2013-09-05). "Women's rugby Premiership preview". BT. Retrieved 2014-03-08.
  3. ↑ "Women's Premiership: England captain backs revamp". BBC. Retrieved 2014-03-10.
  4. ↑ Paul Trow (1996-11-24). "Lessons of the sisters in arms". The Independent. Retrieved 2014-02-28.
  5. 1 2 "Scrummy Kyra just loves her big hits". Sunday Mirror. 1998-10-11. Retrieved 2014-02-28.
  6. ↑ "RFU opens Twickenham gates for England ladies". Wimbledon Guardian. 2003-01-31. Retrieved 2014-02-28.
  7. ↑ "Richmond take title on a weekend of upsets". Scrum Queens. Retrieved 2014-02-28.
  8. ↑ "English Women's Premiership Preview". Scrum Queens. Retrieved 2014-02-28.
  9. ↑ Echo, Gloucestershire (2013-01-16). "Tigers tame high-flying Richmond to move joint second in table". Gloucestershire Echo. Retrieved 2014-02-28.
  10. ↑ "Richmond III 8, Hammers 42 (24 November 2013)". Fulhamrugby.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-02-28.
  11. ↑ "Pressure on Evans grows ever greater". The Times. London. 15 January 1995.
  12. ↑ Orchard, Sara (2013-02-01). "Police chief Findlay fires up Scotland". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2014-02-28.
  13. 1 2 3 "Katy McLean to captain England Women against France". BBC. 2013-11-05. Retrieved 2014-02-28.
  14. 1 2 3 4 "World Rugby Hall of Fame to recognise pioneering women and recent stars at New Zealand induction". www.rugbyworldcup.com. 2022-09-29. Retrieved 2022-09-30.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.