Waterloo F.C.

Waterloo
Full name	Firwood Waterloo Rugby Club
Union	Lancashire RFU
Founded	1882;142 years ago
Location	Blundellsands, Merseyside, England
Ground(s)	St Anthony's Road, Blundellsands (Capacity: 9,000 (200 seated))
President	Paul Weare
Coach(es)	Sean Fletcher
League(s)	North 1 West
2022-23	4th
	Team kit
	Team kit
Official website
	firwoodwaterloorfc.rfu.club

Last updated April 01, 2024

Waterloo Rugby Club (known as Firwood Waterloo for sponsorship reasons) is an English Rugby Union team based at St Anthony's Road, Blundellsands, Merseyside. Once a powerhouse of the English rugby union game, the men's 1st XV now play in North 1 West at the sixth level of English rugby union system, following their relegation from National League 3 North at the end of the 2016-17 season.

History

Waterloo lineout at Blundellsands Waterloo1.jpg — Waterloo lineout at Blundellsands

Waterloo Football Club celebrated its 125th season in 2007/08, having been founded in 1882 by brothers Sidney and Harry Hall and George Abercrombie. From 1882 until 1884 the club was known as Serpentine after the road near its original ground. In 1884 a dispute prompted a relocation to Waterloo and so the club's name was changed. The club returned to the Blundellsands area in 1892 and has remained there ever since. The team is currently known as Firwood Waterloo after its title sponsor.^[2]

They play in myrtle green, white and scarlet hooped shirts, green shorts and green socks. Their badge features a Lancastrian red rose with a black griffin in the centre. Former players include Dick Greenwood, Ben Kay, Will Greenwood, Andy Titterrell, Nicola Mazzucato, Watcyn Thomas, Kyran Bracken, Austin Healey, and Paul Grayson.^[3]

Notes

In 1977 they were the runners-up in the John Player Cup.
In 1986 they won the Glengarth Sevens at Stockport R.U.F.C
They competed in the top division of English rugby for the first two seasons after the league structure was introduced but were relegated in 1989.
In Season 2003/04 the 1st XV gained promotion to National League Division 2, reached the final of the Powergen Shield at Twickenham and was Rugby World Magazine 'Team of the Year'.
In 2005/06 they secured promotion to National League Division 1.
In 2005 club president and former England women's rugby union international Gill Burns received an M.B.E. for services to sport.
In 2008 the club won the Lancashire Cup for the 7th time in their history.

Club honours

Lancashire Cup winners (7 times): 1974, 1980, 1985, 1987, 1993, 1994, 2008
Lancashire Cup runners up: 2006, 2023
John Player Cup runners up: 1977
Glengarth Sevens winners: 1986
Merit Table B champions: 1986-87
National Division 3 North champions: 2003-04
Powergen Shield runners up: 2003-04

Ground move

At the 2008 AGM the prospect of selling their Blundellsands ground and relocation to a new purpose built facility was discussed.^[4]

MyWaterlooRugby.com

In mid-2009 in an attempt to create extra interest and revenue Waterloo embarked on an internet based fan management scheme allowing rugby enthusiasts to contribute to the running of the club by subscribing to a website and voted on club decisions.^[5]

Women's rugby

The women's first team currently play in Tyrells Premier 15s and the Development Team play in the Tyrells Premier 15's Development League. They are currently captained by Rachael Thomas, the section has produced numerous International players throughout their 30-year history and currently have Mhairi Greave (Scotland), Lisa Neumann (Wales), Lauren Delaney (Ireland) and Sarah Beckett (England), playing at International level.

Colts

Waterloo FC has a history of high success at Colts level. The most successful team, captained by Tom Benbow and featuring long serving veterans Tom White Jr, Matt Daley, Sean Miller, Martin Bell, Andrew Riley and Mike Bates won their League in the 2002/03 season, gaining promotion and then winning the Lancashire Cup the following season. The team has now largely disbanded and the majority of the members have moved on from the club. Martin Bell went on to become first team captain.

The Colts currently compete in the Senior B league of the Lancashire Colts section (a division also featuring Liverpool St Helens, Kirkby Lonsdale and Fylde). They are captained by Jack Weare who is deputising for the injury stricken Carl Nolan. The season started well with the team winning 6 out of 6 games leaving them top of the table but shortly after this injuries and player availability contributed to the team losing the majority of their matches within weeks of the season opening.

In 2022 the Senior colts won the Lancashire Cup in a fabulous 22-17 win over a very strong Warrington side at Fleetwood RUFC. This side was unbeaten in over 4 years and coached by former Waterloo men's Captain David Blyth.

Internationals

The full list of Waterloo players to earn international caps is as follows :

England : Alan Ashcroft 1956–59, Jasper Bartlett 1951, Reg Bazley 1952–55, Norman Bennett 1948, Eric Bole 1946, John Cain 1950, Roy Foulds 1929, Dick Greenwood 1966–69, Dicky Guest 1939–49, Jack Heaton 1935–47, Chris Jennins 1967, Roy Leyland 1935, Humphrey Luya 1948–49, Graham Meikle 1934, Steve Meikle 1929, Joe Periton 1925–30, Sam Perry 1948, Gordon Rimmer 1949–54, Jim Syddall 1982–84, Peter Thompson 1959, Bert 'HB' Toft 1936–39, Dick Uren 1948–52, Harold Uren 1946, Jack Wallens 1927, Bob Weighill 1947–48, Gill Burns, Sonia Harris, Ross Green 2007 Ireland : Robin Godfrey 1954, Fiona Neary, Joleen Morton

Italy : Nicola Mazzucato 2007.

Spain : Pablo Feijóo 2007–08, Jaime Nava 2008.

Scotland : Alastair Fisher 1947, Colin Fisher 1975–76, Jackie McArthur 1932, Sammy McQueen 1923, Allan Roy 1938-39, J.W. Scott 1928–30, Ally Little 2001.

Wales : Raymond Bark-Jones 1933, Watcyn Thomas 1931–33, Kylie Wilson, Rachel Brown, Jennifer Davies.

USA : Michael Caulder 1974-75 Chad Erskine 2006

Canada : Ander Monro 2006

Malta : James O'Brien 2009–present Tom Holloway 2010–present

Luxembourg : Jason Bloomfield 1995 Jason Brittin 1995

Kenya : William Murphy 2009–present

Other

They were affiliated with Liverpool's Capital of Culture 2008 promotions (official website).
The club has a long tradition of rivalries with some of the sport's most famous clubs. One such tradition, recently revived, is the game against Wanderers. The winners of this match get to keep the "Percy the Pike" trophy in their clubhouse.^[6] The fixture was played once again in April 2017 at St. Anthony's Road. It was indeed won in true "hands will do it" fashion by Wanderers in the last play of the game. The pike will return to Wanderers where it will be played for in a return fixture in 2018.

Related Research Articles

Liverpool St Helens Football Club is an English rugby union team formed from the merger of Liverpool Football Club and St. Helens RUFC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Orrell R.U.F.C.</span> English rugby union club, based in Wigan

Orrell Rugby Union Football Club is a rugby union club from Orrell in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester.

Sheffield Tigers Rugby Football Club is a rugby union team based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They currently play in the fourth tier of the English rugby union league system, National League 2 North, and are based at Dore Moor, Hathersage Road, Sheffield. The club run three senior teams and a veterans side, the junior section starts at under-7's up to a colts XV.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sheffield RUFC</span> English rugby union club, based in South Yorkshire

Sheffield Rugby Union Football Club is a rugby union club based at Abbeydale Sports Club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The club play in National League 2 North, at the fourth level of the English rugby union system, following promotion from the Midlands Premier at the end of the 2021–22 season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stockport RUFC</span> English rugby union club

Stockport Rugby Union Football Club is a rugby union club based in Stockport, Greater Manchester. They play in Regional 1 North West, following their promotion from North 1 West in 2021–22.

Leeds Tykes is an English rugby union club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, playing in the National League 2 North.

Soane Tongaʻuiha is a Tongan-born, New Zealand-educated, rugby union player and coach. His longest stint was spent with the Northampton Saints, with whom he formed a formidable reputation and rose to prominence, becoming a fan favourite. He has played internationally for Tonga. His position of choice is loose-head prop, although he sometimes plays at tight-head. He is known for his large size and fierce runs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Park St Helens</span> English rugby union club, based in St Helens, Merseyside

West Park RFC is a rugby union club based in St Helens, Merseyside. The 1st XV currently plays in South Lancs/Cheshire 1 at the seventh level of the English rugby union system following their relegation from North 1 West at the end of the 2016–17 season.

North Premier was a level five league in the English rugby union system, with the fourteen teams drawn from across Northern England. The other leagues at this level were London & South East Premier, Midlands Premier and South West Premier. The RFU reorganised the level five leagues for season 2022–23, with an increase from four to six and reducing the teams in each from fourteen to twelve. The teams in this league now play in either Regional 1 North East or Regional 1 North West.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bolton RUFC</span> Rugby team

Bolton RUFC are an amateur rugby union team who play in the North 2 West league of the English rugby union league system.

Halifax Rugby Union Football Club is an English rugby union team based in Halifax, West Yorkshire. The club currently runs three senior men's teams along with 2 Women's rugby union teams and a Mixed Ability rugby team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anti-Assassins</span> Rugby team

The Anti-Assassins Rugby Union Football team (A-As) was an invitation team that selected players from the northern counties of England to play friendly charitable matches locally and to go on tour. The team was remodelled in 2004, teaming up with the Wooden Spoon Society to become the Spoon AAs.

The Lancashire County Rugby Football Union is the society responsible for rugby union in the county of Lancashire, England, and is one of the constituent bodies of the national Rugby Football Union having been formed in 1881. In addition it is the county that has won the County Championship on most occasions

Keighley Rugby Union Football Club is a Rugby Union club based in Keighley, West Yorkshire, England. The club currently play in Yorkshire 1.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Broughton Park RUFC</span> Rugby team

Broughton Park FC, is one of the oldest rugby union clubs in England and was established in 1882, just one year after the Lancashire County Rugby Football Union was founded and eleven years after the formation of the national Rugby Football Union. The first XV played in North 1 West, a sixth level league in the English league system following their promotion as champions of South Lancs/Cheshire 1 at the end of the 2017-18 season.

The Lancashire Cup was an English Rugby Football Union competition founded in 1971. It was organized by the Lancashire Rugby Football Union and was open to all eligible clubs in the Lancashire region including a number of clubs in Cheshire and Merseyside. The men's competition was discontinued at the end of 2013 as there were not enough teams willing to participate in the cup.

Chris Johnson is an English rugby union footballer, currently playing at Fly-half or Centre for Sale in National League 1. An outstanding player who can kick points, drop goals, and score tries, he is one of the most prolific scorers of all time in both National League 2 North and National League 1, with over 3,000 points spread across the two divisions from his time with Huddersfield, Fylde and Sale. Johnson has also had a very successful representative career, winning the Bill Beaumont Cup five times with Lancashire, and captaining the England Counties XV.

Richard Vasey is an English rugby union player, currently playing at Fly-half for Caldy in National League 2 North. A talented player who has experience of playing at a higher level with clubs such as Leeds Carnegie and Moseley, Vasey is a reliable points kicker who has become one of the most prolific in National League 2 North history with over 1,400 points for Caldy. He has also been capped by England Students.

Waterloo Ladies Rugby Football Club, known for sponsorship reasons as Firwood Waterloo Ladies Rugby Football Club, is a women's rugby union club based in Blundellsands, Merseyside, England. They are the women's team of Waterloo FC. They were established in 1989 by England national women's rugby union team player Gill Burns. In 2020 they lost their place in the Premier 15s after their re-applications were rejected.

Sarah Elizabeth Beckett is a professional English rugby union player. She represents England women's national rugby union team internationally and plays for Gloucester-Hartpury at club level.

References

↑ "Waterloo Rugby Union - St Anthony's Road, Blundellsands, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, L23 8TW :: FanZone". Archived from the original on 28 July 2014. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
↑ "Sponsors". Firwood Waterloo Rugby. Pitcheroo. Retrieved 27 November 2014.
↑ Club Details section of Waterloo's website
↑ Waterloo discuss ground move
↑ MyWaterlooRugby.com
↑ Percy The Pike

External links

Official website

53°29′40″N3°02′50″W / 53.494518°N 3.047097°W / 53.494518; -3.047097

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.

[1] "Waterloo Rugby Union - St Anthony's Road, Blundellsands, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, L23 8TW :: FanZone". Archived from the original on 28 July 2014. Retrieved 21 July 2014.

[2] "Sponsors". Firwood Waterloo Rugby. Pitcheroo. Retrieved 27 November 2014.

[3] Club Details section of Waterloo's website

[4] Waterloo discuss ground move

[5] MyWaterlooRugby.com

[6] Percy The Pike

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]