Nottingham_Rugby

Nottingham R.F.C.

Nottingham R.F.C.

English rugby union football team

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.

Quick Facts Full name, Union ...

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.

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.

The club play at Lady Bay, previously at Meadow Lane. 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.

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]

Honours

  • Midland Counties Senior Cup winners: 1905–06
  • Midland Counties Junior Cup winners: 1907–08
  • Noel Syson Cup (Notts, Lincs & Derby Sevens) winners: 1935, 1936, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1955, 1959, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1980, 1981, 1983
  • Middlesex Sevens winners: 1944–45
  • Midland Merit Table champions: 1984–85
  • Selkirk Sevens winners: 1990–91

Current standings

2023–24 RFU Championship Table
Club Played Won Drawn Lost Points for Points against Points diff Try bonus Losing bonus Points
1Ealing Trailfinders17140369537132414272
2Coventry18130565939226714268
3Cornish Pirates17121450136114010161
4Bedford Blues1710075124446811455
5Doncaster Knights17101644644248151
6Ampthill17908486478812250
7Hartpury University17809483465188444
8Nottingham187011452578-12612242
9London Scottish174112437516-798632
10Caldy174112340562-2226125
11Cambridge182016326728-4025417
  • 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
Green background Champions (qualify for Promotion play-off if eligible).
Updated: 21 April 2024
Source: "The Championship". England Rugby.

Current squad

For player movements before or during the 2023-24 season, see List of 2023–24 RFU Championship transfers § Nottingham.

The Nottingham squad for the 2023–24 season is:[3]

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

More information Player, Position ...

    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:

    More information Tournament, Players selected ...

    Other notable former players

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

    References

    1. [1]
      "Ray Trew takes over Nottingham Rugby Club". BBC News. 30 July 2010.
    2. [2]
      "PLANNING FOR NEXT SEASON". Nottingham Rugby. 17 April 2020. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
    3. [3]
      "Senior Squad – Nottingham Rugby". Nottingham Rugby. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
    Share this article:

    This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Nottingham_Rugby, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.