Nottingham R.F.C.

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

Nottingham R.F.C.
Full nameNottingham Rugby Club
UnionNotts, Lincs & Derbyshire RFU
Founded1877 (1877)
Ground(s)Lady Bay (Capacity: 3,500)
ChairmanAlistair Bow
PresidentNigel Bettinson-Eatch
Coach(es)Neil Fowkes
League(s)RFU Championship
2019–206th
1st kit
2nd kit
Official website
nottinghamrugby.co.uk

Nicknamed the Green & Whites, in reference to the club's kit, the first XV play at Lady Bay, The club has recently made a move from Meadow Lane, the home ground of Notts County to Lady Bay in West Bridgford, outside Nottingham. 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, Dusty Hare and Brian Moore (also a Lion) representing England and Chris Gray representing Scotland.

The advent of professionalism 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]

Club 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
2020–21 RFU Championship Table
Club Played Won Drawn Lost Points for Points against Points diff Tries for Tries against Try bonus Losing bonus Points
1Ampthill000000000000
2Bedford Blues000000000000
3Cornish Pirates000000000000
4Coventry000000000000
5Doncaster Knights000000000000
6Ealing Trailfinders000000000000
7Hartpury University000000000000
8Jersey Reds000000000000
9London Scottish000000000000
10Nottingham000000000000
11Richmond000000000000
12Saracens000000000000
  • 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 is the promotion place. Pink background is the relegation place.
Source: "Greene King IPA Championship". England Rugby.

Current squad
For player movements before or during the 2020–21 season, see List of 2020–21 RFU Championship transfers § Nottingham.

The Nottingham squad for the 2020–21 season is:[3]

Note: Flags indicate national union as has been defined under WR eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-WR nationality.

Player Position Union
Ben Brownlie Hooker England
Luke Cole Hooker England
Jake Farnworth Hooker England
Kieran Davies Prop England
Oisin Heffernan Prop Ireland
Ben Hooper Prop England
Jamie Jack Prop England
Aniseko Sio Prop Samoa
Billy Walker Prop England
Tom West Prop England
Callum Allen Lock England
Tom Holmes Lock England
Llewelyn Jones Lock Wales
Danny Qualter Lock Ireland
Ifereimi Boladau Back row Fiji
James Connolly Back row Ireland
George Cox Back row England
Carl Kirwan Back row England
Jesse Liston Back row England
Will Owen Back row England
Josh Poullet Back row England
Player Position Union
Alex Crocker Scrum-half England
Alex Dolly Scrum-half Australia
Murray McConnell Scrum-half Scotland
Jacob Nash Scrum-half England
Gearoid Lyons Fly-half Ireland
Will Sutton Fly-half England
Mat Clark Centre England
Calum Hall Centre England
Will Millett Centre England
Luke Peters Centre England
Harry Strong Centre England
Harry Graham Wing England
Jack Spittle Wing England
Jack Stapley Wing Ireland
David Williams Wing England
Tom Benjamin Fullback England
Seán Scanlon Fullback Ireland
  • Notes:

    Notable former players

    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. "Squad – Nottingham Rugby". Nottingham Rugby. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
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