Chester Rugby Union Football Club (also known as Chester RUFC) is a
rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the Comparison of rugby league and rugby union, two codes of ru ...
club based in
Chester
Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...
,
Cheshire
Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's coun ...
. The club is governed by the
Rugby Football Union
The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the national governing body for rugby union in England. It was founded in 1871, and was the sport's international governing body prior to the formation of what is now known as World Rugby (WR) in 1886. It promo ...
and the 1st XV currently competes in the fourth tier of the
English rugby union system
Men's Rugby union in England consists of 106 leagues, which includes professional leagues at the highest level, down to amateur regional leagues. Promotion and relegation are in place throughout the system.
Women's Rugby union in England cons ...
,
National League 2 North
National League 2 North is one of three, level four leagues in the English rugby union system and provides semi-professional competition for teams in the northern half of England, the North. The remainder of England is covered by the two counte ...
. The 2nd XV and 3rd XV play in the North West Intermediate Rugby Union leagues.
History
Research shows that there was a rugby club in Chester in the 1880s and apparently there was a game between Chester and
New Brighton New Brighton is the name of several places, sports teams etc.:
Australia
* New Brighton, New South Wales, a town near Ocean Shores
Canada
* New Brighton, Calgary, Alberta, a neighborhood
* New Brighton (Gambier Island), a settlement in British ...
in 1879–80, but the club later disbanded, The 'new' Chester RUFC was formed in 1925 at the Chester YMCA. In 1932 the club moved to rented facilities at
Boughton Hall
Boughton Hall is a former country house in Boughton, to the east of the city of Chester, Cheshire, England. It is designated by English Heritage as a Grade II listed building.
History
The original house on the site is thought to have be ...
as tenants of the cricket club where they stayed for almost thirty years until the ground at Hare Lane, Vicars Cross was purchased with the club moving there in 1961. Rugby blossomed in the sixties and seventies with a fixture list including some of the then top clubs in the North and many players awarded county honours. The eighties was a quiet period, with playing strength less than before and the fixture list suffering as a result.
The introduction of league rugby revitalized the club and started a new era. In 1994 a new clubhouse was built and since the turn of the century Chester have reached the Cheshire Cup final three more times, winning in 2004. The 2007–08 season was arguably the most successful in the club's history. Not only were Chester promoted as champions from North 2 West (having been relegated from North 1 the previous season) but they also won the EDF Intermediate Cup, at
Twickenham
Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the borou ...
, with a 21–18 win over local rivals
Birkenhead Park
Birkenhead Park is a major public park located in the centre of Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. It was designed by Joseph Paxton and opened on 5 April 1847. It is generally acknowledged as the first publicly funded civic park in the world. ...
after an interception allowed winger Simon Love to run in from 80 metres late in the game to secure the win after Centre Liam Lawton had run in a try in the first half.
Since then Chester have performed well at Level 5, finishing runner-up in
National League 3 Midlands
National may refer to:
Common uses
* Nation or country
** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen
Places in the United States
* National, Maryland ...
in 2008–09 but losing heavily in the ensuing North/Midlands promotion play-off game against
Hull
Hull may refer to:
Structures
* Chassis, of an armored fighting vehicle
* Fuselage, of an aircraft
* Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds
* Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a ship
* Submarine hull
Mathematics
* Affine hull, in affi ...
. The following season they returned to the familiar surroundings of National 3 North (formerly North 1) after a level transfer. In the 2009–10 season Chester finished in the top half of the table after an inconsistent season. However the 2010–11 season, under the leadership of new club captain Andrew Moore, saw Chester reach the North/Midlands play-off game for the second time in three years, once again losing, this time narrowly at
Sheffield Tigers 16–14.
During the last five or so years Chester have specialised in playing fast attractive rugby which has no doubt helped the attendances which have been impressive in recent years. The comprehensive 34–6 EDF Intermediate Cup semi-final victory against Newport Salop in 2007–08 saw one of the biggest crowds seen at Hare Lane in recent years.
Recent seasons have seen Chester players return to the Cheshire set up when props James Whitlock-Wainwright and Mike Davies along full back Sean Green were selected to play for Cheshire in the 2009–10
County Championship
The County Championship (referred to as the LV= Insurance County Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales and is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). It b ...
. Half backs Thomas Chappell and Bryn Snellgrove also appeared in a Cheshire shirt the following year.
Chester holds the Chester ''Vets'' tournament each May where teams of over-35's compete in shortened 15-a-side games. This tournament once regularly attracted large numbers of sides but in recent years the turnout in terms of teams has begun to decline but the enthusiasm of the players playing has remained.
Honours
*
North West 1 champions: 1997–98
*
Cheshire Cup winners: 2004
*
North 2 West
North 2 West is a regional English rugby union league at the seventh tier of club rugby union for teams from Cheshire, Cumbria, Merseyside, Lancashire and Greater Manchester. The division was introduced for the 2019-20 season to form a new lea ...
champions: 2007–08
*
EDF Intermediate Cup winners: 2007–08
*
National League 3 North
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. T ...
champions: 2012–13
Current standings
References
External links
Official website
{{Rugby union in England
1925 establishments in England
English rugby union teams
Rugby clubs established in 1925
Rugby union in Cheshire
Sport in Chester