Manchester Rugby Club, founded in 1860 as Manchester Football Club, is one of the oldest

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

clubs in the world. Home matches are played at Grove Park in

Cheadle Hulme Cheadle Hulme () is a suburb in the large village of Cheadle, Greater Manchester, Cheadle in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. It lies in the Historic counties of England, historic county of Cheshire, south-wes ...

Stockport Stockport is a town in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt, Rivers Goyt and River Tame, Greater Manchester, Tame merge to create the River Mersey he ...

. The club has a Senior Men's section (1st XV, 2nd XV and 3rd XV), a Senior Women and Youth Girls section (Manchester Women & Girls' Academy), and also Minis, Juniors and Colts (Manchester Academy). The club's home colours are red and white narrow hooped shirts, white shorts and red and white hooped socks. Away colours are navy shirts with red piping, navy shorts and navy socks. The men's 1st XV currently play in

Regional 1 North West Regional 1 North West is a level five league in the English rugby union system, with the twelve teams drawn from across North West England. The other level five leagues are Regional 1 Midlands, Regional 1 North East, Regional 1 South Central, R ...

, the fifth 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 consi ...

. The Women's 1st XV compete in Championship North 2, in the third tier of the

History

Although officially founded in 1860 as Manchester Football Club, a Manchester team actually first played in 1857, when the Gentlemen of

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

and the Gentlemen of

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

came together to play a friendly game. Richard Sykes, a former Captain of Football at

Rugby School Rugby School is a Public school (United Kingdom), private boarding school for pupils aged 13–18, located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire in England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independ ...

set up the Manchester team and provided the ball. The game was advertised as "Rugby versus the World" and some fifty players arrived to play. There is no record of the score, however it appears that five tries were scored and so there must have been a winner. Liverpool FC, who later merged with St Helens RUFC to form Liverpool St. Helens F.C, came into being not long afterwards. It is not known why Manchester did not also form at this date but the Liverpool and St Helens clubs' merger in 1986 left Manchester as one of the oldest rugby clubs in the world. From 1919 until 1968 the club's home ground was at

Moor Lane Moor Lane, currently known as the Peninsula Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in the area of Kersal, Salford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the current home ground of Salford City Football Club since its opening in 19 ...

Kersal Moor Kersal Moor is a recreation area in Kersal, Greater Manchester, England which consists of eight hectares of moorland bounded by Moor Lane, Heathlands Road, St Paul's Churchyard and Singleton Brook. Kersal Moor, first called Karsey or Carsall M ...

, now the home of

Salford City F.C. Salford City Football Club is a professional association football club in Salford, Greater Manchester, England. The club competes in League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. The club was founded as Salford Central ...

Manchester had very strong links with the early RFU, with two former presidents of MFC also taking the same office as President of the RFU (James MacLaren 1882–1884 and Roger Walker) 1894–1896. Other members who have been President of the RFU are J.W.H.Thorpe (1898-1900), James Milnes (1934), J.Reg.Locker (1967) and Dr.T.A.Kemp, MD, FRCP (1971). The club has provided a number of international players since 1871. The club provided four England players in the world's first ever international match against Scotland in 1871 (

Richard Osborne Richard Osborne (born 16 June 1964) is a retired Australian rules footballer who enjoyed a lengthy career in the VFL/AFL. He played a total of 283 games in seventeen seasons, and played with four clubs, as well as representing Victoria 7 time ...

, William MacLaren, Arthur Sumner Gibson and H.J.C. Turner). Another former player was Albert Neilson Hornby, the first ever player to captain England at both rugby and

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

. The earliest international jersey is still on display in the clubhouse. Andrew Bulteel and Ernest Marriott both played for England in the last 20 a-side match against Ireland in 1875. Manchester FC were also the first recognised

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

side in Manchester. In 1894 Newton Heath (present day

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

) were banned from changing their name to Manchester FC by the FA and RFU because of the existence of the rugby side. The full story of Manchester FC's association football history is detailed in ''Manchester A Football History'' where it is revealed they hold many Mancunian firsts. They were also the first English club side to play football competitively in Scotland when they faced

Queen's Park F.C. Queen's Park Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in Glasgow, which plays in the , the second tier of the Scottish football pyramid. Queen's Park is the oldest association football club in Scotland, having been founde ...

in the second round of the FA Cup in 1883–84, losing 15–0. Manchester Rugby Club are the current holders of the unenviable record of the longest ever losing streak in club rugby. The Cheshire based rugby union side finally laid to rest the ‘record breaking’ ghost of eighty seven consecutive league losses spanning just more than three years on 24th March 2012. This was following some poor financial decisions by the rugby management, after being promoted to National League One when the club narrowly avoided bankruptcy.

Manchester Women's Rugby

Manchester Women's Rugby was founded at Manchester Rugby Club in 1991 in the year of the first ever

Women's Rugby World Cup The Women's Rugby World Cup is the women's rugby union world championship which is organised by World Rugby. The first Rugby World Cup for women was held in 1991, but it was not until the 1998 tournament that the tournament received official b ...

. The club has gone from strength to strength, rising through the leagues to compete in Championship North 2 in the third tier of the RFU

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 consi ...

. The club has established a Women & Girls' Academy section, offering development and competitive rugby to U13, U15, U18 and Senior Women. Manchester Rubies and Manchester Women front the clubs' competitive squads.

Honours

1st XV: *

Glengarth Sevens {{primary sources, date=October 2011 The Glengarth Sevens was an annual rugby sevens tournament held at Davenport Rugby Club. The first Glengarth Sevens was held in 1967 at Headlands Road, home of Davenport Rugby Club. Its celebrated its 21st anni ...

Davenport Plate winners: 1974 *

North West 2 North West 2 was an England, English Rugby Union league which was at the eighth tier of the domestic competition and was available to teams in North West England. Promoted teams moved up to North West 1 while relegated teams dropped to North W ...

champions: 1989–90 *

North West 1 North West 1 (not to be confused with North 1 West) was an English Rugby Union league which was at the seventh tier of the domestic competition and was available to teams in North West England. Promoted teams moved up to North 2 West while re ...

champions: 1991–92 * North Division 2 champions: 1992–93 * North Division 1 champions: 1995–96 * Lancashire Cup winners (3): 1998, 1999, 2001 *

South Lancs/Cheshire 1 Counties 2 ADM Lancashire & Cheshire (formerly Lancs/Cheshire Division 1) is a regional English Rugby Union league for teams from Cheshire, Merseyside, Lancashire and Greater Manchester, ranked at tier 8 of the English league system. The div ...

2016–17 *

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: 2019–20 2nd XV: * South Lancs/Cheshire 4 champions: 2002–03 * South Lancs/Cheshire 3 champions: 2003–04 * Halbro North West Division 2 South champions: 2022–23

Members who have been President of the RFU

*James Maclaren 1882–84 *Roger Walker 1894–96 *J. W. H. Thorpe 1898–1900 *James Milnes 1934 *J. Reg. Locker 1967 *Dr. T. A. Kemp, MD, FRCP 1971

International players

Opponent: E - England S - Scotland I - Ireland W - Wales NZ - New Zealand F - France A - Australia * H.J.C. Turner S 1871 * Arthur Sumner Gibson S 1871 * William MacLaren S 1871 *

S 1871 *

James Genth James Genth (1849–1926) was a rugby union international who represented England from 1874 to 1875. Early life Born Jacob Scherer Genth on July 17, 1849, in Ardwick, Manchester, he was the fifth of at least seven children of Carl Georg Ferdinan ...

S 1874/75 * Roger Walker S 1874/76/79/80 I 1875 * W. H. Hunt S 1876/77 I 1876/78 * Andrew Bulteel I 1876 * Ernest Marriott I 1876 * D. Drew E 1871/1876 * W. Gregg S 1876 I 1876 * R. Todd S 1877 * T. Blatherwick I 1878 * Albert Neilson Hornby S 1877/78/81/82 I 1877/78/80/81/82 * F. D. Fowler S 1878/79 * W. E. Openshaw I 1879 * J. Heron E 1879 S 1877 *

Hugh Rowley Hugh Campbell Rowley (27 April 1858 – after 1882) was an English rugby union footballer who played in the 1870s and 1880s. He played at representative level for England from 1879 to 1882, and at club level for Bowdon and Lymm Club, and Manch ...

S 1879/80/81/82 I 1879/80/81/82 W 1881 * W. R. Richardson I 1881 * J. W. Schofield I 1880 * R. Hunt S 1881 I 1880/82 W 1881 * J. T. Hunt S 1881 I 1882/84 * Charles Allen E 1884 S 1884 * F. T. Wright S 1881 * J. H. Payne S 1882/83 I 1883/84/85 W 1883/85 * C. Anderton NZ 1889 * F. A. Leslie Jones IW 1895 * D. C. Woods S NZ 1889 * J. E. Orr E 1890/91/92/93 I 1889/90/91/92/93 W 1890/91/92 * E. F. Fookes S 1896/97/99 I 1896/97/98/99 W 1896/97/98 * C. J. Fleming E 1896 I 1896/97 * A. O. Dowson S 1899 * H. Rottenburg E 1899/1900 W 1899/1900 I 1897 * Capt. E. I. M. Barrett S 1903 * Leonard Haigh S 1910/11 I 1910/11 W 1910/11 F 1911 * F. G. Handford SIWF 1909 * C. S. Williams F 1910 * Dr.T. Smyth E 1908/09/10/11/12 W 1908/09/10/11 S 1908/09/10/11 F 1910 * J. A. Schofield W 1911 * W. J. Cullen E 1920 * G. S. Conway S 1920/22/23/24 I 1920/22/23/24 W 1922/23/24/27 F 1920/21/22/23/24 NZ 1925 * Robert Simpson I 1922 * A. L. Gracie I 1921/22/23 E 1921/22/23 W 1921/22/23 F 1921/22/23/24 * B. S. Chantill WESF 1924 * Dr. A. C. Gillies E 1924/25/27 I 1924/27 W 1924/25/26/27 F 1925/26/27 * P. H. Davies I 1927 * Guy Wilson WI 1929 * Dr. T. A. Kemp W 1937/47 I 1937 S 1938 A 1947 * Fred Huskisson S 1936/38 W 1936/37/38 I 1936/37/38 * A. H. Drummond WI 1938 *

Robert Carr Leonard Robert Carr, Baron Carr of Hadley, (11 November 1916 – 17 February 2012) was a British Conservative Party politician who served as Home Secretary from 1972 to 1974. He served as a Member of Parliament (MP) for 26 years, and later s ...

WIS 1939 * C. B. Holmes S 1947 I 1948 F 1948/1955 * H. Scott F 1955 * Fr. J. M. Cunningham E 1955 F 1955/56 S 1955/56 W 1955/56 * A. B. W. Risman W 1959/61 I 1959/61 S 1959/61 F 1959/61 A 1961 * N. J. Drake-Lee W 1963/64/65 I 1963/64 S 1963 F 1963 NZ 1964 * D. W. A. Rosser W 1965/6 ISF 1965 * B. J. O’Driscoll FESW 1971 * J. O’Driscoll S 1978/80/81/82/83 A 1979 E 1980/81/82/83 F 1980/81/82/83 W 1980/81/82/83 * M. Moylett E 1988

Captains of Manchester Football Club

Senior Men: * 1860/67 R. Sykes * 1868 William MacLaren * 1869/70 W. Grave * 1871 J. McLaren * 1872/79 Roger Walker * 1880/81 Albert Neilson Hornby * 1882 J. W. Schofield * 1883 E. Storey * 1884 J. E. Fletcher * 1885/87 J. D. Wormaid * 1888 F. A. Andrew * 1889/90 A. H. Molesworth * 1891/92 G. N. M. Cameron * 1893 D. C. Woods * 1894 W. B. Steel * 1895 K. P. Birley * 1896 W. Parlane * 1897 W. G. Hogg * 1898 W. Parlane * 1899 T. A. Kingscote * 1900 G. Cookson * 1901/03 F. J. Milne * 1904 J. Milnes * 1905 V. P. Gamon * 1906 F. I. Dixon * 1907/08 J. Hunter * 1909 H. Whitehead * 1910 L. Haigh * 1911 H. E. Latham * 1912 J. Tolson * 1913 T. Entwisle, J. C. Barrett * 1919 G. Folds * 1920 W. Sutcliffe * 1921 G. Folds * 1922 W. M. Hoyle * 1923 H. S. Jones * 1924 D. Peak * 1925/27 A. L. Gracie * 1928/29 Dr. A. C. Gillies * 1930 L. J. O’Reilly * 1931 H. C. S. Jones * 1932 F. Hughes * 1933/35 T. A. Bell * 1936 J. M. Lee * 1937/38 T. A. Bell * 1939 J. M. Lee * 1945 G. W. Singleton * 1946/48 A. G. Komrower * 1949/50 P. G. Clemence * 1951/53 A. Ferguson * 1954/55 P. T. Baines * 1956 D. Stewart * 1957 J. E. Cooper * 1958 P. Batten * 1959 G. D. Parker, H. Scott * 1960/62 K. Jones * 1963 G. St. J. L. Goddard * 1964 P. D. G. Ross * 1965/66 Dr. J. B. O’Driscoll * 1967 M. Wright * 1968 E. A. Wright * 1969 W. J. Chadwick * 1970 D. A. Hancock * 1971 R. J. K. Newitt * 1972 N. P. G. Ross * 1973/74 C. R. Unsworth * 1975 J. R. Gadd * 1976 J. Wharton * 1977 P. Jarvie * 1978 G. Hughes, L. Sampson * 1979 L. Sampson * 1980 C. Hanson * 1981 S. Bell * 1982 S. Burnage * 1983 D. Cotter * 1984 G. Stewart * 1985 S. Litster, G. Birch * 1986 G. Birch * 1987 R. Smith * 1988/94 D. A. Kelly * 1995 A. S. Hanson * 1996 N. Hitchen, S. Swindells * 1997/98 S. Swindells * 1998/2000 S. Swindells * 2000 G. Gerrard * 2001/02 D. Mukalt * 2002/03 A. Aylesbrook * 2003 M. Armstrong * 2004 M. Armstrong * 2005 J. Bramhall * 2006 J. Bramhall * 2007 J. Bramhall * 2008 N. Flynn * 2009 J. Doney, D. Carlton * 2010 D. Carlton * 2011 D. Carlton * 2012 R. McCartney * 2013 R. McCartney * 2014 T. Fantom * 2015 B. Jenkins * 2016 K. Higginson Senior Women: * 1991 M. Waugh * 1993 J. Hawkins * 1994 S. Shotton * 1995 J. Deakin * 2007 J. Canner-Farrington * 2008 A. Wood * 2011 L. Dudbridge & R. Sallaway * 2012 H. Gaunt & J. Taylor-Reid * 2013 R. Prescott & V. Calder * 2014 K. Bailey * 2015 A. Smith * 2016 S. Hobday * 2017 H. Gaunt & K. Barker * 2018 E. Gallimore & K. Bailey * 2019 J. Pugh * 2020 J. Wells * 2022 E. Houghton

References

External links

* {{National League 2 North Rugby clubs established in 1860 Rugby union teams in England Sport in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport 1860 establishments in England Sport in the City of Salford Cheadle Hulme Rugby union in Greater Manchester