Waterloo Rugby Club (known as Firwood Waterloo for sponsorship reasons) is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Rugby Union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

team based at St Anthonys Road,

Blundellsands Blundellsands is an area of Crosby in the ceremonial county of Merseyside, England and in the historic county of Lancashire. It is part of the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, and a Sefton council electoral ward. At the 2001 Census the popula ...

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Mersey Estuary and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wi ...

. Once a powerhouse of the English rugby union game, the men's 1st XV now play in

North 1 West North 1 West is a rugby union league at the sixth level within the English league system. The league is made up of teams from north west England and the Isle of Man; principally consisting of the English counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater ...

at the sixth level of

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 ...

, following their relegation from

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. Th ...

at the end of the 2016-17 season.

History

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. 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 Benedict James Kay MBE (born 14 December 1975) is a retired English international rugby union footballer who played Second row forward for Leicester Tigers and . Background Kay was born in Liverpool, the only son of Lord Justice of Appeal Si ...

Will Greenwood William John Heaton Greenwood, MBE (born 20 October 1972) is an English former rugby union player who played for Leicester Tigers and Harlequins and was a member of England's 2003 World Cup-winning team and the 1997 British & Irish Lions. H ...

Andy Titterrell Andrew James Titterrell (born 10 January 1981 in Dartford, England) is a former rugby union player who played at hooker and previously for England. Titterrell was educated at the Hugh Christie Technology College in Tonbridge and Sevenoaks S ...

, Nicola Mazzucato,

Watcyn Thomas Watcyn Thomas (16 January 1906 – 10 August 1977) was a Welsh rugby union player who captained Wales in the early 1930s. Thomas was born in Llanelli and educated at Llanelli County School and at University College, Swansea. While still at scho ...

Kyran Bracken Kyran Paul Patrick Bracken MBE (born 22 November 1971) is a world-cup winning former rugby union footballer who played at scrum-half for Saracens, Bristol and Waterloo. He won a total of 51 England caps and captained the team on three occasi ...

Austin Healey Austin Sean Healey (born 26 October 1973 in Wallasey (now part of Merseyside, formerly Cheshire), is a former English rugby union player who played as a utility back for Leicester Tigers, and represented both England and the British & Irish L ...

, and Paul Grayson.

Notes

*In 1977 they were the runners-up in the

John Player Cup The Anglo-Welsh Cup (), was a cross-border rugby union knock-out cup competition that featured the 12 Premiership Rugby clubs and the four Welsh regions. It was a created as a replacement for the RFU Knockout Cup, which featured only English club ...

. *In 1986 they won the

Glengarth Sevens {{primary sources, date=October 2011 The Glengarth Sevens was an annual 7 a-side rugby union 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 ...

at Stockport R.U.F.C *They competed in the top division of

English rugby Rugby union in England is one of the leading professional and recreational team sports. In 1871 the Rugby Football Union, the governing body for rugby union in England, was formed by 21 rugby clubs, and the first international match, which involv ...

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 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 boroug ...

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 Gillian Ann Burns (born 12 July 1964) is a former rugby union player who represented England between 1988 and 2002, including when they won the 1994 Women's Rugby World Cup. She also captained her country between 1994 and 1999. She was selecte ...

received an

M.B.E. Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

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 *

runners up: 1977 *

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.

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.

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 is still 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 Joe Periton (1901–1980) was a rugby union international who represented England from 1925 to 1930. He also captained his country. Early life Joe Periton was born on 8 March 1901 in Crosby, Merseyside. Rugby union career Periton made his in ...

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 Robert Harold George Weighill, CBE DFC (1920–2000) was a rugby union international who represented England in the Five Nations Championship in 1947 and 1948. He also captained his country, and later became Secretary of the Rugby Football ...

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 Alastair Fisher was a Scottish rugby union player.Bath, p. 139 He was capped twice in 1947 for . He also played for Waterloo R.F.C. He was the father of Colin Fisher Colin Douglas Fisher (born 27 December 1949) is a Scottish Rugby union ...

1947,

Colin Fisher Colin Douglas Fisher (born 27 December 1949) is a Scottish Rugby union player and administrator.Bath, p139 He was capped five times between 1975 and 1976 for . He also played for Waterloo R.F.C. Waterloo Rugby Club (known as Firwood Wat ...

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,

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 Pike, Pikes or The Pike may refer to: Fish * Blue pike or blue walleye, an extinct color morph of the yellow walleye ''Sander vitreus'' * Ctenoluciidae, the "pike characins", some species of which are commonly known as pikes * ''Esox'', genus of ...

" trophy in their clubhouse.Percy The Pike
/ref> 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.

References

External links

Official website
{{Original Courage League 1 clubs Premiership Rugby teams English rugby union teams Rugby clubs established in 1882 Sport in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton