Ards RFC (Ards Rugby Football Club) is a
rugby club based in
Newtownards
Newtownards is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies at the most northern tip of Strangford Lough, 10 miles (16 km) east of Belfast, on the Ards Peninsula. It is in the Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish of Newtownard ...
,
County Down
County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to the ...
,
Northern Ireland, playing in the Ulster Rugby Championship Division 2. It is affiliated to the
Ulster Branch of the
Irish Rugby Football Union
The Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) ( ga, Cumann Rugbaí na hÉireann) is the body managing rugby union in the island of Ireland (both Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland). The IRFU has its head office at 10/12 Lansdowne Road and home ...
. The club currently fields three adult teams and a women's team, North Down Women, who are a combination of players from Ards, Bangor and Donaghadee. Three youth teams also play at under-18, under-16 and under-14 levels. There is also a rapidly developing girls' junior section and a very successful mini rugby section in the club. The club works in close collaboration with local schools such as Regent House Grammar School, Movilla High School and Strangford College who provide much of the playing talent at the club.
Foundation
On 11 April 1928, Ards Rugby Football Club was formed at a meeting in Newtownards Academy pavilion. The first competitive game was played on 13 October 1928. Ards RFC played most of their early years in the Ulster Junior Leagues.
Senior Status
In the 1961-62 season Ards won the Towns Cup for the first time captained by Bobby Haslett. In 1977-1978 season Ards achieved senior status when they gained promotion to the
Ulster Senior League by defeating Ballymena 2nd XV 12-6 in an Ulster League Section 2 playoff at Shane Park, Instonians. After a downturn in fortunes in the 1990s Ards were relegated from senior rugby in season 2000-2001 to Qualifying League Section 1. However, in the 2002-2003 season Ards won the AIB All Ireland Qualifying Round Robin playoff and were promoted for a second time to the
All-Ireland League. In 2015 Ards were relegated from the All-Ireland League and now play in the Ulster Rugby Championship Division 2.
Honours
Boston Floodlit Cup, Bangor: 1
1976-77
*
Ulster Senior Cup: 2
** 1984-85, 1986–87
*
Ulster Senior League: 1
** 1983-84
*
Ulster Towns Cup
The Ulster Towns Cup is a rugby union competition organized by the Ulster branch of the Irish Rugby Football Union.
It is confined to teams outside of Belfast. Since the resumption of play after World War II, where a town is represented by a s ...
: 2
** 1961-62, 2002–03
*
Ulster Junior Cup: 1
** 1976-77
Notable Former Players
Internationals
;
British and Irish Lions
;
;
*
Scott Robertson Dave Dillon
https://www.pitchero.com/clubs/ards/a/history-8456.html?page=5
External Links
Ards RFC website
{{Ulster Rugby Links
Rugby union clubs in Northern Ireland
Irish rugby union teams
Rugby clubs established in 1928
Newtownards
Rugby union clubs in County Down