Aspatria Rugby Union Football Club is an English

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 ...

club based in

Aspatria Aspatria is a town and civil parish in Cumberland, Cumbria, England. The town rests on the north side of the Ellen Valley, overlooking a panoramic view of the countryside, with Skiddaw to the South and the Solway Firth to the North. Its dev ...

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...

(formerly

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is an area of North West England which was historically a county. The county was bordered by Northumberland to the north-east, County Durham to the east, Westmorland to the south-east, Lancashire to the south, and the Scottish ...

) in north west England, not far from the Scottish Border. They are nicknamed the "Black Reds", and have a red

cockerel The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated subspecies of the red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus''), originally native to Southeast Asia. It was first domesticated around 8,000 years ago and is now one of the most common and w ...

as their logo. They currently play in

Regional 2 North Regional 2 North is a level six league in the English rugby union system, with the twelve teams drawn from across North East England and Cumbria. The other level six leagues in the Northern Division are Regional 2 North East for teams in Yorks ...

– a tier 6 league in 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 ...

– following reorganisation of the league system and their transfer from

Durham/Northumberland 1 Counties 1 Durham & Northumberland, formerly known as Durham/Northumberland 1 is an English amateur rugby union competition. The league consists of twelve clubs, and is the seventh tier of the English rugby union system, as one of the 16 region ...

in 2021–22. They are not to be confused with the

Aspatria Hornets Aspatria is a town and civil parish in Cumberland, Cumbria, England. The town rests on the north side of the Ellen Valley, overlooking a panoramic view of the countryside, with Skiddaw to the South and the Solway Firth to the North. Its develo ...

, the local

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

team.

Honours

1st team: *

Cumbria Cup The Cumbria Cup is an annual rugby union knock-out club competition organized by the Cumbria Rugby Union. It was first introduced during the 1882-83 season, when it was known as the Cumberland Challenge Cup, and the inaugural winners were Aspa ...

winners (32): 1883, 1885, 1891, 1892, 1896, 1899, 1909, 1911, 1912, 1923, 1928, 1929, 1930, 1937, 1938, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1999, 2013 * North 2 champions: 1987–88 * North 1 champions: 1990–91 * Courage National Division 4 North champions: 1991–92 * North Lancs/Cumbria champions: 2010–11 * Cumbria League Cup winners 2018–19 2nd team: *

Cumbria Shield The Cumbria Shield is an annual rugby union knock-out club competition organized by the Cumbria Rugby Union. It was introduced during the 1888–89 season, when it was known as the Cumberland Challenge Shield, and the inaugural winners were Mil ...

winners (16): 1907, 1922, 1924, 1925, 1929, 1930, 1933, 1938, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1993, 1994, 1999, 2002, 2006

Notable players

Aspatria has produced several international / representative players: * Joseph BlacklockGodwin, p49 * James Davidson * Joseph Davidson * David GrahamGodwin, p169 * Steve Hanley * Thomas Holliday, seven caps,

1924 British Lions tour to South Africa The 1924 British Isles tour to South Africa was the tenth tour by a British and Irish Lions, British Isles team and the fifth to South Africa. The tour is retrospectively classed as one of the British Lions tours, as the Lions naming convention ...

, and later rugby league player for

Oldham R.L.F.C. Oldham Rugby League Football Club, is a professional rugby league football club based in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. The club plays home games at Boundary Park and competes in RFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of British ...

and the

England national rugby league team The England national rugby league team represents England in international rugby league since the first international match in 1904. It is controlled by the Rugby Football League (RFL), the governing body for rugby league in England, and part ...

.Godwin, p197 * Robert Jackson Hanvey * Rob Miller now plays for London Wasps. He is the top try scorer in the Aviva Premiership 2011/2012 season and was called up to the

England Saxons England A is England's men's second national rugby union team. The team has previously been known by a number of names, such as England B, Emerging England and, most recently, England Saxons. England A play a key role in the development of emerg ...

05/07/2012 by head coach Stuart Lancaster but subsequently lost his place before the

2013 Six Nations The 2013 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2013 RBS 6 Nations because of the tournament's sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 14th series of the Six Nations Championship, the annual northern hemisphere rugby union championship ...

competition. *

David Pears __NOTOC__ David Francis Pears, FBA (8 August 1921 – 1 July 2009) was a British philosopher renowned for his work on Ludwig Wittgenstein. An Old Boy of Westminster School,David Pears: philosopher'' (obituary) ''The Times,'' 3 July 2009, Archiv ...

England International. * Mark Richardson represented Barbarian F. C. 1997 v

Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its home ...

References

* Goodwin, Terry ''The Complete Who's Who of International Rugby'' (Blandford Press, England, 1987, )

Bibliography

External links

*
Police probe rugby union eye injury
Rugby union teams in England Rugby clubs established in 1875 Rugby union in Cumbria Aspatria 1875 establishments in England {{England-rugbyunion-team-stub