Hartlepool Rovers F.C. are a

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 who play at The New Friarage, West View Road in

Hartlepool Hartlepool ( ) is a seaside resort, seaside and port town in County Durham, England. It is governed by a unitary authority borough Borough of Hartlepool, named after the town. The borough is part of the devolved Tees Valley area with an estimat ...

. The club plays in Counties 1 Durham & Northumberland, the seventh 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 ...

after being relegated from North One East at the end of the 2010–11 season. They have won the

Durham Senior Cup The Durham County Challenge Cup (commonly known as the Durham Challenge Cup) is an annual football competition held between the clubs of the Durham County Football Association which was first played in 1884. It is the senior county cup for the ...

a record 45 times. Hartlepool Rovers club colours are red, white and black, usually consisting of a white shirt, black shorts and red socks.

History

Hartlepool Rovers was formed in 1879 and played at the Old Friarage in the

Headland A headland, also known as a head, is a coastal landform, a point of land usually high and often with a sheer drop, that extends into a body of water. It is a type of promontory. A headland of considerable size often is called a cape.Whittow, Jo ...

area of Hartlepool, before moving to West View Road. In the 1890s Rovers supplied numerous county, divisional and international players. The club itself hosted many high profile matches including the inaugural

Barbarians A barbarian is a person or tribe of people that is perceived to be primitive, savage and warlike. Many cultures have referred to other cultures as barbarians, sometimes out of misunderstanding and sometimes out of prejudice. A "barbarian" may ...

match on 27 December 1890, the New Zealand Maoris on 15 November 1888 with the Maori winning 1 try to nil, and the legendary

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...

who played against a combined Rovers and

West West is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some Romance langu ...

team on 11 October 1905. Although the tourists won that game comfortably (63-0), on what was to become a legendary tour, the fixture's place in history is assured as it was after the match that the name 'All Blacks' first appeared in the press, the Daily Mail including it in their report - according to legend a typo which should have read 'all backs'. In the 1911-12 season, Hartlepool Rovers broke the world record for the number of points scored in a season racking up 860 points including 122 tries, 87 conversions, five penalties and eleven drop goals. The club's most famous player was R F (Bob) Oakes, who died in 1952. He also played for Headingley and was president of the Yorkshire Rugby Football Union and president of the

Rugby Football Union The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the Sports governing body, 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 ...

. Oakes is remembered every year by the R F Oakes Memorial Match, followed by a dinner for the players taking part. Players such as

Will Carling William David Charles Carling (born 12 December 1965) is an English former rugby union player. He was England's youngest captain, aged 22, and won 72 caps from 1988 to 1996, captaining England 59 times. Under his captaincy, England won Five N ...

Tony Ward (rugby union) Anthony Joseph Patrick Ward (born 8 October 1954) is an Irish former rugby union and football player during the 1970s and 1980s. He played rugby as a fly-half for Munster, Leinster, , the British and Irish Lions and the Barbarians. Ward was s ...

, Jim Glennon and John Robbie, have played in the game. Over the years the 'Oakes game' has become a prestigious match for players, reaching its heyday in the late-1970s and 1980s under the supervision of the then club Chairman Tony Lowe. Hartlepool Rovers were the team responsible for making the four, three-quarters formation popular amongst clubs, a formation which later became accepted as a standard.

Notable past players

Frederic Alderson Frederic Hodgson Rudd Alderson (27 June 1867 – 18 February 1925) was an English international rugby union threequarter who played club rugby for Cambridge University and Hartlepool Rovers. Alderson played international rugby for England and ...

, Triple Crown winning captain, 1891-1893 (6 caps) * Frederick Ernest Chapman, England international * Arthur James Dingle, 3 caps for England 1913–1914. * Cliff Harrison - 2 caps for England, 9 times for Barbarians, 49 times for Durham County *

John Dee John Dee (13 July 1527 – 1608 or 1609) was an English mathematician, astronomer, teacher, astrologer, occultist, and alchemist. He was the court astronomer for, and advisor to, Elizabeth I, and spent much of his time on alchemy, divination, ...

, -

1962 British Lions tour to South Africa In 1962 the British Lions rugby union team toured Southern and Eastern Africa. Overall the tourists played twenty-five matches, winning sixteen, losing five and drawing four. The Lions were unsuccessful in the test series against , losing by ...

and

1963 England rugby union tour of Australasia The 1963 England rugby union tour of Australasia was the first overseas tour by the England national rugby union team. Scotland national rugby union team, Scotland, Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland and France national rugby union tea ...

* William Yiend, 6 caps for England. * Colin Winspear, England Colts. * John Howe, England Under-23's.

Club Honours

winners (45): 1884, 1887, 1889, 1890, 1891, 1894, 1896, 1897, 1905, 1906, 1907, 1908, 1909, 1911, 1912, 1913, 1920, 1921, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1930, 1935, 1947, 1948, 1954, 1960, 1961, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1987, 1990, 1992 *

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 ...

champions (2): 2003–04, 2008–09

References

* Goodwin, Terry ''Complete Who's Who of International Rugby'' (Cassell, 1987, ) {{Rugby union in England Rugby union teams in England Rugby clubs established in 1879 Sport in Hartlepool Rugby union in County Durham 1879 establishments in England