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Old Brodleians RUFC (or ''Brods'', as they are known) are an English rugby union club from
Hipperholme Hipperholme is a village in West Yorkshire, England, located between the towns of Halifax, West Yorkshire, Halifax and Brighouse in the Hipperholme and Lightcliffe ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale. The population of this ward at ...
, near
Halifax, West Yorkshire Halifax is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale, in West Yorkshire, England. It is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. In the 15th century, the town became an economic hub of the old West Riding of Yorkshire, primarily in woo ...
. The club currently operates three senior men's teams, a Ladies team and a full range of junior teams for both boys and girls. In the past there was a veterans side whose regular European Tour tradition has been carried on by the club's third team, "The Beavers". The club also runs five netball teams "Yorkshire Brodleians".


History

Old Brodleians was founded in 1930 by former pupils of the Hipperholme Grammar School. As the school was endowed in the will of a local man, Matthew Brodley hence, the 'Old Brodleians' was chosen as the club's name. In the early years they struggled to raise a full team and almost went out of existence in 1934. By 1939 the Brods ran two teams and had established themselves as a prominent junior club with a reputation for scrappy rugby. When league rugby was introduced in 1987, Brods were placed in North East One. They stayed in that league until they were placed in Yorkshire 1 when the 1998 restructuring took place. They are back in Yorkshire 1 after a short spell in the
North 1 East North 1 East was a sixth tier league in the English rugby union domestic competition, formed in 1987 using the name North Division 2, involving clubs from the north of the country. There was also a division known as North East 1 that began ...
league, after achieving promotion from Yorkshire 1 at the end of the 2008–09 season. The club returned to North One East after coming top of Yorkshire 1 in 2019–20.


Grounds

The club play their matches at Woodhead ground in Hipperholme. A gas decontamination centre behind the council offices at Hipperholme was transformed into changing rooms and clubhouse after the war. Whilst these facilities were adequate the aim was to own and develop the club's own facilities. The chance to purchase the 18 acre (later extended to 23 acre) Woodhead ground was taken, supported by an RFU loan, and in 1963 the old hut was erected. The hut was an old RAF hospital wooden structure purchased for £700. It took two years but club members beavered away and a homely clubhouse with changing rooms and bath was the result. Many members have fond memories of the old hut but 27 April 2003 marked the end of an era when Charlie Hodgson cut the ribbon to open the rebuilt clubhouse. The new clubhouse stands as a permanent memorial to Colin Green who wrote " Although it seemed obvious to me that the club must start to plan for gradual replacement of its timber framed clubhouse. I was quick to learn that the old building was very dear to the hearts of older members and much loved by current players. So I trod carefully."


Honours

* Yorkshire 2 champions: 2007–08 * Yorkshire 1 champions (2): 2008–09, 2019–20 *Yorkshire Shield Winners 2018–19


Notable players

* Dominic Georgiou – Cypriot international * Chris Georgiou – Cypriot international * Tom Inman – plays for
Halifax Panthers The Halifax Panthers are a professional rugby league club in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. They play home games at The Shay and compete in the Championship, the second tier of British rugby league. Halifax Panthers have won the League Ch ...
* Tom Parkin – plays for
Doncaster Knights Doncaster Knights Rugby Football Club ''(formerly, Doncaster RFC)'' are a professional rugby union club representing the city of Doncaster, England. The club play in the 2nd division of English rugby, the RFU Championship. Being the most prom ...
* Charlie Hodgson
Sale Sharks Sale Sharks are a professional rugby union club from Greater Manchester, England, United Kingdom. Its team play in Premiership Rugby, and have been in England's top division of rugby union continuously since 1995. Originally founded in 1861 as ...
,
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and England international * Jacob Umaga
Wasps A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. Th ...
, Benetton and England international * Zach Mercer
Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...
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Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...
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Montpellier Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...
and England international * Lee Imiolek
Sale Sharks Sale Sharks are a professional rugby union club from Greater Manchester, England, United Kingdom. Its team play in Premiership Rugby, and have been in England's top division of rugby union continuously since 1995. Originally founded in 1861 as ...
, England under-20 * Alan Rhodes
Bradford Northern The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, and compete in the Championship, the second tier of British rugby league. The club have won the League Championship six times, the Challenge Cup f ...
, Halifax, Hudddersfield Giants


References


External links


Official club websiteBrods Facebook Page
{{Rugby union in England Rugby union teams in England Rugby clubs established in 1930 1930 establishments in England Sport in Halifax, West Yorkshire Rugby union in Yorkshire