Old Colfeians Rugby 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 ...

team based in

Lee Lee may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Lee'' (2007 film), Tamil-language sports action film * ''Lee'' (2017 film), Kannada-language action film * ''Lee'' (2023 film), biographical drama about Lee Miller, American photojournalist * ''L ...

in south

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, open to anyone interested in the game! The club runs three senior teams and a veterans side and a full range of junior and girls teams, each of which have their own name. The first XV plays in

London 2 South East London 2 South East is an English level 7 Rugby Union League. When this division began in 1987 it was known as London 3 South East, changing to its current name ahead of the 2009–10 season. The division is made up of teams predominantly from ...

, having been relegated from

London 1 South Regional 2 South East, previously known as London 1 South, is an English level 6 rugby union regional league for rugby clubs in London and the south-east of England including sides from East Sussex, south Essex, south Greater London, Hampshire, ...

at the end of the 2017–18 season.

History

Old Colfeians was formed in 1928 but the club traces its routes back to 1885 when a club for the former pupils of

Colfe's School Colfe's School, previously Colfe's Grammar School, is a co-educational private day school in Horn Park in the Royal Borough of Greenwich, in southeast London, England, and one of the oldest schools in London. The school is a member of the Headm ...

got together to play rugby. For the next 60 years, Old Colfeians mostly played non-competitive matches against local rugby clubs. This ended when league rugby began in 1987 when the club was originally placed in

London 3 South East Counties 2 Kent (formerly London 3 South East) is an English level 8 Rugby Union League involving club sides from Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex and the south-east London. The twelve teams play home and away matches from September to April. F ...

and were promoted to London 2 South in 1989 and then, two years later were promoted to London 1 as champions. In 2000 the club gained another promotion and moved into National League 3 South, the fourth tier of English rugby, and remained there for three seasons. The club was relegated in 2004 and again in 2009 and they currently play in the London 2 South East league. Old Colfeians also played in the EDF National Trophy. However, in 2008 they were eliminated in the first round by the

Tribute Western Counties West Counties 1 Western West (known as Counties 1 Tribute Western West for sponsorship reasons) is an English rugby union league. Originally a single division called Western Counties, in 1996 the division split into two regional leagues called Wes ...

team, the

Wadebridge Camels Wadebridge Camels RFC is a rugby union club based in Wadebridge, Cornwall which has been in existence since 1955. They play at Molesworth Field. History Wadebridge played in the Tribute South West 1 West, for four seasons having won promotion ...

from

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

. On Saturday, 22 April 2017, Old Colfeians beat Camberley 17–20 to gain promotion to London 1 South

Clubhouse

Old Colfeians' ground contains a clubhouse with a war memorial with the names of former players and pupils of Colfe's School who had died in the

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and

Second The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of U ...

World Wars inside it. The clubhouse is also used by Colfe's School as the location of their annual remembrance service.

Club honours

* London Division 1 champions: 2000-01 * London 2 South champions: 1991-92 *

champions: 2021-22 *

champions: 1988–89 * Kent Cup winners (2): 1992, 1994 * Kent Shield winners: 2022 * Kent Plate winners: 1997 * London 2 (south-east v south-west) promotion playoff winners: 2016-17

References

External links

Official club website
{{Rugby union in England Rugby clubs established in 1928 Rugby union teams in England Rugby union clubs in London 1928 establishments in England