Shelford Rugby 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 ...

football club based in

Great Shelford Great Shelford is a village located approximately to the south of Cambridge, in Cambridgeshire, in eastern England. In 1850 Great Shelford parish contained bisected by the River Cam. The population in 1841 was 803 people. By 2001, this had g ...

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfor ...

. The club currently play in Regional 1 South East – at the fifth tier of the English rugby union league system – following their promotion from

London 1 North London 1 North was an English level 6, rugby union league for clubs in London and the south-east of England including sides from Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, north Greater London, Hertfordshire, Norfolk, Suffolk. When ...

at the end of the 2021–22 season. Shelford run five men's sides, two women's sides and fifteen junior teams for boys and girls. They are members of the Eastern Counties Rugby Football Union.

History

Shelford Rugby Club was formed in 1933 following the formation of a rugby section of Shelford Amateur Sports Association. The announcement was first published in the ''Cambridge Independent Press'' which also decreed that the club's colours would be claret shirts with white collars. They first played on land loaned to them by a Mrs Goldsmith near

Shelford railway station Shelford railway station is on the West Anglia Main Line serving the villages of Great Shelford, Little Shelford and Stapleford, Cambridgeshire, Stapleford in Cambridgeshire, England. It is down the line from Liverpool Street station, London L ...

and changed in the nearby pub. The land was given to them by P. J. Davey who donated the land to them, which was named Davey Field in his honour. It was officially opened in 1966 with a match against

Northampton Saints Northampton Saints (officially Northampton Rugby Football Club) is a professional rugby union club from Northampton, England. The club plays in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby union. It was formed in 1880 as "Northampton St. ...

. The club moved to its present ground in 1965. Since the leagues began in 1987, Shelford have reached as high a level as the fourth tier (

National League 2 South National League 2 South (known before September 2009 as National Division Three South) was a level four league in the English rugby union system until the end of season 2021–22. It was one of two leagues at this level, with its counterpart, N ...

). In 2009, they were promoted to National League 2 South. They played in this division between 2009 and 2015 when they were eventually relegated back to National League 3 London & South East., having finished in 15th place. In 2016, Davey Field was renovated and transformed from a grass pitch to a 3G pitch with floodlights and perimeter barriers installed. This £1 million project was funded by 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 ...

as a part of an initiative to increase the number of community 3G pitches following the

2015 Rugby World Cup The IRB 2015 Rugby World Cup was the eighth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial rugby union world championship. The tournament was hosted by England from 18 September to 31 October. Of the 20 countries competing in the World Cup in 2011, there was ...

. Shelford also agreed a new ten year lease allowing them twelve guaranteed hours a week on the pitch. They avoided relegation during the 2017-18 London & South East Premier season with a win against

Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells (formerly, until 1909, and still commonly Tunbridge Wells) is a town in Kent, England, southeast of Central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the High Weald, whose sandstone ...

. However, the following season they were relegated to

Honours

* London 3 North East champions (2): 2001–02, 2003–04 * London Division 1 champions: 2008–09 *

champions: 2021-22

References

External links

Official website

League Website
{{Rugby union in England Rugby union teams in England 1933 establishments in England Rugby clubs established in 1933 Rugby union in Cambridgeshire