Staines Rugby Football Club (Staines R.F.C.; trading as Staines Rugby Football Club Limited) 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 founded in 1926, whose first team "The Swans" now play in Counties 4 Surrey. The club's

home A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or more human occupants, and sometimes various companion animals. Homes provide sheltered spaces, for instance rooms, where domestic activity can be p ...

ground, The Reeves, in the

London Borough of Hounslow The London Borough of Hounslow ( ) is a London borough in west London, England, forming part of Outer London. It is governed by Hounslow London Borough Council. The borough stretches from near Central London in the east (Chiswick) to the b ...

, has five pitches and opened in 1964. The club runs a number of senior men's and women's teams with names such as "the Swans" and "the Cobs". It was one of the first in the county to have Mini and Youth sections for children aged 4 to 17. A notable former

mini rugby Mini rugby, also known as New Image Rugby, is a form of rugby union designed to introduce the sport to children. It uses a smaller ball and pitch than standard rugby, and has eight to ten players a side. Invented in England in 1970, mini rugby was ...

player was

British and Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England national rugby union team, England, Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland, Scotland national rugby union team, Scotland, and ...

Lawrence Dallaglio Lorenzo Bruno Nero Dallaglio (born 10 August 1972) is an English retired rugby union player. He is a former captain of England, and a 2016 inductee of the World Rugby Hall of Fame. Dallaglio played as a flanker or number eight for London ...

, who started his career at the age of eight.

History

Staines R.F.C. was founded in 1926 by Rev William Davies, the vicar of

Staines-upon-Thames Staines-upon-Thames, also known simply as Staines, is a market town in northwest Surrey, England, around west of central London. It is in the Borough of Spelthorne, at the confluence of the River Thames and River Colne, Hertfordshire, Colne. ...

. Initially it played its home games at the Lammas Recreation Ground in Staines, but moved to a pitch at Laleham Cricket Ground in 1947. It acquired its current premises, a former

gravel pit A gravel pit is an open-pit mine for the extraction of gravel. Gravel pits often lie in river valleys where the water table is high, so they may naturally fill with water to form ponds or lakes. Gravel pit lakes are typically nutrient rich and ...

on Feltham Hill Road in

Hanworth Hanworth is a district of West London, England. Historically in Middlesex, it has been part of the London Borough of Hounslow since 1965. Hanworth adjoins Feltham to the northwest, Twickenham to the northeast and Hampton, London, Hampton to the ...

, West London, in 1962. The cost of the ground, around £21,000, was primarily raised through loans. The ground was named "The Reeves" in honour of the club's then president, George Reeves, and was formally opened on 2 September 1964 with a match between Staines and a Middlesex XV. In 1948, Staines R.F.C. was the first club in

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

to form a colts side for younger players. In 1961, a referees' society was formed and, in 1973, the club was the first in the county to introduce mini rugby. A new clubhouse was opened in September 1989.

Club honours

Middlesex 1 Counties 1 Middlesex (formerly Middlesex 1) is a level 8 Rugby Union league with teams from North-West London taking part. Historically the league was a level 10 completion and the division was cancelled in at the end of the 1995–96 campaign a ...

champions: 1991–92 *

London 3 North West Counties 2 Hertfordshire (formerly Counties 2 Herts/Middlesex and before that London 3 North West) is a level 8 league within the RFU league structure and is made up of teams predominantly from north-west London and Hertfordshire. Promoted sid ...

champions: 1993–94 *

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 ...

champions (2): 1994–95, 2009–10 *

Middlesex Senior Cup The Middlesex Senior Cup is the most prestigious football cup competition in the Historic counties of England, historic county of Middlesex, England. The competition is run mainly for non-League clubs in the region, although league clubs have ...

winners (7): 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2009, 2010, 2011 * London 2 (north v south) promotion playoff winners: 2004–05

References

External links

* {{official website, www.stainesrugby.uk Rugby union teams in England Rugby union clubs in London Staines-upon-Thames Sport in the London Borough of Hounslow