Workington RFC (founded 1877), also known as Workington Zebras, is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national id ...

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the Comparison of rugby league and rugby union, two codes of ru ...

club that is based in the town of

Workington Workington is a coastal town and civil parish at the mouth of the River Derwent on the west coast in the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, England. The town was historically in Cumberland. At the 2011 census it had a population of 25,207. Loca ...

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. ...

. The club operates four men's teams, a ladies teams and four boy's junior teams (under 13 to under 18). The men's 1st XV currently play in Counties 1 Cumbria - a level 7 league in 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 cons ...

. They play home games at the Ellis Sports Ground.

History

Formed in 1877 as 'Workington Football Club', the club had its first ever game in November of that year, a loss against fellow Cumbrian side,

Whitehaven Whitehaven is a town and port on the English north west coast and near to the Lake District National parks of England and Wales, National Park in Cumbria, England. Historically in Cumberland, it lies by road south-west of Carlisle, Cumbria, C ...

, who had themselves formed in 1876. Founded by

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

ers looking for a summer game, the club played early fixtures at Valentine Ground, which they shared with Workington Cricket Club. They were based at the cricket club until 1883, when they moved to a former greyhound stadium, Lonsdale Park. In 1890 the club gained its nickname 'Zebras' when

Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sout ...

veterans, who were watching a game involving the side, gave the unflattering remark that they played like 'a herd of Zebras', which was (at the time) as much a reflection on the way they played the game as their kit of black and white stripes. Despite early misgivings of the Zebras playing abilities by these visitors the club would go on to win its first major silverware several years later, winning back-to-back Cumberland Shield titles in 1897 and 1898. In 1895 the Northern Football Union was formed, with many northern clubs deciding to leave the

Rugby Football Union The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the 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 (WR) in 1886. It promo ...

for this new organisation, including Workington who joined in 1898. Part of the appeal of the Northern Football Union was that it offered the chance for players to earn money from match appearances, which the amateur RFU were dead against. Although Workington were very successful during this period, winning the Cumberland Senior three years running between 1907 and 1909, the demands of professionalism caused the club to go into voluntary liquidation in 1909 when they merged with another local club, Workington Trades, to form Workington Rugby Union Football Club. This merger also saw the newly formed Workington RUFC return to Valentine Ground. The years after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

saw Workington enter a golden spell as they became one of the top rugby union clubs in northern England, with the 1st XV winning the Cumberland Cup 5 times in the 1920s and once more in the 1930s. The 2nd XV was also impressive winning the Cumbria Shield twice in the 1920s and then 3 times during the following decade. In 1925 left the Valentine Ground for the second time to move to its new home at the Ellis Sports Ground. The Ellis Sports Ground was much more impressive than that of the cricket club, with a (then) capacity of 16,000, which included 2,000 seated in the grandstand. During this time the club also produced two England international caps in the Lawson brothers. Following

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

the club would have another period of success in the 1950s and early 1960s before sliding into decline, and by the advent of the leagues in 1987, Workington were ranked in the lower levels of the

. Although they won promotion in 1988 they did little until the end of the 1990s, when over a period of three seasons they forced their way up the leagues, gaining promotion from the old

North West 3 North West 3 was an English Rugby Union league which was at the ninth tier of the domestic competition and was available to teams in North West England. Promoted teams moved up to North West 2 while relegated teams dropped to either South Lanc ...

in 1999, winning

North West 2 North West 2 was an English Rugby Union league which was at the eighth tier of the domestic competition and was available to teams in North West England. Promoted teams moved up to North West 1 while relegated teams dropped to North West 3. T ...

in 2000 and then finally

North Lancashire/Cumbria North Lancashire/Cumbria (usually referred to as North Lancs/Cumbria) was an English Rugby Union League at the seventh tier of club rugby union for teams from North Lancashire and Cumbria that ran until the end of 2017–18 season. Promotion fro ...

in 2001, to reach

North 1 West North 1 West is a rugby union league at the sixth level within the English rugby union system, English league system. The league is made up of teams from north west England and the Isle of Man; principally consisting of the English counties of ...

, which at tier 7 is the highest level Workington had reached in its history. This also coincided with the club winning its first senior cup for 40 years, winning the (now) Cumbria Cup back-to-back in 2001 and 2002. The good times did not last long as Workington were relegated from North 1 West after just one season and then again from North Lancashire/Cumbria in 2005. Although they have won Cumbria 1 twice (in 2006 and 2016) they have struggled to rise up the leagues, and at the end of the 2017–18 season they suffered the misfortune of being relegated to Cumbria 2 despite finishing 6th due to restructuring of the Cumbrian regional leagues.

Ground

Workington RFC have played home games at Ellis Sports Ground since 1925. It is located off Moss Bay Road, next to the Clay Flatts Industrial Estate in the western part of

. Access to the ground is good with plenty of parking, and

Workington railway station Workington is a railway station on the Cumbrian Coast Line, which runs between and . The station, situated south-west of Carlisle, serves the town of Workington in Cumbria. It is owned by Network Rail and managed by Northern Trains. History ...

is just a mile away and within walking distance. The capacity of Ellis Sports Ground is around 12,000 which includes 2,000 seated in the stand. This capacity figure was reached on 22 November 1972, when 12,000 supporters watched the North-West record a historic 16–14 victory over

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

- the first time an English club or regional team had ever beaten the All Blacks. Today such crowds are just a memory, although the ground still hosts the occasional

game in the

County Championship The County Championship (referred to as the LV= Insurance County Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales and is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). It b ...

Honours

1st team: * Cumbria Shield winners (3): 1897, 1898, 1909 *Cumberland Senior Cup winners (3): 1907 1908 1909 *

Cumbria Cup The Cumbria Cup is an annual rugby union knock-out club competition organized by the Cumbria Rugby Union. It was first introduced during the 1882-83 season, when it was known as the Cumberland Challenge Cup, and the inaugural winners were Aspat ...

winners (12): 1920, 1921, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1931, 1950, 1953, 1954, 1962, 2001, 2002 *W.H Lawson Cup winners: 1985 *

champions: 1999–00 *

champions: 2000–01 * Cumbria 1 champions (2): 2006–07, 2015–16 * Cumbria Plate winners: 2007 2nd team: * Cumbria Shield winners (16): 1914, 1920, 1926, 1931, 1935, 1936, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1954, 1956, 1958, 1960, 1972, 2000, 2003, 2020

Notes

References

External links