Nottingham R.F.C.

Nottingham Rugby Club is a rugby union club based in Nottingham, England. The club's first team currently play in the Championship, the second tier of English Rugby.

Nottingham R.F.C.

Full name	Nottingham Rugby Club
Union	Notts, Lincs & Derbyshire RFU
Founded	1877 (1877)
Ground(s)	Lady Bay (Capacity: 3,500)
Chairman	Alistair Bow
President	Nigel Bettinson-Eatch
Coach(es)	Neil Fowkes
League(s)	RFU Championship
2019–20	6th
1st kit 2nd kit
Official website
nottinghamrugby.co.uk

Nicknamed the Green & Whites, in reference to the club's kit, the first XV play at Lady Bay, The club has recently made a move from Meadow Lane, the home ground of Notts County to Lady Bay in West Bridgford, outside Nottingham. They previously played at Ireland Avenue in Beeston until the end of the 2005–06 season.

History

The club was established circa 1877 by Alexander Birkin after returning from Rugby School, where he was introduced to the sport. The Birkin family later purchased the land at Ireland Avenue that would be the home of the club until 2006.

The club's heyday was in the late 1980s with a number of top international players representing the first XV. These included Simon Hodgkinson, Rob Andrew, Dusty Hare and Brian Moore (also a Lion) representing England and Chris Gray representing Scotland.

The advent of professionalism saw the Green & Whites fall on hard times and the first XV narrowly avoided relegation to the regional divisions in 2002–03. The club has bounced back since then and was promoted into National League One in 2003–04. The club finished a creditable 7th in 2005–06 before leaving Ireland Avenue after 102 years. Alistair Bow was appointed chairman in 2010 after having been a director since 2008.

Martin Haag appointed Dan Montagu captain on 21 July 2015. He replaced Brent Wilson who retired at the end of 2014–15 season. Since then Ian Costello has been appointed as Head Coach, with Neil Fowkes and Alex O'Dowd rounding out the coaching team.

The club play at Lady Bay, previously at Meadow Lane. On 30 July 2010 the club signed an agreement to become part of Notts County PLC.[1] In early July 2012 it was announced that Martin Haag had become the new director of rugby at the club.

A change in funding by the RFU ahead of the 2020–21 season forced the club into become only a part-time professional club.[2]

Club honours

• Midland Counties Senior Cup winners: 1905–06
• Midland Counties Junior Cup winners: 1907–08
• Noel Syson Cup (Notts, Lincs & Derby Sevens) winners: 1935, 1936, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1955, 1959, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1980, 1981, 1983
• Middlesex Sevens winners: 1944–45
• Midland Merit Table champions: 1984–85
• Selkirk Sevens winners: 1990–91

Current standings

2020–21 RFU Championship Table
	Club	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points for	Points against	Points diff	Tries for	Tries against	Try bonus	Losing bonus	Points
1	Ampthill	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2	Bedford Blues	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	Cornish Pirates	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	Coventry	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
5	Doncaster Knights	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
6	Ealing Trailfinders	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
7	Hartpury University	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
8	Jersey Reds	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
9	London Scottish	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
10	Nottingham	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
11	Richmond	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
12	Saracens	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order: Number of matches won Difference between points for and against Total number of points for Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled
Green background is the promotion place. Pink background is the relegation place. Source: "Greene King IPA Championship". England Rugby.

Current squad

For player movements before or during the 2020–21 season, see List of 2020–21 RFU Championship transfers § Nottingham.

The Nottingham squad for the 2020–21 season is:[3]

Note: Flags indicate national union as has been defined under WR eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-WR nationality.

Player Position Union Ben Brownlie Hooker England Luke Cole Hooker England Jake Farnworth Hooker England Kieran Davies Prop England Oisin Heffernan Prop Ireland Owen Hills Prop England Ben Hooper Prop England Jamie Jack Prop England Aniseko Sio Prop Samoa Billy Walker Prop England Tom West Prop England Toby Williams Prop England Callum Allen Lock England Tom Holmes Lock England Llewelyn Jones Lock Wales Danny Qualter Lock Ireland Ifereimi Boladau Back row Fiji James Connolly Back row Ireland George Cox Back row England Carl Kirwan Back row England Jesse Liston Back row England Will Owen Back row England Josh Poullet Back row England Willie Ryan Back row Ireland

Player Position Union Alex Crocker Scrum-half England Alex Dolly Scrum-half Australia Murray McConnell Scrum-half Scotland Jacob Nash Scrum-half England Gearoid Lyons Fly-half Ireland Will Sutton Fly-half England Mat Clark Centre England Calum Hall Centre England Will Millett Centre England Matt Riddington Centre England Luke Peters Centre England Harry Strong Centre England Charlie Thacker Centre England Harry Graham Wing England Jack Spittle Wing England Jack Stapley Wing Ireland Tom Benjamin Fullback England Seán Scanlon Fullback Ireland

• Notes:

Notable former players

• Rob Andrew
• Vincent Cartwright
• Chris Gray
• Dusty Hare
• Simon Hodgkinson
• Brian Moore
• Gary Rees
• Chris Wyles
• Ali Williams
• Chris Oti
• Tom Youngs
• Alex Corbisiero
• Nick Preston
• Neil Back

References

1. "Ray Trew takes over Nottingham Rugby Club". BBC News. 30 July 2010.
2. "PLANNING FOR NEXT SEASON". Nottingham Rugby. 17 April 2020. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
3. "Squad – Nottingham Rugby". Nottingham Rugby. Retrieved 13 August 2019.

External links

• The Official Site of Nottingham RFC