London Irish Amateur

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For the professional club, see London Irish.

London Irish Amateur
London Irish Amateur.jpg
Full nameLondon Irish Amateur Rugby Football Club
UnionMiddlesex RFU, Surrey RFU, Ireland RFU
Nickname(s)The Wild Geese[1]
FoundedSeptember 1999; 22 years ago (1999-09)[2]
LocationSunbury-on-Thames, Surrey, England
Ground(s)Hazelwood (Capacity: 2,000)
ChairmanKevin Flynn
PresidentGerry Gallagher
Coach(es)Paul Dunne
Captain(s)Rory Harrison
League(s)London 1 South
2020–21TBC
Official website
www.liarfc.co.uk

London Irish Amateur Rugby Football Club, also known as London Irish Wild Geese, is an amateur English rugby union club based in Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey, who play their rugby in London 1 South - a league at tier 6 of the English rugby union system - following their relegation from London & South East Premier at the end of the 2019–20 season. They are the amateur team of London Irish[3] and play at Hazelwood.[4]

History[]

The creation of London Irish Amateur was first discussed in 1995 when rugby union became professional and London Irish set aside resources for the creation of an amateur team.[5] The club was founded in September 1999 after London Irish left The Avenue to play at the Twickenham Stoop before moving to Madejski Stadium in Reading the following year.[4][6][7][8] It was formed to be the feeder club for senior and junior amateur players to then go on to play for London Irish, who until the end of the 2015–16 season played in the English Premiership.[9] A few players such as Justin Bishop and Kieran Campbell went on to play international rugby.[2]

London Irish and London Irish Amateur jointly share the new Hazelwood rugby complex. Since 2012, links between London Irish and London Irish Amateur have been upgraded with the two becoming part of a joint venture in which London Irish Amateur players play for London Irish in the A League.[10] In return, members of London Irish's Academy are entitled to play for London Irish Amateur.[11]

The first team's official name was changed to London Irish Wild Geese after the Rugby Football Union's governance committee gave consent for the change of name. In 2011, they were promoted from London 1 into National League 3 London & SE.[12] In 2012, they were moved into National League 3 South West,.[13][14] In 2013, they were promoted into National League 2 South.[15]

London Irish Amateur receives a grant from the Irish Government's Emigrant Support Programme to support Mini Rugby.[16]

Honours[]

Coaching Staff[]

  • Director of Rugby: Chris MacGowan
  • Manager: Trevor Johnson
  • Head Coach: Paul Dunne
  • Lineout Coach: Scott Moore
  • Defence Coach: Sam McKinney
  • Strength and Conditioning: Scott Moore

See also[]

  • London Irish

References[]

  1. ^ "Wild Geese on brink of the title". guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 12 April 2010.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b "About us". London Irish (archived). 8 April 2010. Archived from the original on 8 April 2010. Retrieved 1 March 2014.CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  3. ^ "Titans tackle London Irish Wild Geese". Somerset County Gazette. 14 December 2013. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b "Cambridge eye hat-trick by clipping wings of Wild Geese". Cambridge News. 18 October 2013. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
  5. ^ Intouch Rugby | Ulster Rugby Coverage (29 February 2012). "LONDON IRISH AMATEUR RFC: Wild Geese Flying The Flag For Amateur Status". Intouchrugby.com. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
  6. ^ "London Irish (Rugby Team)". 20thcenturylondon.org.uk. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
  7. ^ "Exiles up for "Craic in the Valley"". ESPN. 11 July 2000. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
  8. ^ About the Club Archived 3 June 2014 at the Wayback Machine at www.london-irish.com. Retrieved 1 Mar 2014.
  9. ^ Intouch Rugby (23 April 2011). "London Irish Amateur RFC, Flourishing Thanks To A Former NIFC Scrum Half From Armagh". Intouchrugby.com. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
  10. ^ "London Irish join forces in Amateur partnership". Get Surrey. 21 June 2012. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
  11. ^ "Billy Clark excited by London Irish academy squad". Get Reading. 5 July 2013. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
  12. ^ Intouch Rugby (23 April 2011). "London Irish Wild Geese Rugby I XV 21 – 14 Sidcup Rugby I XV: London Division 1 Promotion play off – 23rd April 2011". Intouchrugby.com. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
  13. ^ Owens, Trevor (13 May 2012). "Malvern RFC made to switch divisions". BBC Sport. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
  14. ^ "The Wild Geese Division Transfer". London-irish-amateur.co.uk. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
  15. ^ Bristol, The (14 October 2013). "We just couldn't get our game firing, admits Dings coach Alex Guest". Bristol Post. Archived from the original on 1 March 2014. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
  16. ^ "British-based charities given £5.4m by Irish government". Irish Post. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
  17. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 25 May 2014. Retrieved 24 May 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  18. ^ https://www.facebook.com/LondonIrishARFC[bare URL]

External links[]

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