North Midlands Rugby Football Union
Full name | North Midlands Rugby Football Union | |
---|---|---|
Founded | 1920 | |
Region | Birmingham, West Midlands, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Worcestershire | |
President | Robert Bray | |
| ||
Official website | ||
www |
The North Midlands Rugby Football Union is a governing body for rugby union in part of The Midlands, England. The union is the constituent body of the Rugby Football Union for the counties of Herefordshire, Shropshire, Worcestershire and the Greater Birmingham area.[1]
History[]
The North Midlands RFU was founded at a meeting in Birmingham on 14 January 1920. The area had previously been part of the Midland Counties Rugby Union, from which Warwickshire split in 1914, with further changes in 1919 leading to Leicestershire Rugby Union becoming a county on its own and North Midlands being created for the Birmingham, Derbyshire, Staffordshire and Worcestershire areas. The majority of the clubs in the union's initial membership came from the Birmingham area.[2] Staffordshire separated from North Midlands in 1964 to become a county on its own.[3]
County team[]
The North Midlands men's county team play in the County Championship, competing in Division 3.[4]
Honours
Affiliated clubs[]
There are currently 71 clubs affiliated with the North Midlands RFU, most of which have teams at both senior and junior level, although some of the more prominent second teams have also been listed by the North Midlands RFU as affiliated clubs. The North Midlands region covers a large area with club sides based in Birmingham and the West Midlands, Herefordshire, Shropshire and Worcestershire. Occasionally clubs based in other county rugby football unions, such as Staffordshire and Warwickshire, are also members of the North Midlands RFU. This was a result of county boundaries changing in 1974 as a consequence of the Local Government Act 1972.
- Birmingham Moseley
- Birmingham & Solihull
- [a]
- Bournville
- Bridgnorth
- Bromsgrove
- Droitwich
- Dudley Kingswinford
- Dudley Wasps[b]
- Essington[c]
- Hereford
- Kings Norton
- Luctonians
- Malvern
- Moseley Oak[d]
- Newport (Salop)
- Old Halesonians
- Silhillians[e]
- Stourbridge
- Stourbridge Lions[f]
- Sutton Coldfield[g]
- Walsall[h]
- Whitchurch
- Worcester Warriors
- Worcester Wanderers
- Yardley & District
County club competitions[]
The North Midlands currently runs the following competition for clubs sides based in Birmingham and the West Midlands, Herefordshire, Shropshire and Worcestershire:
Cups[]
- North Midlands Cup – founded in 1972, currently open to clubs at tiers 5–6 of the English rugby union system
- North Midlands Shield – founded in 2001, clubs at tiers 7–8
- North Midlands Vase – founded in 2005, clubs at tiers 9–10
Discontinued competitions[]
- North Midlands 1 - tier 7-10 league that ran between 1987 to 2006
- North Midlands 2 - tier 8-11 league that ran between 1987 to 2006
- North Midlands 3 – tier 9-12 league that ran intermittently between 1987 and 2004
- North Midlands 4 – tier 10 league that ran between 1987 to 1992
- Midlands 5 West (North)[i] – tier 10 league for North Midlands and Staffordshire clubs that ran between 2005 and 2019
Notes[]
- ^ are historically based in Staffordshire but are now joint members of the North Midlands RFU and Staffordshire RU.
- ^ Dudley Wasps are the second team of Dudley Kingswinford RFC.
- ^ Essington are historically based in Staffordshire but are now joint members of the North Midlands RFU and Staffordshire RU.
- ^ Moseley Oak are the amateur side of Birmingham Moseley Rugby Club.
- ^ Silhillians are historically based in Warwickshire but are joint members of both the North Midlands RFU and Warwickshire RFU.
- ^ Stourbridge Lions are the second team of Stourbridge RFC.
- ^ Sutton Coldfield are historically based in Warwickshire but are joint members of both the North Midlands RFU and Warwickshire RFU.
- ^ Walsall are historically based in Staffordshire but are now joint members of the North Midlands RFU and Staffordshire RU.
- ^ Midlands 5 West (North) was known as Midlands 6 West (North) between 2005 and 2009.
See also[]
References[]
- ^ "North Midlands RFU". Retrieved 30 December 2014.
- ^ "North Midlands". Retrieved 4 January 2019.
- ^ Gallagher, Brendan (30 April 2004). "About Rugby: Nostalgic Park play the Blues". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 14 July 2017.
- ^ "County Championships". Englandrugby. Retrieved 12 June 2017.
- ^ "Tetley's County Shield 2004". englandrugby.com. 29 May 2004.
- ^ "RUGBY: Twickenham heartache". Bury Free Press. 3 June 2004. Archived from the original on 22 December 2016. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
- ^ "CLUB DIRECTORY". North Midlands RFU. Retrieved 12 June 2017.
- ^ "NORTH MIDLANDS CUP COMPETITIONS". North Midlands RFU. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
External links[]
- Rugby union governing bodies in England
- 1920 establishments in England
- Sports organizations established in 1920
- Rugby union in Herefordshire
- Rugby union in Shropshire
- Rugby union in Worcestershire
- Sport in Birmingham, West Midlands