Newbury RFC
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| Club information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Newbury Rugby Football Club |
| Website | newburyrfc.co.uk |
| Colours | Light Blue and Dark Blue |
| Founded | 1928 |
| Current details | |
| Ground(s) |
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| Competition | South West 1 East |
Newbury Rugby Football Club is a rugby union club representing Newbury. From season 2013–14 they have been playing in the sixth tier of the English league system, South West 1 East. Newbury RFC is a community rugby club using players drawn from the local community and those coached through its own youth rugby program.
The club was founded in 1928 due to the efforts of Len Whittaker who left St. Bartholomews Grammar School in 1924. The first game played by the newly formed club took place on 15 September 1928 against Midlands team, Stoke RFC. This was the first of 23 games that season during which the club won 13 matches and lost 10. Even throughout the early years of the club, the standard of play encouraged such major sides as Northampton, Gloucester, Harlequins and Wasps to come and play against Newbury.
In 1932 the club found a permanent home where they stayed until 1952 at which time the club moved to Pinchington Lane to the south of the town. It was not until 1958 that a clubhouse could be built on the site which was less than a mile from the present headquarters at Monks Lane where they have five pitches, of which three are fully floodlit. The 1938–39 season saw Newbury unofficially crowned by the local press as "Champions of Berkshire". The first game to be played after the War was on 13 April 1946 and despite the inauspicious date, the club won the match 37 – 0 against Windsor.
When the league system for English rugby started in 1987, Newbury were playing in a regional league - Courage South West 1. They were relegated at the end of their first season, but by the 1990-91 season they were back in Courage South West 1 and then promoted a second time, having finished as runners-up.
By the 1994-95 season they had been relegated back into Courage South West 1, and again finished runners-up. Unfortunately for The Blues, though, there was no promotion place for runners-up that season. The following season, however, The Blues were promoted back into the National League as champions of Courage South West 1.
The 1996-97 season saw the advent of professionalism in English Rugby, along with the reduction in the number of tiers in the league from 5 to 4. The Blues spent the season in the 4th tier (known as National 4 South at the time) and enjoyed their second successive promotion, again as champions.
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