Richmond R.F.C.
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| Full name | Richmond Football Club |
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| Founded | 1861 |
| Location | Richmond, London, England |
| Ground(s) | Athletic Ground, Richmond (Capacity: 4,500) |
| Chairman | Peter Moore |
| President | John Heaton |
| Coach(es) | Steve Hill |
| League(s) | Greene King IPA Championship |
| 2015–16 | National League 1, 1st (promoted) |
| Official website | |
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Richmond Football Club is a rugby union club from Richmond, London. It is a founding member of the Rugby Football Union, and is one of the oldest football (of any code) clubs. It fields teams in both men's and women's rugby, with the men's first team recently promoted into the Greene King IPA Championship, and the women's first team playing in the women's premiership.
Formed in 1861, it is one of the oldest football clubs in the world and holds a significant place in the history of Rugby Union, playing in the first ever match on 19 December 1863, against the Barnes Club, even though it was not a member of the Football Association. In 1878 it hosted the first ever floodlit match and in 1909 played in the inaugural match at Twickenham Stadium, the home of English Rugby.
Richmond always traditionally played without a number 13 (similar to Bath) – the outside centre would wear 14, right wing 15 and fullback 16. However, during the professional era they adopted squad numbering; meaning rather than rugby's usual method of giving numbers 1–15 to the starting line-up, players were assigned a number for the season, as seen in football. Back in the amateur leagues, Richmond returned to their traditional numbering system before promotion to the National Leagues in 2008 saw them forced to adopt the uniform 1–15 numbering system according to RFU laws.
In 1996, the then third division club was bought by financial markets trader and Monaco tax exile Ashley Levett. Levett turned the club into the first professional team in England, and began buying in big names to push the club up the leagues, including Ben Clarke from Bath Rugby, the first £1million signing. The club outgrew the Richmond Athletic Ground and became tenants at the Madejski Stadium in Reading. But the crowds and revenues from competition meant that Levett was continually financing the club, and so he placed it in administration in March 1999.
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