Sheffield RUFC
| Full name | Sheffield Abbeydale Rugby Union Football Club |
|---|---|
| Union | RFU |
| Nickname(s) | Sheff |
| Founded | 1902 |
| Ground(s) | Abbeydale Park (Capacity: 1,000 (100 seats)) |
| Chairman | Andrew Langdale |
| Coach(es) | Nick Crapper |
| League(s) | National League 3 Midlands |
| 2016-17 | 2nd (won promotion playoff and place in National League 2 North) |
| Official website | |
| www |
|
Sheffield Rugby Union Football Club is a rugby union club based at Abbeydale Sports Club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Following promotion in the 2014–15 season Sheffield will be playing in National 3.
Records show that Rugby Football was being played in the City of Sheffield as long ago as the early 1860s indeed four Sheffield players represented Yorkshire in the first ever recorded county match against Lancashire in 1869. Officially Sheffield Rugby Union Football Club was founded in 1902 and subsequently found a permanent home at Abbeydale Park, Dore in 1920 where it now proudly boasts three senior pitches.
Over the years Sheffield RUFC has enjoyed mixed fortunes, existing as it does, in a city focussed primarily upon soccer, but arguably its most successful seasons were in the later 1970s into the early years of the centennial that heralded the advent of the professional era. During this time the club was proud to be numbered within the vanguard of senior clubs playing at the highest level,initially as a member of the Northern Merit Tables and ultimately the National Leagues.
Sheffield RUFC has a tremendous historical record and Corinthian tradition in promoting the sport of Rugby Union at all levels establishing a thriving youth section following the Second World War and is able to boast one of the first ‘colts’ teams in Yorkshire.
The onset of the professional era and the demise of school sport within the city led to a decline in the fortunes of the first team and subsequently demotion from National League status in 2004.
The first match to be played on the new ground was a loss against Leicester Westleigh. The rest of the season proved to be more fruitful. 1952 saw the 50th anniversary of the Club and the Golden Jubilee with matches against a Yorkshire XV and Plymouth Albion to celebrate, Sheffield winning both.
It was the 1970s that saw Rugby Union change quite dramatically and with it Sheffield RUFC. The change from friendlies to a competitive structure was the forerunner to the League system. The 1970s were to be halcyon years seeing such players as Alan Old, Bill Reichwald, Brian Firth, George Kirkpatrick, Steve Newsome, Mike Gange, Chris Sharpe to name a few, playing for the club and winning both county and national honours. Sheffield also qualified for the Northern Merit Table, playing the North's elite clubs.
The 1980s saw a great deal of re-building after retirements and players moving away from Sheffield but home grown talent continued to flourish. Players such as Miles Pierce, David Holmes, Robin Goodliffe, Nick Crapper and Simon Mugford graced the field. 1981 saw a memorable highlight in the trip of Sheffield RUFC to play Swansea at St Helens ground, with 9 internationals in their side. This year also saw the Sheffield side to the final of the Yorkshire Cup, narrowly losing to old enemy Wakefield 23-3.
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Wikipedia