Stourbridge R.F.C.
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| Full name | Stourbridge Rugby Football Club |
|---|---|
| Union | RFU |
| Nickname(s) | Lions |
| Founded | 1876 |
| Region | Midlands |
| Ground(s) | Stourton Park (Capacity: 3,500 (499 seats)) |
| Chairman | Carl Wythes |
| President | Ian Faulks |
| Coach(es) | Mike Umaga |
| Captain(s) | Robbie Hurrell |
| Most caps | Huw Davies |
| Top scorer | Ben Harvey (989 points) |
| League(s) | National League 2 North |
| Official website | |
| www |
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Stourbridge RFC are a rugby union side based in Stourbridge, West Midlands and play in the fourth tier of the English rugby union league system; National League 2 North. They play their home games at Stourton Park, which was redeveloped in 2003 to provide a larger clubhouse and social area which can also be used for weddings and other functions. The ground is in the hamlet of Stourton set amongst the Staffordshire countryside on the outskirts of the town of Stourbridge.
Stourbridge RFC was founded in 1876 as a branch of the Stourbridge Cricket Club and shared the cricket ground in Amblecote. As association football flourished, the rugby section was ousted and from 1883 rugby football soldiered on in a variety of locations throughout the town, with the highlight being a mini golden era in the two seasons 1887–88 and 1888–9 when only four games were lost out of a total of 37. Despite this success on the field of play, interest in the game seems to have waned and after two lacklustre seasons the club was forced to disband in 1893. There was a brief but inadequately supported revival in 1907–08.
The club was revived again in 1921, and yet again, it proved difficult to find a satisfactory location. Two remote spots in Clent and Pedmore were briefly utilised before they settled in an old soccer ground at Vicarage Road, Wollaston, rented from the Church. This remained their home for 43 years. Throughout this period, they benefited from a close connection with the local King Edward’s Grammar School, which had introduced rugby into the curriculum nine years earlier. Until the breakup of the system, it was the Grammar School that produced the core of players, administrators and supporters that accounted for the prosperity of the club.
There was a memorable 1933–34 season when only two games were lost and apart from the inevitable break during the Second World War, the club has flourished ever since. So much so that only in four out of the 56 post-war seasons until entry to National 2 in 2001 did the club end up with a losing record. The most distinguished products of school and club were Bob Lloyd-Jones (Moseley), Huw Davies (Coventry and Wasps) and Peter Shillingford (Moseley).
In 1965–66, the club moved to its present freehold site at Stourton; 11 acres (45,000 m2), expanded later to 15 acres (61,000 m2) and now possesses four senior pitches and two mini pitches, two sets of floodlights. In 1996–97, it completed a 450 seater grandstand. The clubhouse, a two-storey structure, has been extended and regularly refurbished so that it contains a gymnasium, a major clubroom, two members’ rooms and a viewing balcony. The tradition of regular improvement and repair probably reached its peak in 2002 with a £300,000 addition of twin towers to the clubhouse, improving and extending changing, administration and social facilities. A new set of floodlights were installed in 2007 on the first XV pitch. Club developments continued in 2016 when floodlights on the training pitch were upgraded and extended to cover both training pitches, providing further floodlight training capacity.
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