Bideford RFC is an English

Rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

team formed in 1926. The club is based in

Bideford Bideford ( ) is a historic port town on the estuary of the River Torridge in north Devon, south-west England. It is the main town of the Torridge local government district. Toponymy In ancient records Bideford is recorded as ''Bedeford'', ''By ...

, Devon and operates four senior men's teams, as well as multiple youth, ladies and mini teams. The first team, the Chiefs play in

Tribute Western Counties West Counties 1 Western West (formerly known as Western Counties West for sponsorship reasons) is an English rugby union league. Originally a single division called Western Counties, in 1996 the division split into two regional leagues called Wester ...

following their relegation from

Tribute South West 1 West Regional 2 South West, (formerly known as South West 1 West) is an English, level six, rugby union league for clubs based in the south-west of England; i.e. Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and Somerset. It is one of twelve leagues at this level in Eng ...

at the end of the 2017–18 season. The club has a longstanding rivalry with its neighbour,

Barnstaple Barnstaple ( or ) is a river-port town in North Devon, England, at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool and won great wealth. Later it imported Irish wool, bu ...

, and the traditional

Boxing Day Boxing Day is a holiday celebrated after Christmas Day, occurring on the second day of Christmastide (26 December). Though it originated as a holiday to give gifts to the poor, today Boxing Day is primarily known as a shopping holiday. It ...

fixture between the two sides often attracts crowds in excess of a thousand supporters. Bideford plays home games at King George's Field.

History

Early days

Bideford was founded in 1926 by local players who had, until then, played for its neighbour, Barnstaple RFC. It was the beginning of a long sporting rivalry between the clubs. Bideford played their first game at Victoria Park against a Barnstaple reserve side. Victoria Park remained Bideford's home ground until 1929 when they moved to the

Sports Ground A pitch or a sports ground is an outdoor playing area for various sports. The term ''pitch'' is most commonly used in British English, while the comparable term in American and Canadian English is playing field or sports field. For most sports t ...

. This ground was shared with the local football side, Bideford AFC. During the 1930s, the club had a degree of success in the Devon Junior Cup (the secondary cup competition for men's rugby at the time), winning the competition in 1933 and 1935. In 1969, Bideford left the Sports Ground and moved to King George's Field, where they currently play. They won the

Havill Plate The Havill Plate was an annual rugby union knock-out competition organised by the Devon Rugby Football Union. It was first introduced during the 1971–72 season for clubs that were knocked out of the first round of the Devon Senior Cup with Il ...

in 1975.

League rugby

When leagues were introduced for the 1987–88 season, Bideford was placed in Courage Cornwall/Devon, a regional league for Cornish and Devon-based clubs ranked in tier 8 of the English league system. In 1992, after four seasons in this division, the club finished as champions and thus were promoted to

.Williams, T. and Mitchell, B. (1991) Courage Clubs Championship Official Rugby Union Club Directory 1991–92. Taunton: Tony Williams. They remained part of Tribute Western Counties West for six years. In the 1997–98 season, they finished last and were relegated, returning to Cornwall/Devon. In 2001, Bideford achieved promotion as runners-up and returned to the Tribute Western Counties West league. This promotion was short-lived; they were relegated the following year after a poor league campaign which saw just 1 win in 22 games. Two years later, Bideford sunk to their lowest ever league ranking and were thus relegated at the end of the 2004–05 season to Devon 1. The 2006–07 season saw Bideford start to rebuild, and they finished second in the league behind champions

Teignmouth Teignmouth ( ) is a seaside town, fishing port and civil parish in the English county of Devon. It is situated on the north bank of the estuary mouth of the River Teign, about 12 miles south of Exeter. The town had a population of 14,749 at the ...

, qualifying for a promotion play-off against the runners-up from

Cornwall League 1 Counties 2 Cornwall (sponsored by St Austell Brewery using the Tribute brand name) is an English level eight rugby union league for clubs based in Cornwall. The champions are promoted to Counties 1 Western West and two teams are relegated to ...

Liskeard Liskeard ( ; kw, Lyskerrys) is a small ancient stannary and market town in south-east Cornwall, South West England. It is situated approximately 20 miles (32 km) west of Plymouth, west of the Devon border, and 12 miles (20 km) eas ...

-Looe. Due to a better league record, Bideford had home advantage, and they managed a win, allowing a return to Cornwall/Devon. The next year saw Bideford not only stave off relegation with a mid-table finish, but also win the Devon Junior Cup for the third time, beating Teignmouth 23–7 in the final held at King George's Field. Bideford won the league and cup double during the 2010–11 season, first winning Tribute Devon/Cornwall with 25 wins from 26 games and then outclassing

Crediton Crediton is a town and civil parish in the Mid Devon district of Devon in England. It stands on the A377 Exeter to Barnstaple road at the junction with the A3072 road to Tiverton, about north west of Exeter and around from the M5 motorway ...

, 45–12 away, in the final of the Devon Intermediate Cup. A second intermediate cup victory followed the next year as Bideford beat

Okehampton Okehampton ( ) is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in West Devon in the English county of Devon. It is situated at the northern edge of Dartmoor, and had a population of 5,922 at the 2011 census. Two electoral wards are based i ...

51–17 in front of a home crowd of around 400 supporters. In 2013, Bideford finished second in Western Counties West after losing a competitive title battle with eventual champions

St Austell St Austell (; kw, Sans Austel) is a town in Cornwall, England, south of Bodmin and west of the border with Devon. St Austell is one of the largest towns in Cornwall; at the 2011 census it had a population of 19,958. History St Austell wa ...

and qualified for the promotion play-off against

Western Counties North Western Counties North (known as Tribute Western Counties North for sponsorship purposes) is an English rugby union league. Originally a single division called Western Counties, in 1996 the division split into two regional leagues called Weste ...

runners-up,

Wells Wells most commonly refers to: * Wells, Somerset, a cathedral city in Somerset, England * Well, an excavation or structure created in the ground * Wells (name) Wells may also refer to: Places Canada *Wells, British Columbia England * Wells ...

. Despite having to travel to Somerset, Bideford survived a late fight back to clinch promotion. This promotion saw Bideford play in

for the 2013–14 season, which, at tier 6, is the highest level the club have played at. In 2017–18 Bideford were relegated from Tribute South West 1 West after three years in the division, finishing second bottom to drop back down to Tribute Western Counties West.

Ground

Bideford play at

King George's Fields A King George's Field is a public open space in the United Kingdom dedicated to the memory of King George V (1865–1936). In 1936, after the king's death, Sir Percy Vincent, the then-Lord Mayor of London, formed a committee to determine a ...

next to

Victoria Park Victoria Park may refer to: Places Australia * Victoria Park Nature Reserve, a protected area in Northern Rivers region, New South Wales * Victoria Park, Adelaide, a park and racecourse * Victoria Park, Brisbane, a public park and former golf ...

on the western banks of the

River Torridge The River Torridge is a river in Devon in England; it rises near Meddon. The river describes a long loop through Devon farming country where its tributaries the Lew and Okement join before meeting the Taw at Appledore and flowing into the Bristo ...

, roughly 5 minutes walk from the town centre. Unfortunately as there is no longer a railway station in the town, away supporters will have to rely on car or bus to get to the ground, although there is plenty of parking near by. The rugby ground consists of an enclosed main pitch with club house and covered standing terrace. There are also several training pitches adjoining Victoria Park for 2nd XV and junior fixtures. The current capacity of the main ground is around 2,000 (all standing), which has been reached on several occasions during the traditional

fixture against neighbours

Season summary

Notable former players

*James Rogers *Roger 'Bill' Hopkins

Honours

* Devon Junior Cup winners (3): 1933, 1935, 2008 *

winners: 1975 *

Tribute Cornwall/Devon Cornwall/Devon League (known as Tribute Cornwall/Devon League for sponsorship reasons) was an English level eight, rugby union league for clubs principally based in Cornwall and Devon. Following the reorganisation of the English rugby union le ...

champions (2): 1991–92, 2010–11 * Cornwall 1 v Devon 1 promotion play-off winners: 2006–07 * Devon Intermediate Cup winners (2): 2011, 2012 * Tribute Western Counties (north v west) promotion play-off winners: 2012–13

Notes

References

External links

Bideford RFC

Devon RFU
{{Rugby union in England 1926 establishments in England Bideford English rugby union teams Rugby clubs established in 1926 Rugby union in Devon