Billingham Rugby Union Football Club is a

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 ...

club in the world based in

Billingham Billingham is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham, England. The town is on the north side of the River Tees and is governed by Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council. The settlement had previously formed its o ...

North East England North East England is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. The region has three current administrative levels below the region level in the region; combined authority, unitary authorit ...

, with the club playing their 1st XV matches in

North Premier North Premier was a level five league in the English rugby union system, with the fourteen teams drawn from across Northern England. The other leagues at this level were London & South East Premier, Midlands Premier and South West Premier. The ...

. The club also has a strong youth contingent, picking up many honours within previous years. Billingham play their home matches at Greenwood Road, the home of the club which has top of the range facilities. Billingham Rugby Union Football Club has four senior teams, the 1st XV currently playing in National 3 North, four leagues from the Premiership. The 2nd XV (Lions) play in The "Candy League" Division 1. The 3rd XV play in The "Candy League" Division 2. and the Colts play in a Saturday Colts League. The club has a promising junior section ranging from u-7 minis to u-16's with teams winning Durham county cups and leagues. Players who have come through the junior section have gone on to higher levels. Christopher Hyndman, playing for England under-21s and

Northampton Saints Northampton Saints (officially Northampton Rugby Football Club) is a professional rugby union club from Northampton, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. They were formed in 1880 as "Northampton St. James", ...

with Craig Willis and Adam Radwan playing for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and

Newcastle Falcons Newcastle Falcons is a rugby union team that play in Premiership Rugby, England's highest division of rugby union. The club was established in 1877 as the Gosforth Football Club. Around 1882 the club merged with the Northumberland Football Cl ...

History

Billingham Rugby Club was formed in 1924 as the rugby section of the Synthonia Sports Club at Synthetic Ammonia and Nitrates Company, which later became

Imperial Chemical Industries Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) was a British chemical company. It was, for much of its history, the largest manufacturer in Britain. It was formed by the merger of four leading British chemical companies in 1926. Its headquarters were at M ...

(ICI). Once established, the club became a force in Durham County Rugby Union, especially after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and the first team was very strong during the 1950s and early 1960s. The early 1970s saw a downturn in the chemical industry and with the decline of ICI, the rugby club suffered. In the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s the club became somewhat nomadic in its socialising, although still playing on Central Avenue. 1989 was an important year in the life of the club. The youth section was founded and boys and girls from the age of eight upwards playing mini-rugby. Since then, this section of the club has gone from strength to strength and has provided several current members of the first XV squad. The 1990s saw an upturn in the club's fortunes and three teams were regularly playing each week with socialising based at the Synthonia Cricket Club. The club moved to play on Greenwood Road in 1996 although until late 2000 there were no facilities whatsoever, just three pitches. For these years we had a three-site existence, changing, playing and socialising in different locations. However, December 2000 and a £750,000 lottery grant brought the opening of the new clubhouse giving the club a solid base and identity and we hope that it will serve as a stepping-stone to future success. In August 2021, former Billingham player Jack Smith won a gold medal as a member of

Great Britain national wheelchair rugby team The Great Britain national wheelchair rugby team represents Great Britain in international wheelchair rugby. Great Britain is the most successful team in European competition, winning six gold medals at the European Championship and a gold at t ...

at the

2020 Summer Paralympics The , branded as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, was an international multi-sport parasports event held from 24 August to 5 September 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. They were the 16th Summer Paralympic Games as organized by the International Paralym ...

in Tokyo.

Honours

Durham/Northumberland 3 Counties 3 Durham & Northumberland, previously known as Durham/Northumberland 3, is an English rugby union league at the ninth tier of the domestic competition and is currently the basement league of club rugby in North East England. Any club i ...

Champions (2): 1993–94, 1996–97 *

Durham/Northumberland 2 Counties 2 Durham & Northumberland, formerly known as Durham/Northumberland 2, is an English rugby union league at the eighth tier of the domestic competition for teams from North East England. The champions and runner-up are promoted to Count ...

Champions: 1997–98 *

Durham/Northumberland 1 Durham/Northumberland 1 is an English amateur rugby union competition. The league consists of fourteen clubs, and is the seventh tier of the English rugby union system, as one of the 16 regional leagues, though is the highest level of local rug ...

Champions: 2007–08 * North Division 1 East champions (2): 2009–10, 2011–12 *

Regional 1 North East Regional 1 North East is a level five league in the English rugby union system, with the twelve teams drawn from across North East England and the East Midlands. The other level five leagues are Regional 1 Midlands, Regional 1 North West, R ...

Champions: 2022-23

References

{{Rugby union in England English rugby union teams Rugby clubs established in 1924 Sport in County Durham Billingham Sport in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees