Blaydon RFC is an English semi-professional

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 it ...

team. The first team currently play in the fourth tier of the

English rugby union system Men's Rugby union in England consists of 106 leagues, which includes professional leagues at the highest level, down to amateur regional leagues. Promotion and relegation are in place throughout the system. Women's Rugby union in England cons ...

(

National League 2 North National League 2 North is one of three, level four leagues in the English rugby union system and provides semi-professional competition for teams in the northern half of England, the North. The remainder of England is covered by the two counte ...

), having been promoted as champions from

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. Th ...

at the end of the 2019–20 season. Their home ground is at Crow Trees, Swalwell,

Tyne and Wear Tyne and Wear () is a metropolitan county in North East England, situated around the mouths of the rivers Tyne and Wear. It was created in 1974, by the Local Government Act 1972, along with five metropolitan boroughs of Gateshead, Newc ...

First team

The Blaydon first team are presently the joint third highest placed league team in the North East (behind Premiership side,

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 ...

National League 1 National One (last season known as National League 1 and previously known before September 2009 as National Division Two), is the third of three national leagues in the domestic rugby union competition of England. It was known as Courage Leagu ...

club Darlington Mowden Park R.F.C. and alongside

Tynedale RFC). Due to Blaydon's close proximity to the Falcons, many of the Falcon's academy players are given playing experience at Blaydon.

Current standings

Youth rugby

Blaydon run various youth teams, ranging from under-7 to under-19.

Best results

* Under-19 (2008): National semi-final Harrogate, 16 March, Crow Trees* Under-17 (2009–10): National Plate semi-final Sheffield, 23 March, Crow Trees* Under-17 (2013–14): National Shield winners (v Dartfordians, 4 May, AJ Bell Stadium)

Honours

* Durham Senior Cup winners (5): 1996, 2004, 2006, 2010, 2013 *

North East 1 North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...

champions: 1994–95 * North 1 v Midlands 1 promotion play-off winner: 2000–01 *

National League 3 North 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. Th ...

champions: 2006–07 *

champions: 2019−20

International players

Mark Wilson (rugby union) Mark Edward Wilson (born 6 October 1989) is an English rugby union coach and former player. He played as either a blindside flanker or at Number 8. On 14 February 2022, he announced his retirement with immediate effect due to a problematic kne ...

Michael Skinner (rugby union) Michael Gordon Skinner (born ), also known as Mickey, Mick, and Mike, is a former English rugby union player who played at flanker for Harlequins, Blackheath and . His nickname was "Mick the Munch" because of his propensity to inflict bone-sh ...

* Steve Bainbridge * Trevor Davison (rugby union) * Selwyn St. Bernard *

Matthew Cook Matthew Cook (born February 7, 1970) is a mathematician and computer scientist who is best known for having proved Stephen Wolfram's conjecture that the Rule 110 cellular automaton is Turing-complete. Biography Cook was born in Morgantown, West ...

Notable former players

* Andrew Baggett –

fly-half In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16– ...

who became the all-time

points scorer with over 1,700 points, the majority whilst playing for Blaydon. He also represented

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

and

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county * Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...

and was part of the Yorkshire side that won the 2008 Bill Beamont Cup.

References

1888 establishments in England English rugby union teams Rugby clubs established in 1888 Sport in Tyne and Wear {{england-rugbyunion-team-stub