Bristol Bisons RFC is an inclusive 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 it ...

club based in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

. Founded in 2005 as the south west’s first inclusive rugby team, the Bisons have welcomed players (and supporters) of all abilities, backgrounds and sexualities from Bristol, Somerset, South Gloucestershire and the surrounding areas since that time.

Club history

The

Bisons RFC (Bisons) were established in 2005, following a visit to the Bingham Cup gay rugby tournament in the summer of 2004 in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. The founders felt that it would be good to spread the messages of an inclusive rugby team in the south west. Training for the newly formed club started early in 2005 with its first match seeing the Bisons vs. a Barbarians side of players from

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

and

. By 2009, following a quiet spell, it was decided to relaunch the club with new kit and promotional material. The club has had an active presence at Bristol Pride since 2010 and in July 2011, the team were chosen as hosts for the

Union Cup The Union Cup is a biennial European, non-professional, gay rugby union tournament, bringing together teams and joint teams from all over Europe. It is held every odd-numbered year. History Montpellier 2005 The first edition was held in May 2005 i ...

2013 European

Gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

tournament, welcoming over 20 clubs to Bristol. Since 2016, the Bisons have been hosted by and train every Monday and Thursday between 7-9pm at Clifton RFC. In 2023, after finishing top of the UK IGR Southern Development League, the Bisons were named IGR Southern Development League Champions, going on to become IGR UK Development League Champions, after playing at the UK IGR Grand Finals Day in Swansea, Wales. As of 2023, the club now has over 70 active players and supporters, with current sponsorship and support from First Bus in the West of England
Event ExchangeBristol Bear Bar

Top to Toe PhysiotherapyValesco FitnessFire & Evacuation ServicesHawkland Construction
and th
Queenshilling
nightclub. Bristol Bisons RFC vs

Tournaments

The following is a list of tournaments held by or attended by the team.

Tournaments hosted

* 2006 – Spring – Rugby Tournament, Bristol * 2006 – Rugby 7's tournament at Bristol Gay Mardi Gras * 2007 – Spring – Rugby Tournament, Bristol * 2013 – Union Cup – Rugby Tournament, Bristol

Tournaments attended

Union Cup

* 2005 Montpellier, France, finished in seventh place * 2007

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

, Denmark, part of a joint team with the Newcastle Ravens and

Cardiff Lions __NOTOC__ The Cardiff Lions RFC ( cy, Clwb Rygbi Llewod Caerdydd) is a gay and inclusive rugby union football club based in Cardiff, Wales. The club was founded in 2004 and is the first of two gay and inclusive rugby clubs in Wales. The Lions wer ...

that reached the final and lost to the Dublin

Emerald Warriors RFC The Emerald Warriors are an Irish rugby team based in Dublin. They play in the Leinster Metro League Division 10 and 7 and are members of the International Gay Rugby Association and Board. They are the reigning bronze final champions since Union ...

* 2009

, UK, first in the 7's after a closely fought final against the Paris team * 2011

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

, Netherlands, second in the 10s tournament behind Montpellier, France * 2013

, UK, hosted in

, UK * 2016

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

, Spain, narrowly lost out on winning the Silver Union Bowl, finishing third from bottom in the European rankings * 2019

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

, Ireland, lost in the final to Kings Cross Steelers 3rds, finishing 10th over all in European rankings * 2023

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

, United Kingdom, hosted Union Cup, finishing 3rd over all (Beorma Cup) in European Rankings

Bingham Cup

* 2008

, Ireland, some members of the team played with the

at the

Bingham Cup in 2008 * 2012

, England * 2018

, Netherlands, lost in the final of the Hoagland Bowl to

Caledonian Thebans RFC Caledonian Thebans Rugby Football Club is Scotland's leading inclusive rugby club and represents Scotland in international rugby union tournaments for inclusive teams. Established in 2002, the Thebans are based at Edinburgh's Murrayfield Stadiu ...

, coming in 10th overall in Tier 2

Memberships and affiliations

* Full member of the

International Gay Rugby Association and Board International Gay Rugby (IGR), formerly known as the International Gay Rugby Association and Board (IGRAB), is the umbrella organisation for the world's gay and inclusive rugby clubs. Based in London, UK, IGR is recognised by World Rugby as the ...

(IGRAB) * Affiliated members of the

Gloucestershire Rugby Football Union The Gloucestershire Rugby Football Union is the union responsible for rugby union in the county of Gloucestershire, England and is one of the constituent bodies of the national Rugby Football Union. Formed in 1878, it has won the county champions ...

(GRFU) * Affiliated members of the Rugby Football Union (

RFU The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the national governing body for rugby union in England. It was founded in 1871, and was the sport's international governing body prior to the formation of what is now known as World Rugby (WR) in 1886. It pro ...

)

Awards

* 2019 - Attitude Pride Award fo
#KeepKenHome
campaign, helping to support one of its players risking deportation to Kenya * 2023 - Best Sports Group at the ShoutOut Listeners Awards * 2023 - Top of the Table IGR Southern Development League * 2023 - Winners - IGR Southern Development League Final * 2023 - Winners - IGR UK Development League Grand Final (South vs. North) * 2023 - Union Cup (European) - 3rd Place Beorma Cup

References

External links

* * {{Gay Rugby Clubs Rugby union teams in England International Gay Rugby member clubs Rugby union in Bristol Rugby clubs established in 2005 2005 establishments in England