Brixham Rugby Football Club is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

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 based at Astley Park in Brixham,

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

. The club runs three senior teams and the full range of junior teams. The first XV currently plays in

South West Premier Regional 1 South West (formerly South West Premier and National League 3 South West) is a level five league in the English rugby union system. It is one of six leagues at this level. When this division began in 1987 it was known as South West D ...

, a level five league in 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 ...

History

Brixham RFC was formed in 1875, as reported in Alcock’s Football Annual 1876 edition, and became one of the founder members of the Devon RFU. In 1896 the club moved to its present ground, having previously played at Furzeham Green. Between 1924 and 1934 the club won the Devon Cup twice and were runners-up on four other occasions. When club rugby was introduced in 1987 the club was placed in the sixth tier league; South West 2. At the end of 1989 Brixham achieved promotion into

South West 1 Regional 1 South West (formerly South West Premier and National League 3 South West) is a level five league in the English rugby union system. It is one of six leagues at this level. When this division began in 1987 it was known as South West D ...

where they would remain for the following eight seasons until they were relegated at the end of the 1996–97 season. During this period they also enjoyed several runs in the old

Pilkington Cup The Anglo-Welsh Cup (), was a cross-border rugby union knock-out cup competition that featured the 12 Premiership Rugby clubs and the four Welsh regions. It was a created as a replacement for the RFU Knockout Cup, which featured only English clubs ...

, with the best performance coming in 1988–89 when they reached the third round, losing at home to

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

in front of almost 3,000 supporters. The club would remain at level 6 for fifteen seasons until they finally got promoted back into level 5 by winning South West 1 West at the end of the 2011–12 season. This promotion would also see the club become one of the premier sides in the county, finally winning the Devon RFU Senior Cup in 2015 (the first victory since 1932) and then again in 2017.

Ground

Astley Park is situated on Rea Barn Road in Brixham, opposite the police station and near to Brixham College. The ground consists of a club-house/stand alongside the main pitch, and there are also several other pitches on adjoining land for second XV and junior rugby. The stand sits atop the club-house and has seating/standing capacity for up to 300, while there is standing space for around 1,500 supporters pitch side, bringing the total capacity to approximately 1,800. There is limited parking in and around the ground.

Season summary

Honours

* Devon Junior Cup winners (3): 1905, 1909, 1934 *

Devon Senior Cup The Devon Senior Cup is the third tier county cup in the county of Devon. It is administered by the Devon County Football Association The Devon County Football Association, also simply known as the ''Devon FA'', is the governing body of foot ...

winners (4): 1922, 1932, 2015, 2017 * Tribute South West Division 1 West champions: 2011–12

Notes

References

External links

Official club website
{{Authority control English rugby union teams Rugby clubs established in 1874 Rugby union in Devon Brixham 1874 establishments in England