Broughton Park RUFC, is one of the oldest

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 ...

clubs in England and was established in 1882, just one year after the

Lancashire County Rugby Football Union The Lancashire County Rugby Football Union is the society responsible for rugby union in the county of Lancashire, England, and is one of the constituent bodies of the national Rugby Football Union having been formed in 1881. In addition it is t ...

was founded and eleven years after the formation of the national

Rugby Football Union The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the Sports governing body, 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 ...

. The first XV plays in

North 1 West North 1 West is a rugby union league at the sixth level within the English league system. The league is made up of teams from north west England and the Isle of Man; principally consisting of the English counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater ...

, a sixth level league in the English league system following their promotion as champions of South Lancs/Cheshire 1 at the end of the 2017-18 season.

History

Broughton Park was established in 1882 and despite this early beginning was the third Broughton based rugby club, after

Broughton RUFC Broughton Rugby Union Football Club is a rugby union club based in Salford, Greater Manchester, which at the time of the club's founding in 1869 was in Lancashire, England. Its home venue is the Broughton Cricket & Rugby Club pitch on Yew Stre ...

(1862) and

Broughton Rangers Broughton Rangers were one of the twenty-one rugby clubs which met at the George Hotel, Huddersfield, in 1895 to form the Northern Rugby Football Union. They were originally based in Broughton, Salford, but in 1933 moved to Gorton, Manchester t ...

(1877). The club was overshadowed in terms of international representation by its two neighbours for the first decade of its existence. In 1919, just after the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, it started to make a mark on the national scene with A M Crook becoming both the Lancashire Union president and also being elected to the presidency of the

. J E Kidd was elected Lancashire president in 1930 and it was not until the 1960s that Broughton once again came to the fore. The glory days of the club were in the 1960s and 1970s and at one point they fielded four internationals on the pitch. In this period they also had two more Lancashire presidents and in 1981 in John Burgess they had a president of the

. Broughton Park were never able to recapture the heights of this period, and in the professional era have not managed to reach the top flight.

Club honours

* Courage National Division 4 North champions: 1989–90 * South Lancs/Cheshire 1 champions (2): 2005–06, 2017–18 * North Lancashire/Cumbria v South Lancs/Cheshire 1 promotion playoff winners: 2012–13

Ground

The club has had a number of different grounds in its time, mainly in the Salford/Prestwich areas, but also in the south of Manchester. Since 2004 its present new facility is at Hough End in

Chorlton-cum-Hardy Chorlton-cum-Hardy is a suburban area of Manchester, England, southwest of the Manchester city centre, city centre. Chorlton (ward), Chorlton ward had a population of 14,138 at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census, and Chorlton Park (w ...

, Manchester.

Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

club Salford City F.C.'s stadium, Moor Lane, was once the club's home ground. It is located in the

Kersal Moor Kersal Moor is a recreation area in Kersal, Greater Manchester, England which consists of eight hectares of moorland bounded by Moor Lane, Heathlands Road, St. Paul's Churchyard and Singleton Brook. Kersal Moor, first called Karsey or Carsal ...

area of Salford, close to the boundary with

Prestwich Prestwich ( ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury, Greater Manchester, England, north of Manchester city centre, north of Salford and south of Bury. Historically part of Lancashire, Prestwich was the seat of the ancient parish o ...

Representation

Originally the club had only one senior side, but now fields five senior sides (4 male and 1 female) and supported by one Colts (U19), four youth (U13-U17) and six mini (U6-U12) teams; a total involvement of some 330 players each week. Broughton Park R.F.C. is the City of Manchester's highest placed representative in the Rugby Union Leagues.Broughton Park Rugby Union F.C.
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Notable players

International honours

Tony Neary Anthony Neary (born 25 November 1948) is a former England international rugby union player. He represented England at U18s basketball as well as rugby. He attended De La Salle College in Pendleton, Salford and Liverpool University before qual ...

, former England Captain, and British Lion. * Kevin O'Brien, Ireland, Barbarians and Rest of the World team. * Barry Jackson, Captain of Lancashire and England International. *

Mike Leadbetter Michael Maurice Leadbetter (1946–2009) was a rugby union international and rugby league player, who represented England in 1970. Early life Mike Leadbetter was born on 25 July 1946 in Southport. He attended Ladybarn, a local secondary modern ...

, England International. * Tony Bond, England Under 23 caps and full England International. * Bert 'HB' Toft, England Captain, Lancashire. *

Dan Scarbrough Dan Scarbrough (born 16 February 1978) is a former rugby union international, at 7's and 15's, who played on the wing or full back for Leeds Tykes, Saracens, Racing Métro and England. He was National Division One leading try scorer with Wak ...

, England International *

Raffi Quirke Raffi Quirke (born 18 August 2001) is an English professional rugby union player who plays as a scrum-half for Sale Sharks in the Premiership. Early life Raffi Quirke was born on 18 August 2001 in Chorlton. He started playing rugby when he w ...

, England International

Other notable former players

*Alan Shuker, England Trialist, Barbarians and President of Lancashire RFU. *Ron Greenall, Lancashire, Cheshire, North of England and England Trialist and Peter Barratt, England Trialist. * John Burgess, England Coach and former President of the Rugby Football Union. *Simon Verbickas, North of England U21 and England U21. *Andy O'Grady, North of England U21. *Jimmy Wilde, England Colts and a Barbarian *Jim Sydall, in the North team which beat the All Blacks 20 points to 9 at Otley in November 1979. *John Russell, England Colts *Andy Taylor, England Colts *Gary Jones, England Colts *David Tait England Schools U17 International 2003. *Jason Duffy England Schools U18 International 2003. *

Simon McIntyre Simon McIntyre is an English rugby union prop forward for Sale Sharks. Career Born in Manchester, he joined his local club, Broughton Park RUFC, at the age of eight, and later represented England at U18 level. McIntyre started his professional ...

England U18 International 2009.Sale Sharks 2009-2011 and Wasps 2011-2021. *Bill Bevan and Glyn Parry, - co-founders of Manchester Schools Rugby Football Union *Jamie Harrison North Of England U20 and England Counties U20 2011 *

Alan Buckley Alan Peter Buckley (born 20 April 1951) is an English former professional footballer and football manager who now works as a sports co-commentator for BBC Humberside. As a player, he was a forward from 1967 to 1987 for Nottingham Forest, Wa ...

, rugby league centre with Swinton, Lancashire and Great Britain *

Michael Woodhouse Michael Allan Woodhouse (born 1965) is a National member of the New Zealand Parliament. Early years Woodhouse was born and raised in South Dunedin, the fifth of nine children. He attended St Patrick's, St Edmund's and St Pauls High School, no ...

, New Zealand Member of Parliament and Deputy Leader of the House

Presidents of Lancashire RFU

* 1919/23 A M Crook * 1930/32 J E Kidd * 1963/64 V G Funduklian * 1970/71 A Shuker * 1981/82 J Burgess * 1985/86 W G Bevan * 1986/87 Dr J E Ryner

Presidents of the Rugby Football Union

* 1919/23 A M Crook * 1981/82 J Burgess

References

External links

Official website
{{Rugby union in England English rugby union teams Rugby clubs established in 1882 1882 establishments in England Rugby union in Greater Manchester Organisations based in Manchester