The Cheshire Rugby Football Union (CRFU) is a

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the Comparison of rugby league and rugby union, two codes of ru ...

governing body A governing body is a group of people that has the authority to exercise governance over an organization or political entity. The most formal is a government, a body whose sole responsibility and authority is to make binding decisions in a taken g ...

in the historic county of

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's coun ...

and the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = " O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europ ...

. The union is the constituent body of the

Rugby Football Union 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 promo ...

(RFU) for Cheshire. The CRFU administers and organises rugby union clubs and competitions in the county and administers the Cheshire county rugby representative teams.

Cheshire senior men's county team

Honours * County Championship Cup winners (3): 1950, 1961, 1998 * County Championship Plate winners (2): 2006, 2009

Affiliated clubs

There are currently 52 clubs affiliated with the union, with teams at both senior and junior level. * Acton Nomads *

Altrincham Kersal Altrincham Kersal Rugby Football Club is an English rugby union team based in Timperley, Trafford. The club runs three senior men's teams, and mini and junior rugby from age 5. The first XV currently plays in North 1 West, a level six league ...

* Anselmians * Ashton-on-Mersey * Birkenhead Park * Bowdon *

Caldy Caldy is a small, affluent village on the Wirral Peninsula, England, south-east of West Kirby. It is part of the West Kirby & Thurstaston Ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral and is in the parliamentary constituency of Wirral West. At ...

* Capenhurst *

Carrington Carrington and Carington are surnames originating from one of the Carringtons in England, or from the town of Carentan in Normandy, France. It is also rarely a given name. Surname Scientists * Alan Carrington (1934–2013), British chemist *Benj ...

* Castletown (I.O.M.) *

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

* Christleton * Congleton * Crewe & Nantwich * Douglas (I.O.M.) * Dukinfield * Ellesmere Port * Helsby *

Holmes Chapel Holmes Chapel is a large village and civil parish in the unitary authority area of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. Until 1974 the parish was known as Church Hulme. Holmes Chapel is about north of Crewe and south of ...

* Hoylake * Knutsford * Lymm * Macclesfield * Manchester Village Spartans * Marple * Manchester Metropolitan University * Moore RFC *

New Brighton New Brighton is the name of several places, sports teams etc.: Australia * New Brighton, New South Wales, a town near Ocean Shores Canada * New Brighton, Calgary, Alberta, a neighborhood * New Brighton (Gambier Island), a settlement in British ...

* North Wales Exiles * North West Mercenaries * Northwich * Old Birkonians * Oldershaw * Oswestry * Oxton Parkonians *

Port Sunlight Port Sunlight is a model village and suburb in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside. It is located between Lower Bebington and New Ferry, on the Wirral Peninsula. Port Sunlight was built by Lever Brothers to accommodate workers in its ...

* Prenton * Ramsey (I.O.M.) * Reaseheath College * Sale FC * Sale Sharks * Sandbach * Southern Nomads (I.O.M.) * Stockport * University of Chester * University of Law * Vagabonds (I.O.M.) * Wallasey * Western Vikings (I.O.M.) * Wilmslow * Winnington Park * Wirral

County club competitions

The Cheshire RFU currently helps run the following club competitions for club sides based in

, parts of

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Mersey Estuary and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wirral ...

and

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 City of Salford, Salford to ...

, and the

Leagues

All leagues are by both the Cheshire RFU and Lancashire RFU and feature clubs based in

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a Historic counties of England, historic county, Ceremonial County, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significa ...

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: Manchester, Salford, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tamesid ...

and the

. *

Lancs/Cheshire 1 Lancs/Cheshire Division 1 (usually referred to as Lancs/Cheshire 1) was a regional English Rugby Union league for teams from Cheshire, Merseyside, Lancashire and Greater Manchester, ranked at tier 8 of the English league system. The top two clu ...

- league ranked at tier 7 of the English rugby union system * South Lancs/Cheshire 2 - tier 8 league *

Lancs/Cheshire Division 3 Lancs/Cheshire Division Two (usually referred to as Lancs/Cheshire 2) was a regional English Rugby Union league for teams in Cheshire, Merseyside, Lancashire and Greater Manchester at level 9 of the English rugby union system. Teams were promot ...

- tier 9 league

Cups

* Cheshire Cup - first played for in 1877 open to clubs playing at tiers 4-5 of the English rugby union league system * Cheshire Vase - founded in 2005 open to clubs playing at tiers 6-7 * Cheshire Bowl - founded in 2009, open to clubs playing in tier 8 * Cheshire Plate - founded in 1980, open to clubs in tier 9

Discontinued competitions

South Lancs/Cheshire 4 South Lancs/Cheshire 4 was a regional English rugby union league at the ninth tier of national competition for teams from the South Lancashire, Cheshire and Manchester area. Teams were promoted to South Lancs/Cheshire 3 and generally there was ...

- a tier 10 league for regional sides that was discontinued at the end of the 2008-09 season *

Cheshire (South) Cheshire (South) was a regional league for teams from the Cheshire area which was ranked at tier 8 of the English rugby union system. The league had replaced South Lancs/Cheshire 2 and South Lancs/Cheshire 3. The league was contested for just ...

Merseyside (West) Merseyside (West) was a regional league for teams from the Merseyside area which ranked at tier 8 of the English rugby union system. The league had replaced South Lancs/Cheshire 2 and South Lancs/Cheshire 3. The league was contested for just ...

- tier 8 leagues for sides from

and

that briefly replaced South Lancs/Cheshire 2 and South Lancs/Cheshire 3 for the 2015-16 season * South Lancs/Cheshire 3 - tier 9 league for regional sides that was abolished in 2017 * North West 1 - tier 7 league for Lancashire, Cheshire and Cumbria clubs that was abolished in 2000 * North West 2 - tier 8 league for Lancashire, Cheshire and Cumbria clubs that was abolished in 2000 * North West 3 - tier 9 league for Lancashire, Cheshire and Cumbria clubs that was abolished in 2000

References

External links

* Rugby union governing bodies in England Rugby union in Cheshire {{Rugbyunion-stub