Clifton 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 its m ...

club founded in

Clifton, Bristol Clifton is both a suburb of Bristol, England, and the name of one of the city's thirty-five council wards. The Clifton ward also includes the areas of Cliftonwood and Hotwells. The eastern part of the suburb lies within the ward of Clifton Do ...

. Over the years the club's home games have been played in a variety of locations in northern Bristol, though never in Clifton itself; since 1976 they have been based at the southern end of

Cribbs Causeway Cribbs Causeway is both a road in South Gloucestershire, England, running north of the city of Bristol, and the adjacent area which is notable for its out-of-town shopping and leisure facilities. The retail and leisure complex takes its name fr ...

. Clifton RFC play in the fourth tier of the

English rugby union league 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 West National League 2 West is a new rugby union league at level four in the English rugby union system and provides semi-professional competition for teams in the Midlands and South West England. The remainder of England is covered by two other r ...

History

Clifton RFC is Bristol's oldest club, and one of the oldest in the world. Clifton Rugby Club was formed on 27 September 1872 at the Kings Arms on Blackboy Hill in Clifton, Bristol. The pub still stands, although it was rebuilt in 1902, and refurbished in the late 1990s. Clifton is the 32nd oldest club in the United Kingdom, the 21st oldest in England, the 2nd oldest in the South West (

Bath Rugby Bath Rugby is a professional rugby union club in Bath, Somerset, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. Founded in 1865 as Bath Football Club, since 1894 the club has played at the Recreation Ground in the c ...

older by seven years) and the oldest in Bristol. In 1909 a combined

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 ...

and Clifton RFC team, captained by

Percy Down Percy John Down (14 October 1883 – 24 June 1954)
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, lost to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

11–3. Clifton's Cribbs Causeway ground also hosted the

Bristol Packers The Bristol Packers was a Great Britain, British American football team which existed during the late 1980s and early 1990s in the city of Bristol, England. They played the majority of their home games at Cribbs Causeway, the home of Clifton Rugby ...

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team in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Honours

* Bass South West Merit Table champions: 1979–80 * South West Division 1 champions: 1988–89 * Area League South runner-up: 1989–90 (promoted) * Courage League Division 4 champions: 1993–94 * London 1 v South West 1 promotion play-off winner: 2005–06 * South West Division 1 champions: 2008–09 *

Bristol Combination Cup The Bristol Combination Cup is an annual rugby union knock-out club competition organised by the Bristol and District Rugby Football Combination – one of the five bodies that make up the Gloucestershire Rugby Football Union. It was first int ...

winners (5): 2008–09, 2013–14, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18

Current standings

Notable former players

Internationals *

Billy Meakes Bill Meakes (born 23 February 1991) is an Australian professional rugby union player currently playing for Chicago Hounds in Major League Rugby (MLR). He also has represented Australia in rugby sevens. His usual position is centre. Meakes wa ...

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) *

Ellis Genge Ellis Genge (born 16 February 1995) is an English professional rugby union player who plays as a prop for Premiership Rugby club Bristol Bears. He made his international debut for in 2016. Genge played 26 times for Bristol in a first spell bet ...

(

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

) *

Callum Braley Callum Braley (born 23 March 1994) is an English rugby union player who plays for Northampton Saints in the Premiership Rugby. Braley played his early rugby with St Mary's Old Boys RFC. His first taste of senior rugby came when he made his full ...

(

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

) *

Olly Kohn Olly Kohn (born 19 March 1981, in Bristol) is a Wales international rugby union player for Harlequins having previously played for Bristol and Plymouth Albion. A lock forward, Kohn won the English Premiership with Harlequins in 2011-12, startin ...

Rhys Oakley Rhys Oakley (born 16 September 1980 in Plymouth) is a former professional rugby union footballer who played as a number eight. Oakley began his professional career with Bristol Rugby, before moving to the Newport Gwent Dragons, Leeds Tykes, Nor ...

both (Wales) British & Irish Lions *

Mako Vunipola Mako Vunipola (born 14 January 1991) is a professional rugby union player who plays as a loosehead prop for English club Saracens and the England national team. Born in New Zealand to Tongan parents, he qualified for England through residenc ...

(

) *

Mark Regan Mark Regan MBE (born 28 January 1972 in Bristol) is an English former rugby union player. Nicknamed 'Ronnie', he played as a hooker for Bristol, Bath, Leeds Tykes as well as England and the British and Irish Lions. Career Regan's England br ...

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) *

Frederick Belson Frederick Charles Belson (13 February 1874 – 10 August 1952) was an English international rugby union forward who played club rugby for Clifton and Bath, and county rugby for Somerset. Belson played international rugby for the British Isles on ...

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References

External links

Official website

History Project for Clifton RFC
{{Rugby union in England English rugby union teams Rugby clubs established in 1872 Rugby union in Bristol Clifton, Bristol