Darlington Mowden Park Sharks Ladies Rugby Football Club (known currently as DMP Durham Sharks for partnership purposes) is a women's

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 in

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

County Durham County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly �About North East E ...

, England founded in 1996. Their top try scorer (42 tries in 68 appearances) Louisa Ramsey became the first player to score over 10 tries for Scotland. They are the ladies team of

Darlington Mowden Park R.F.C. Darlington Mowden Park is a professional rugby union club, based in Darlington, County Durham, England. They currently compete in National League 1, the third division of the Rugby Football Union domestic league competition pyramid, having a ...

and play in the Allianz Premier 15s. They also play their home games at

The Darlington Arena The Darlington Arena is a rugby union stadium, located in Darlington, County Durham. The arena was opened in the summer of 2003, as the new home ground of Darlington F.C., following the decision to leave their previous ground, Feethams, after ...

History

Darlington Mowden Park Sharks were founded in 1996 in

Ripon Ripon () is a cathedral city in the Borough of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England. The city is located at the confluence of two tributaries of the River Ure, the Laver and Skell. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the city ...

. The club later moved to

Thirsk Thirsk is a market town and civil parish in the Hambleton district of North Yorkshire, England known for its racecourse; quirky yarnbomber displays, and depiction as local author James Herriot's fictional Darrowby. History Archeological fin ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

where it was known as Thirsk RFC. The club then moved to Darlington in 2006 and became affiliated to Darlington Mowden Park and changed its name accordingly. In 2009, Darlington Mowden Park Sharks were promoted from Championship 1 North to the Women's Premiership after finishing top of the table. They then defeated Championship 1 South team, Bath Rugby Ladies in extra time in the playoffs in order to be promoted. Darlingon Mowden Park Sharks Ladies used to play their home matches at Yiewsley Drive. In 2012, Darlington Mowden Park purchased The Darlington Arena after its previous tenants,

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

club

Darlington F.C. Darlington Football Club is an association football club based in Darlington, County Durham, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League North, at the sixth tier of English football. The club was founded in 1 ...

went out of business and its

phoenix club The Phoenix Building and Cincinnati Club are two historic buildings in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. The membership of these two clubs was chiefly Jewish. Located at 812 Race Street, the Phoenix Building was constructed in 1893, desi ...

, Darlington 1883 F.C. decided to play its home games outside Darlington. Darlington Mowden Park Sharks Ladies play their home games at The Darlington Arena alongside Darlington Mowden Park's men's team as well as their mini and junior teams. They started playing at The Darlington Arena in the 2013-14 season. In 2020, as part of the league re-tender process and formal agreements were confirmed, they changed their name to Darlington Mowden Park Durham Sharks to reflect their enhanced partnership with

Durham University , mottoeng = Her foundations are upon the holy hills (Psalm 87:1) , established = (university status) , type = Public , academic_staff = 1,830 (2020) , administrative_staff = 2,640 (2018/19) , chancellor = Sir Thomas Allen , vice_chan ...

Notable players

; internationals ; international *

Sophie Spence Sophie Spence (born 26 February 1987) is a former Ireland women's rugby union international. Spence represented Ireland at the 2014 and 2017 Women's Rugby World Cups. Spence was a member of the first Ireland teams to defeat and . She was als ...

; international * Lisa Martin *

Caity Mattinson Caity Mattinson (born 17 May 1996) is a Scottish rugby union player who plays as a scrum half. After initially playing England she went on to represent Scotland at the Rugby World Cup and Commonwealth Games. Career England International Matti ...

* Louisa Ramsey * Lisa Cockburn * Lisa Thomson * Sarah Law * Lana Skeldon * Liz Musgrove * Rachel McLachlan * Evie Tonkin * Abi Evans (15s and 7s)

References

{{Premier 15s Women's rugby union teams in England Rugby clubs established in 1996