Dorking Rugby Football Club is an English

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 ...

football club, originally based in

Dorking Dorking () is a market town in Surrey in South East England, about south of London. It is in Mole Valley District and the council headquarters are to the east of the centre. The High Street runs roughly east–west, parallel to the Pipp Br ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

and play in the nearby village of

Brockham Brockham is a village and civil parish in the Mole Valley district of Surrey, England. It is approximately east of Dorking and west of Reigate. The village lies south of Box Hill, with the River Mole flowing west through the village. At the ...

. The club currently play in the fourth tier (

National League 2 East National League 2 East is a new rugby union league at level four in the English rugby union system and provides semi-professional competition for teams in London, South East England and East of England. The remainder of England is covered b ...

) of English club rugby.

About

With over 700 active registered players, the club runs four senior sides and is a home-club to many internationals such as

Elliot Daly Elliot Daly (born 8 October 1992) is an English professional rugby union player who plays for Saracens in the Gallagher Premiership and for England. Youth Daly played his early rugby at Beckenham from age five before moving to Dorking in 2006, ...

George Kruis George Edward John Kruis (born 22 February 1990) is an English former professional rugby union player. He played lock for Saracens and represented England and the British & Irish Lions. He was almost always used as a jumper in the line-out due ...

, and

Kay Wilson Kay Wilson (born 19 September 1991) is an English rugby union player for . She was included in the 2014 Women's Rugby World Cup, 2014 and 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup's. Career Wilson was born in 1991 and she was playing at the age of five and ...

; a ladies team, and a large youth section aged between 5 and 18.

History

Dorking RFC was founded in 1921 with a single team; a second team followed in 1928. The club ceased to play in 1940 due to the demands of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. It was re-established in 1946, initially with a single team, but grew rapidly as 2nd (1947), 3rd (1948) and 4th (1954) teams were formed. Brockham Big Field - geograph

The club moved to The Big Field in

in 1972 when it was granted a 50-year lease by the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

. This was extended with another 50-year lease in 2011. The first youth team – Dorking Schoolboys XV – was formed in 1951 with a single team of 13- to 18-year-olds. By 1965 this had grown to the point of splitting into three age banded teams. A mini section (for girls and boys aged 6–12) followed in 1980 and the first ladies team in 1988. Dorking youth teams have twice triumphed in the National under-17 cup, winning the main competition in 2007 and the Shield in 2012. The 1st XV was promoted to the RFU National Leagues (

National League 3 London & SE Regional 1 South East (up until 2022-23 known as London & South East Premier and up until 2016-17 known as National League 3 London & South East) is a level five league in the English rugby union system. It is one of six leagues at this level. ...

) in 2009 and at the end of the 2013–14 season won promotion to

National League 2 South National League 2 South (known before September 2009 as National Division Three South) was a level four league in the English rugby union system until the end of season 2021–22. It was one of two leagues at this level, with its counterpart, N ...

, finishing fourth in 2014–15, their highest league position to date. However the 2015–16 season saw the club lose many players such as hooker Ross Grimstone to

Richmond F.C. Richmond Football Club is a rugby union club from Richmond, London. It is a founding member of the Rugby Football Union, and is one of the oldest football clubs (of any code). It fields teams in both men's and women's rugby; the men's first t ...

& scrum half Will Crow to

Rosslyn Park F.C. Rosslyn Park Football Club is a rugby union club based in south west London. History Founded in 1879 by cricketing friends in north London, at the end of their first season, Charles Hoyer Millar proposed forming a football club to keep the p ...

who represented the England Counties side in a game against

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

in the summer prior to the end of 2014–15.

Current standings

John Douglas Youth Development Fund

The official launch of th
John Douglas Youth Development Fund
took place on Wednesday 15 March 2017. Joined by members of John's family and his former colleagues from Surrey RFU, it was a fitting tribute to a man who gave so much to DRFC and the wider rugby community over many years and whose enormous passion for the sport has benefited so many of our players. The primary aim of the JDYDF is to "fund or part fund specific projects or initiatives in the support of obtaining the highest possible standard and engagement of rugby through Dorking Rugby Club with particular emphasis on Youth Development".

Honours

Surrey 1 Surrey 1 is a level 9 English Rugby Union League. It is made up of teams predominantly from Surrey and south-west London. Teams play home and away matches from September through to April. Promoted teams move up to London 3 South West with the l ...

champions: 1988–89 *

London 3 South West London 3 South West is an English rugby union league at the eighth level of club rugby union in England involving sides based in Hampshire, Surrey and south-west London. Promoted clubs move into London 2 South West. Relegated clubs move into ...

champions: 1989–90 *

London 2 South {{Use British English, date=May 2015 London 2 South is an English league of Rugby Union teams, representing the second level in the Rugby Football Union's London & South East Division, making it a Level 6 league in the RFU's league hierarchy. The ...

champions: 1990–91 * London Division 4 South West champions: 2005–06 * London 2 (south-east v south-west) promotion play-off winners: 2006–07 * Powergen Junior Vase: 2006 * London 1 (north v south) promotion play-off winners: 2008–09 *

Surrey Cup The Surrey Cup is an annual rugby union knock-out club competition organized by the Surrey Rugby Football Union. The original cup competition was first played for back in 1890, the inaugural winners being Lennox, but was discontinued in 1909, ...

winners (3): 2010, 2014, 2017 *

champions: 2013–14

References

External links

* {{National League 2 South Rugby union teams in England Rugby clubs established in 1921 Rugby union clubs in Surrey