Droitwich 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 it ...

team based in

Droitwich Spa Droitwich Spa (often abbreviated to Droitwich ) is an historic spa town in the Wychavon district in northern Worcestershire, England, on the River Salwarpe. It is located approximately south-west of Birmingham and north-east of Worcester. The ...

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see H ...

. The club runs three senior sides and a veterans team, colts and a full set of mini (ages 6–11) and junior (ages 13–17) sides. The first XV currently play in Counties 1 Midlands West (South), following their relegation from

Midlands 1 West Midlands 1 West is an English level 6 rugby union regional league for rugby clubs in the western region of the Midlands, including sides from Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Birmingham and the West Midlands, Worceste ...

at the end of the 2022–23 season.

History

Droitwich Rugby Football Club was formed in 1972. The club's first games were played at St. Peter's Field, before moving to the nearby village of

Hanbury Hanbury may refer to: People *Harold Greville Hanbury (1898–1993), English law academic and Vinerian Professor of English Law at the University of Oxford * John Hanbury (disambiguation), a number of men with this name * Robert Hanbury Brown (191 ...

on the outskirts of Droitwich Spa, where home games took place on land behind the Vernon Arms pub. A change in the pub ownership facilitated another move, this time back to Droitwich Spa, to the King George V playing fields. In 1984, after a number of years ground-hopping, the club official opened its first proper home at Hanbury Road. The 1986–87 season saw league rugby union introduced in England with Droitwich placed in the Midlands regional leagues. That year Droitwich came close to their first taste of major silverware when they reached the final of the

North Midlands Cup The North Midlands Cup is an annual rugby union knock-out cup club competition organised by the North Midlands Rugby Football Union and was first contested during the 1971-72 season with the inaugural cup being won by the now defunct Birmingham P ...

, losing to Old Dixonians at The Reddings. In 1990 the club introduced its junior and mini section and this would grow steadily over the coming decade. The town of Droitwich Spa also grew over the 1990s and this saw developers start to eye the surrounding land for potential development. This development included the ground at Hanbury Road and by 1998 the club decided to sell it for £1.9 million. With the club's future looking bright thanks to this money, Droitwich moved to their current home – the Glyn Mitchell Memorial Ground (named after one of the club's founders) – which was just up the road from their previous ground. Not long after the move, the club won North Midlands 1 at the end of the 1999–00 season and promotion to

Midlands 4 West (South) Midlands 4 West (South) is a level 9 English Rugby Union league and level 4 of the Midlands League, made up of teams from the southern part of the West Midlands region including clubs from parts of Birmingham and the West Midlands, Herefords ...

Honours

North Midlands 2 North Midlands (South) 2 (formerly North Midlands 2) was a tier 10 English Rugby Union league with teams from Birmingham, Herefordshire, Shropshire and Worcestershire taking part. Promoted teams moved up to North Midlands 1 and since the cancella ...

champions: 1992–93 *

North Midlands 1 North Midlands (South) 1 (formerly North Midlands 1) was a tier 9 English Rugby Union league with teams from Birmingham, Herefordshire, Shropshire and Worcestershire taking part. Promoted teams moved up to Midlands 4 West (South) and relegated te ...

champions: 1999–00 *

Midlands 3 West (South) Midlands 3 West (South) is a level 8 English Rugby Union league and level 3 of the Midlands League, made up of teams from the southern part of the West Midlands region including clubs from parts of Birmingham and the West Midlands, Herefords ...

champions (2): 2006–07, 2016–17 *

North Midlands Shield The North Midlands Shield is an annual rugby union knock-out cup club competition organized by the North Midlands Rugby Football Union and was first contested during the 2001–02 season with Ledbury being the first ever winners, defeating Old Sal ...

winners (2): 2010–11, 2011–12 * North Midlands Intermediate Cup winners: 2018 *

plate winners: 2017–18

References

External links

Official club website
{{Rugby union in England Rugby union teams in England Rugby clubs established in 1972 Droitwich Spa Rugby union in Worcestershire 1972 establishments in England