Hove Rugby Club is an English community

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 ...

club, who play at Hove Recreation Ground in Shirley Drive

Hove Hove is a seaside resort and one of the two main parts of the city of Brighton and Hove, along with Brighton in East Sussex, England. Originally a "small but ancient fishing village" surrounded by open farmland, it grew rapidly in the 19th c ...

, and are affiliated to the English

RFU 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 pro ...

via the Sussex RFU. They currently play in

London 2 South East London 2 South East is an English level 7 Rugby Union League. When this division began in 1987 it was known as London 3 South East, changing to its current name ahead of the 2009–10 season. The division is made up of teams predominantly from ...

- a league a level 7 of the

English rugby union 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 ...

- following their relegation from

London 1 South London 1 South was an English level 6 rugby union regional league for rugby clubs in London and the south-east of England including sides from East Sussex, south Essex, south Greater London, Hampshire, Kent, Surrey and West Sussex. When this ...

at the end of the 2018–19 season.

History

Beginnings

Territorial Army officers and men of the Sussex Yeomanry formed a rugby club, which was affiliated to the Rugby Football Union in 1933. Records of their results have been lost in the mist of time but, post war in 1945 the players reformed and continued to turn out on Saturdays, the home matches being played at East Brighton Park. In 1952 the Yeomanry could no longer continue without an influx of new players. The members approached Alderman Arthur Brocke who was then Mayor of Hove and Councillor Jack Woolley. They secured a pitch in Hove Park and the old timber Scout Hut was refurbished and extended to provide showers, kitchen and a bar.

Hove Recreation Ground

The local Council had plans for Hove Park and the rugby Club had to plan for a move. After many false starts, the Club finally moved the short distance to Hove Recreation Ground ready for the start of the 2002–2003 season. The building of excellent new facilities and the provision of four pitches at one location gave the Club the facilities it needed to break out from the lower levels of the English structure and to enable it to look to the future. The new Clubhouse was opened by the Mayor of

Brighton and Hove Brighton and Hove () is a city and unitary authority in East Sussex, England. It consists primarily of the settlements of Brighton and Hove, alongside neighbouring villages. Often referred to synonymously as Brighton, the City of Brighton and H ...

in August 2002 – coincidentally, this was the Club's 50th anniversary as Hove Rugby Club.

Current

Hove Men's 1st XV currently play league rugby in London 1 South at level 6 in the pyramid. The Women's 1st XV currently play in the Championship 1 South division, a league below the Women's Premier 15s.

The Hangover Trophy

The Val Hayes Memorial Hangover Trophy is an annually contested fixture on New Year's Day between a Hove Rugby Club Invitation XV team and another club or invitational team. Originally the fixture was contested by Hove Rugby Club and the Robin Hood pub in Brighton, and now the fixture is sponsored by the Seafield pub.

Alumni

* Simon Clarke

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 ...

* Alex King

Barbarians A barbarian (or savage) is someone who is perceived to be either uncivilized or primitive. The designation is usually applied as a generalization based on a popular stereotype; barbarians can be members of any nation judged by some to be les ...

, ASM Clermont Auvergne,

Wasps A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. ...

, Rosslyn Park. * Ollie Phillips

England Sevens The England national rugby sevens team competes in the World Rugby Sevens Series, Rugby World Cup Sevens and the Commonwealth Games. England's best finish in the Sevens Series is second place, which they have achieved four times, most recently i ...

Newcastle Falcons Newcastle Falcons is a rugby union team that play in Premiership Rugby, England's highest division of rugby union. The club was established in 1877 as the Gosforth Football Club. Around 1882 the club merged with the Northumberland Football Cl ...

, Stade Français *

Joe El-Abd Joe El-Abd (born 23 February 1980) is a rugby union player. He is currently the head coach for Oyonnax in the French Top 14. El-Abd began playing rugby at Hove RFC and at the University of Bath, and after an unsuccessful spell with Bath Rugb ...

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...

, Bristol Rugby,

Caerphilly RFC Caerphilly Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union team founded in 1887. Their home ground is Virginia Park in Caerphilly and their nickname is ''The Cheesemen''. Caerphilly RFC currently play in the WRU Division Two East Central and are a ...

Bath Rugby *

Jordan Turner-Hall Jordan Turner-Hall (born 5 January 1988 in London, England) is a former rugby union player for Harlequins in the Aviva Premiership, playing primarily as a centre but he could also play on the wing. His first start for England came on 30 May 2 ...

England U20,

Harlequins Rugby Harlequins (officially Harlequin Football Club) is a professional rugby union club that plays in Premiership Rugby, the top level of English rugby union. Their home ground is the Twickenham Stoop, located in Twickenham, south-west London. Foun ...

Noah Cato Noah Cato (born 31 March 1988) is an English rugby union player who plays as a wing and fullback for Wimbledon RFC in the National League 2 South. He was educated at St. Aubyns School, Rottingdean, Hurstpierpoint College and at the Universit ...

England U20,

Saracens FC Saracens Rugby Club () are an English professional rugby union club based in North London, England. As of the current 2022–23 season, they compete in Premiership Rugby, the highest tier competition in English rugby, as well as the domestic P ...

Club Honours

Men's 1st XV: *

Sussex 1 Sussex 1 (known as Harvey's of Sussex 1 due to sponsorship reasons) is an English level 9 Rugby Union League. It is made up of teams predominantly from Sussex. Teams play home and away matches from September through to April. The league champi ...

champions (3): 1988–89, 1998–99, 2003–04 * London 2 (south-east v south-west) promotion playoff winners (2): 2009–10, 2017–18 Men's 4th XV: * Sussex 2 champions: 2012–13 * Sussex Late Red 3 champions: 2014–15 Women's 1st XV: *Intermediate Cup winners: 2014–2015

References

External links

Hove Rugby Club websiteHove Rugby Club History SiteSussex RFU CB websiteLondon Divisional RFU websiteRugby Football Union websiteHove RFC Facebook PageHove Rugby Club Twitter
{{Rugby Union in Sussex Hove Rugby union teams in England Sport in Brighton and Hove Rugby union in East Sussex