The Manchester Village Spartans RUFC is Manchester's gay and inclusive

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 team based at Sale Sports Club, Manchester. The club welcomes players at all skill levels who do and do not identify as

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

, and has both Rugby Union and Touch Rugby teams. The club is a full and founding member of

International Gay Rugby Association and Board International Gay Rugby (IGR), formerly known as the International Gay Rugby Association and Board (IGRAB), is the umbrella organisation for the world's gay and inclusive rugby clubs. Based in London, UK, IGR is recognised by World Rugby as the ...

(IGRAB), and in 2012 it hosted the

Bingham Cup The Mark Kendall Bingham Memorial Tournament or the Bingham Cup is a biennial international, non-professional, gay rugby union tournament, first held in 2002. It is named after Mark Bingham, who died on board United Airlines Flight 93 when it cras ...

, the international gay and inclusive rugby championship.

History

The Village Spartans were founded in 1998 in Manchester, UK, becoming the second gay and inclusive team in the United Kingdom, after the

Kings Cross Steelers The Kings Cross Steelers are a British rugby team, based in London. Founded in 1995 it was the world's first gay-inclusive rugby union club. Its founding sparked the beginning of a much larger gay-inclusive rugby movement which to date include ...

in 1995. This was in response to the hostile environment encountered by players at the time trying to participate within non-inclusive teams, and sought to establish a gay and inclusive team to counter this. In August 1999, the Village Spartans and Kings Cross Steelers played the first match between two gay and inclusive rugby clubs in the United Kingdom. The Steelers won 22-15. This initial match evolved into the annual Pioneers Cup, which both the Spartans and Steelers host on a rotating basis. As both clubs have expanded multiple squads from both clubs compete in matches of similar skilled sides. In 2002 the club changed its club colours to the

Rainbow Flag A rainbow flag is a multicolored flag consisting of the colors of the rainbow. The designs differ, but many of the colors are based on the spectral colors of the visible light spectrum. The LGBT flag introduced in 1978 is the most recognized u ...

of the LGBT Community, colours which have been retained throughout various kit designs ever since. In 2012 the Spartans hosted the

, an international tournament for gay and inclusive teams from over a dozen countries, often termed the ‘gay rugby world cup’ for its scale. In 2017 the Spartans bid for the 2019

Union Cup The Union Cup is a biennial European, non-professional, gay rugby union tournament, bringing together teams and joint teams from all over Europe. It is held every odd-numbered year. History Montpellier 2005 The first edition was held in May 2005 i ...

, a Pan-European gay and inclusive rugby tournament, losing out to the

Emerald Warriors RFC The Emerald Warriors are an Irish rugby team based in Dublin. They play in the Leinster Metro League Division 10 and 7 and are members of the International Gay Rugby Association and Board. They are the reigning bronze final champions since Union ...

from Dublin, Ireland. 2017 marked the first time the Spartans sent three teams to an international competition, with the 3rd (3XV) team winning the bronze bowl. In 2017 the Spartans launched a full-time Touch Rugby programme, representing the world's first inclusive touch rugby club, and the first-time all people were able to join the club as players, regardless of sex or gender. the Touch programme play in the newly founded IGR Touch series, local leagues, the yearly Pride in Touch Tournament, and the England Touch Association National Touch Series. In 2019 the Spartans sent two teams to the pan-European gay and inclusive rugby tournament, the Union Cup. The 1st team made it to the final of the Union Cup division, losing to the Kings Cross Steelers 1st team, and placing as Union Cup runners up, and second in the tournament overall. The Spartans 2nd team made it to the final of the Challenger Cup division, winning the final and the Challenger Cup. In 2019 the Spartans celebrated their 20th anniversary, with a series of birthday projects including the creation of a photographic celebration of inclusive rugby, 'Portraits of Pride' and culminating in a fundraising gala event in Manchester attended by players from across the global inclusive rugby game, rugby union celebrities and representatives of government and sporting agencies, recognising the club's contribution to the promotion and growth of inclusive rugby and marking the Manchester Village Spartans RUFC as the second oldest Gay and Inclusive rugby club in the world, still in existence today. In 2022, the first IGR Touch Series took place in both the North and South with 7 teams taking part in the North. The Spartans Touch placed 1st for the overall series followed by Chester Centurions then Leeds Hunters. At present, the club has the following teams: * Manchester Village Spartans 1XV – North West Intermediate League Division 4 South * Manchester Village Spartans 2XV – IGR North - League 1 * Manchester Village Spartans 3XV - IGR North - League 2 * Manchester Village Spartans Touch Team - IGR Northern Touch Series The Spartans club house is the Sale Sports Club, based in Sale, Trafford.

Name and kit

The Spartans take their name from the

Spartans Sparta (Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referred t ...

of Ancient Greece, whose warrior culture encouraged and celebrated male sexual and romantic love as a form of camaraderie and strength. Since 2002 the club colours have been the rainbow flag of the LGBT community, and have been retained in various kit redesigns over the years. The Spartans are unique as the only UK gay and inclusive team to prominently feature the rainbow flag on their kit. The logo shows a Spartan helmet with a

rainbow A rainbow is a meteorological phenomenon that is caused by reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky. It takes the form of a multicoloured circular arc. Rainbows c ...

plume, and the club has the moto ''Unione Fortior'' which means ''Strength in Union''.

Charitable Status

The Manchester Village Spartans have

community amateur sports club The Community Amateur Sports Club (CASC) scheme was introduced in 2002 by the then Labour government to support grass roots sport. The original legislation was drafted by Andrew Phillips. It recognises the importance of sport in the community b ...

(CASC) status, Scheme Number CH10207, a status different from charity status but conveying some of the same benefits.

Results in Leagues and Tournaments

2021 / 22

Touch Team IGR Northern Touch Series - 1st Place Pride in Touch Tournament - 3rd put of 8

2018 / 19

1XV - Union Cup - Union Division - (2nd place) Union Cup Runners Up
2XV - Union Cup - Challenger Division - (1st place) Challenger Cup Winners
1XV - North West Intermediate League - Div 3 South
2XV - IGR North League - 4th out of 7

2017 / 18

1XV - North West Intermediate League – Div 3 South (10th Place)
2XV - North West Intermediate League – Div 5 East (10th Place)
1XV – Bingham Cup – Bingham Division - 12th out of 24
2XV – Bingham Cup – Challenger Division - 22nd out of 22

2016 / 17

1XV North West Intermediate League – Div 3 South (10th Place)
2XV North West Intermediate League – Div 5 East (10th Place)
1XV Union Cup – Cup – Semi Final
2XV Union Cup – Plate - Placed 10th
3XV Union Cup – Bowl – Bronze

2015 / 16

1XV North West Intermediate League – Div 4 East (2nd Place, promoted)

2013 / 14

1XV North West Intermediate League – Div 5E (4th Place)
2XV Birmingham Touch Tournament – (2nd Place)
1XV Bingham Cup - Sydney

2012 / 13

1XV North West Intermediate League – Div 5E (3rd Place)
1XV Hadrian's Cup – Newcastle, UK (2nd Place)
1XV Friendly Tour – Madrid, Spain (Friendly)
2XV Union Cup – Bristol, UK (3rd place)

2011 / 12

1XV North West Intermediate League – Div 5E (6th Place)
1XV Bingham Cup – Manchester, UK
2XV Bingham Cup – Manchester, UK
3XV Bingham Cup – Manchester, UK

2010 / 11

1XV North West Intermediate League – Div 5E (5th Place)
1XV Union Cup – Amsterdam, Netherlands
1XV Hadrian's Cup - Newcastle, UK (2nd)

2009 / 10

1XV North West Intermediate League – Div 5E (3rd Place)
1XV Bingham Cup – Minneapolis, USA
1XV Hadrian's Cup - Newcastle, UK

2008 / 09

1XV North West Intermediate League – Div 4E (14th Place)
1XV Union Cup – London, UK
1XV Hadrian's Cup - Newcastle, UK

2007 / 08

1XV North West Intermediate League – Div 5S (6th Place)
1XV Bingham Cup – Dublin, Ireland
2XV Bingham Cup – Dublin, Ireland
1XV Hadrian's Cup - Newcastle, UK (1st)

2006 / 07

1XV North West Intermediate League – Div 5E (13th Place)
1XV Friendly Tour – Cologne, Germany (Friendly)

2005 / 06

1XV North West Intermediate League – Div 5S (12th Place)
1XV Bingham Cup – New York, USA

2004 / 05

1XV Union Cup, Montpelier, France

2003 / 04

1XV Bingham Cup – London, UK

2002 / 03

1XV Bingham Cup – San Francisco, USA

2001 / 02

1XV – Washington Invitational, Washington DC, USA

References

External links

* {{Inclusive Rugby Clubs Rugby union teams in England LGBT sports organisations in the United Kingdom Sport in Manchester International Gay Rugby member clubs LGBT culture in Manchester