Matthew Beesley (born 3 April 1992) 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 its m ...

player, currently playing at

Northampton Saints Northampton Saints (officially Northampton Rugby Football Club) is a professional rugby union club from Northampton, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. They were formed in 1880 as "Northampton St. James", ...

. He joined the team at the start of the 2016–17 season, after previously spending two seasons at

National League 1 National One (last season known as National League 1 and previously known before September 2009 as National Division Two), is the third of three national leagues in the domestic rugby union competition of England. It was known as Courage Leagu ...

side

Wharfedale Wharfedale ( ) is the valley of the upper parts of the River Wharfe and one of the Yorkshire Dales. It is situated within the districts of Craven and Harrogate in North Yorkshire, and the cities of Leeds and Bradford in West Yorkshire. It is ...

. He can play as a

prop A prop, formally known as (theatrical) property, is an object used on stage or screen by actors during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinct ...

or a hooker.

Rugby career

Early career

Beesley was born in

Sandbach Sandbach (pronounced ) is the name of a historic market town and a civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East, Cheshire, England. The civil parish contains four settlements: Sandbach itself as the largest, Elworth, Ettiley Heath a ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

in 1992 and he started his playing days at his local club,

Sandbach RUFC Sandbach RUFC is a rugby union team based in the Cheshire town of Sandbach. It operates four Senior sides, Junior and Senior Colts and ten Mini/Junior teams.

. He went to the

Leeds Beckett University Leeds Beckett University (LBU), formerly known as Leeds Metropolitan University (LMU) and before that as Leeds Polytechnic, is a public university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It has campuses in the city centre and Headingley. The univ ...

to study for a Sport Science degree and played rugby for the university's first team. He helped the side reach the 2014

BUCS British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS) is the governing body for higher education sport in the United Kingdom. BUCS was formed in June 2008 following a merger of British Universities Sports Association (BUSA) and University College Sport ...

Championship Final, which they lost 24–28 to

Hartpury College Hartpury University and Hartpury College, formerly Hartpury College, is a provider of further and higher education which describes itself as specialising in the "agriculture, animal, equine, sport and veterinary nursing" sectors. The university a ...

Twickenham Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boroug ...

on 28 March 2014. During his time in Leeds, Beesley was also a member of

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

side

Yorkshire Carnegie Leeds Tykes (formerly Leeds RUFC, Leeds Carnegie and Yorkshire Carnegie) is an English rugby union club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, playing in the National League 1. The club was founded as Headingley FC, but renamed in 1991 when it j ...

's academy training squad.

Wharfedale

After making two appearances for

side

in the 2013–14 season, he joined them on a full-time basis for the 2014–15 season. He played in the third tier of English rugby for two full seasons; his side finished in 11th position in his first season, but a poor 2015–16 season saw the team finish in 14th position on the table, resulting in a relegation to the

National League 2 North National League 2 North is one of three, level four leagues in the English rugby union system and provides semi-professional competition for teams in the northern half of England, the North. The remainder of England is covered by the two counte ...

for 2016–17.

Northampton Saints

Despite being a member of the Wharfedale team that got relegated, Beesley's performances didn't go unnoticed and he was invited to Premiership side

for a trial. He trained with the Saints for a number of weeks in March 2016, where he also played for the Saints' second team, the Northampton Wanderers, in the

Aviva A League The Premiership Rugby Shield was launched in 2003 as the Premiership Rugby A League. It runs parallel to the Premiership Rugby seasons. Split into north and south pools, it comprises twelve sides. The clubs select players from their academy and ...

. On 31 March, the Saints announced that they agreed terms with Beesley to join them on a full-time basis.

Ampthill

Beesley made a quick return to the National League 1, however, as he signed with

Ampthill Ampthill () is a town and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England, between Bedford and Luton, with a population estimate of 8,100 (Mid year estimate 2017 from the ONS). It is administered bAmpthill Town Council The ward of Ampthill which also i ...

on a dual-registration basis.

Ealing Trailfinders

On 16 April 2018, Beesley left Northampton and Ampthill to sign for

RFU Championship The RFU Championship is an English rugby union competition comprising twelve clubs. It is the second level of men’s English rugby and is played by both professional and semi-professional players. The competition has existed since 1987, when ...

side

Ealing Trailfinders Ealing Trailfinders Rugby Club is an English professional rugby union club based in West London. The club's first team are the current champions of the RFU Championship but will remain in that league due to ineligibility for promotion to Premi ...

from the 2018-19 season.

Representative rugby

Beesley represented both Cheshire Under-20s and Cheshire at county level, and was also selected for

England Counties XV England Counties XV is a representative rugby union team, formed in 2002, open to English players who play in the County Championship and the third tier (and below) of the English rugby union system. Players from the Premiership and RFU Champi ...

and England Students.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beesley, Matt 1992 births Living people Rugby union props Rugby union hookers English rugby union players People from Sandbach Wharfedale R.U.F.C. players Northampton Saints players