Nottingham Rugby Club is a rugby union club based in Nottingham, England. The club's first team currently plays in the RFU Championship, the second tier of English Rugby. The first XV are nicknamed The Archers, in reference to the famous Robin Hood. Now situated in the Lady Bay area of Nottingham, the club was formerly based at Meadow Lane, the home ground of

Notts County F.C. Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 25 November 1862, it is the ...

They previously played at Ireland Avenue in Beeston until the end of the 2005–06 season.

History

The club was established circa 1877 by Alexander Birkin after returning from Rugby School, where he was introduced to the sport. The Birkin family later purchased the land at Ireland Avenue that would be the home of the club until 2006. The club's heyday was in the late 1980s with a number of top international players representing the first XV. These included

Simon Hodgkinson Simon Hodgkinson (born 15 December 1962) is a former international rugby union player. He represented England at fullback between 1989 and 1991, gaining 14 Test caps. Career Hodgkinson made his debut against Romania in Bucharest in 1989 and w ...

Rob Andrew Christopher Robert Andrew (born 18 February 1963) is a former English Rugby Union player and was, until April 2016, Professional Rugby Director at the RFU. He was formerly the Director of Rugby of Newcastle Falcons and has been Chief Executiv ...

, Gary Rees, Dusty Hare and Brian Moore (also a

Lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...

) representing England and Chris Gray representing Scotland. The advent of professionalism saw the Green & Whites fall on hard times and the first XV narrowly avoided relegation to the regional divisions in 2002–03. The club has bounced back since then and was promoted into National League One in 2003–04. The club finished a creditable 7th in 2005–06 before leaving Ireland Avenue after 102 years. Alistair Bow was appointed chairman in 2010 after having been a director since 2008.

Martin Haag Martin Haag (born 28 July 1968 in Chelmsford, England) was an English rugby union player who principally played for Bath Rugby and was capped twice by England. In March 2016 he was appointed head coach of the Rugby Football Union's Under 20s tea ...

appointed Dan Montagu captain on 21 July 2015. He replaced Brent Wilson who retired at the end of 2014–15 season. Since then Ian Costello has been appointed as Head Coach, with Neil Fowkes and Alex O'Dowd rounding out the coaching team. The club play at Lady Bay, previously at Meadow Lane. On 30 July 2010 the club signed an agreement to become part of Notts County PLC. In early July 2012 it was announced that Martin Haag had become the new director of rugby at the club. A change in funding by the RFU ahead of the 2020–21 season forced the club into become only a part-time professional club.

Honours

* Midland Counties Senior Cup winners: 1905–06 *Midland Counties Junior Cup winners: 1907–08 *Noel Syson Cup (Notts, Lincs & Derby Sevens) winners: 1935, 1936, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1955, 1959, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1980, 1981, 1983 * Middlesex Sevens winners: 1944–45 *Midland Merit Table champions: 1984–85 *

Selkirk Sevens Selkirk Sevens is an annual rugby sevens event held by Selkirk RFC, in Selkirk, Scotland. This was one of a group of Sevens tournaments instated after the First World War extending the original Borders Spring Circuit. The Selkirk Sevens began ...

winners: 1990–91

Current standings

Current squad

The Nottingham squad for the 2022–23 season is:

Notable former players

Lions Tourists

The following Nottingham players have been selected for the Lions tours while at the club: Brian Moore (

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)

Rugby World Cup

The following are players which have represented their countries at the Rugby World Cup whilst playing for Nottingham:

Other notable former players

The following players have played for Nottingham and have been capped by their national side. * Matthew Busch, ngland and British & Irish Lions *

, England and British & Irish Lions">England national rugby union team">England and British & Irish Lions * Vincent Cartwright, England captain * Dusty Hare, England and British & Irish Lions * Chris Wyles, United States *

Ali Williams Alexander James "Ali" Williams (born 30 April 1981) is a New Zealand rugby union player who played at lock, spending almost all of his playing career in his homeland. At provincial level, he played mainly with Auckland, though he spent one seaso ...

All Black The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987, ...

#1022 * Chris Oti, England *

Tom Youngs Thomas Nicholas Youngs (born 28 January 1987) is a retired rugby union player who played as a hooker for Leicester Tigers and England. Between 2012–2015 he won 28 caps for , including selection for the 2015 Rugby World Cup and was select ...

, England and British & Irish Lions * Alex Corbisiero, England and British & Irish Lions * Nick Preston, England * Neil Back, England and British & Irish Lions

References

External links

The Official Site of Nottingham RFC
{{Nottingham R.F.C. squad Premiership Rugby teams English rugby union teams Rugby clubs established in 1877 Sport in Nottingham Rugby union in Nottinghamshire 1877 establishments in England