Portadown RFC is an Irish

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 ...

team based in

Portadown Portadown () is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town sits on the River Bann in the north of the county, about southwest of Belfast. It is in the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council area and had a population of a ...

County Armagh County Armagh (, named after its county town, Armagh) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the southern shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and ha ...

. They play in the Kukri Ulster Championship 1, the top level of Junior rugby in Ulster. The club colours are blue and white.

History

Origins

In February 1879, the

Irish Rugby Football Union The Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) ( ga, Cumann Rugbaí na hÉireann) is the body managing rugby union in the island of Ireland (both Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland). The IRFU has its head office at 10/12 Lansdowne Road and home ...

was formed, and listed Portadown as an affiliated club, with Thomas John (TJ) Collen as the honorary secretary. Collen played for the first County Armagh side against Ulster on 27 November 1880. The first recorded captain was Arthur Farrell, who was the son of the proprietor of the '' Portadown News''. The first recorded Portadown match took place at

Ormeau Ormeau may refer to: * Ormeau, Queensland, a town on the Gold Coast hinterland in Queensland, Australia * Belfast Ormeau (UK Parliament constituency), 1918–1922 * Ormeau Road, a major road in Belfast, and the area around it * "Ormeau", a song by ...

on 11 December 1879 against

Ulster F.C. Ulster Football Club is a defunct Irish association football club that was based in Ballynafeigh, Belfast. History It was initially founded in 1877 as a rugby union, rugby club, but later switched codes to association football. It was subseque ...

; the result favoured the home side with three tries to nil. The team lined out as follows: Back – Patrick, Half back – Wheeler and Whiteside Quarter back – Waddell and Harrison Forwards – Donaldson, Davidson, Lindsay, Harpur, Collen, Shillington, O’Hanlon, Bright, Stanley and Farrel (Captain) The next game was played on 22 January 1880 against Armagh F.C. and resulted in a win for Portadown by 1 goal and three tries to nil.

Post-war

The late 1940s to early 1950s was a period of slow rehabilitation after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Although Jimmy Chambers played occasionally until 1948, the dominant personality in the club was Thomas Charles Wells, who joined in 1948 and remained until his death in 1976. On Wednesday, 4 September 1963, several hundred spectators turned up to see the local side take on Ulster in the first match on Chambers Park, the town's new playing fields on the Lurgan Road. 1979 saw the club celebrate its centenary year, and saw the election of international player, Charlie Murtagh as club captain. As of the 2010/11 Season the first team played in Kukri Qualifying League 1, having been relegated from

AIB League The All-Ireland League (AIL), known for sponsorship reasons as the Energia All-Ireland League, is the national league system for the 50 senior rugby union clubs in Ireland, covering both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The league w ...

Division Three after a playoff defeat to the

City of Derry Rugby Club City of Derry Rugby Football Club is a rugby club, formed in 1881 in Derry, Northern Ireland. They currently play in the Ulster Rugby Championship Division 1 after relegation from Division 2C of the All-Ireland League in 2022. The club's ...

. The club colours are blue and white.

Honours

Ulster Towns Cup The Ulster Towns Cup is a rugby union competition organized by the Ulster branch of the Irish Rugby Football Union. It is confined to teams outside of Belfast. Since the resumption of play after World War II, where a town is represented by a seni ...

: 2 ** 1956-57, 1958-59

References

External links

Portadown RFC
Extracts taken from "Rugby Football in Portadown" by D.J Gilpin {{DEFAULTSORT:Portadown Rfc Rugby union teams in Ireland Rugby clubs established in 1879 Rugby union clubs in County Armagh Rugby union clubs in Northern Ireland Sport in Portadown