Rochford Hundred Rugby Club is an English

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 based in

Hawkwell Hawkwell is a village and civil parish in the district of Rochford in Essex, England. It is the second largest village after Rayleigh. The 2001 census gave a population for the parish of 11,231, increasing to 11,730 at the 2011 Census. Hawkwel ...

near Rochford in

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

. The first XV team currently play in

Regional 1 South East Regional 1 South East (up until 2022-23 known as London & South East Premier and up until 2016-17 known as National League 3 London & South East) is a level five league in the English rugby union system. It is one of six leagues at this level. ...

, having been relegated from the

National League 2 East National League 2 East is a new rugby union league at level four in the English rugby union system and provides semi-professional competition for teams in London, South East England and East of England. The remainder of England is covered b ...

. The club also operates other adult teams and a full academy set-up of junior teams for both boys and girls.

Current standings

History

Foundation

The foundations of Rochford Hundred date back to November 1961 when two rugby players, John Roden and Ernie Mills, met at the White Hart in

to discuss plans for setting up a local rugby side, having both played for other Essex and London based clubs. The club held its inaugural meeting at the Bull Inn on the 4 January 1962. Further meetings secured the use of disused Rocheway School as its first ground, while the club name 'Rochford Hundred' was thought up by John Roden after he saw a poster advertising the Rochford Hundred Licensed Victuallers Association. Later that year the club had its first ever competitive fixture against

Billericay Billericay ( ) is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Basildon, Essex, England. It lies within the London Basin and constitutes a commuter town east of Central London. The town has three secondary schools and a variety of open spaces. It i ...

Move to Magnolia Road

By the end of the 1960s performances on the pitch started to improve and the club started to consider moving to a new ground. In 1968 a potential location on Magnolia Road was found where there was a large field with sufficient room for a club-house and pitches. Originally Southend Manor Football Club had been looking at the same site but were unable to raise the money to purchase it, leaving it available for the rugby club. In March 1969 Rochford Hundred bought the land for £3,200 – part of which was funded by a loan from the Rugby Football Union. Further grants from a variety of sources enabled building work to begin at Magnolia Road in 1971, and the club-house was officially opened in April 1974 with Rochford Hundred facing an Eastern Counties XV.

League rugby

The introduction of the leagues in 1987 saw Rochford Hundred placed in the London and South East regional leagues. In 1992 the club their first ever league silverware, winning

Eastern Counties 1 Eastern Counties 1 is an English level 9 Rugby Union League. From the 2017-18 promoted teams move up to the newly created London 3 Eastern Counties with the league champions going up automatically, while relegated teams drop down to Eastern C ...

and gaining promotion into London 3 North East. Towards the end of the 1990s the club won the Essex Senior Cup in 1999, followed up by the London 3 North East league title in 2000, although the club was denied promotion due to

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 ...

restructuring of the leagues. The new millennium saw the club denied promotion for the second year running, finishing second in the league but being outclassed by

London 3 North West London 3 North West is a level 8 league within the RFU league structure and is made up of teams predominantly from north-west London and Hertfordshire. Promoted sides tend to move up to London 2 North West while relegated teams drop to Her ...

runners up Twickenham in the promotion playoff. In 2003 Rochford Hundred won the Essex Senior Cup for the second time, sharing the trophy with Brentwood after the sides played out a 9–9 draw after extra time. League results that year were not so good and the club were relegated from London 3 North East after finishing 7th out of the 10 teams – victims of an unusual high number of relegations due to further RFU reshuffling. The club's relegation was short-lived as it finished as champions of London 4 North East at the end of the 2004–05 season to book an instant return to London 3 North East. The 2008–09 season would be a great success for the club as they won the double; firstly claiming the London 3 North East title and promotion to London 2 North, and then going on to win the Essex Intermediate Cup with a resounding 44–7 win over Romford. Rochford Hundred would spend the next few years bouncing back and forth between levels 6 and 7, with relegation from the newly named London 1 North in 2010 followed by promotion from London 2 North West as champions in 2011, and then a further relegation from London 1 North in 2013. During this period the club also experienced success on the county scene, winning the Essex Intermediate Cup for the second time in 2014. Rochford Hundred would remain at level 7 until the 2017–18 season when it won London 2 North East for the fourth time. The club's winning form continued into the next season as it won a league and cup double, firstly claiming the 2018–19 London 1 North title and promotion to

London & South East Premier Regional 1 South East (up until 2022-23 known as London & South East Premier and up until 2016-17 known as National League 3 London & South East) is a level five league in the English rugby union system. It is one of six leagues at this level. ...

– which at level 5 is the highest level it has reached – and then going on to win the Essex Senior Cup for third time with a resounding victory over Brentwood.

Ground

Rochford Hundred play at The Rugby Park on Magnolia Road in the parish of

on the north-west outskirts of the town of Rochford. The ground consists of a club-house, three full-size rugby pitches and on-site parking. Capacity around the main pitch is approximately 1,250, including a 107 seater covered stand. Access to The Rugby Park is best served by car but there is the possibility of catching a train into Rochford railway station and walking the 1.5 miles to the ground, alternatively Hockley railway station and walking 1 mile to ground.

Honours

champions: 1991–92 *

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

champions (4): 1999–00, 2008–09, 2010–11, 2017–18 *Essex Senior Cup winners (3): 1999, 2003, 2019 * London 3 North East champions: 2004–05 *Essex Intermediate Cup (2): 2009, 2014 *

London 1 North London 1 North is an English level 6, rugby union league for clubs in London and the south-east of England including sides from Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, north Greater London, Hertfordshire, Norfolk, Suffolk. Wh ...

champions: 2018–19 *

champions: 2019–20

Notes

References

{{Rugby union in England Rugby union teams in England Rugby clubs established in 1962 Rugby union clubs in Essex Sports clubs and teams in England Rochford District