Sandbach RUFC is a

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 the

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 ...

town of Sandbach. It operates four Senior sides, Junior and Senior Colts and ten Mini/Junior teams.Club website
The first XV plays in the fifth tier of the English league system —

Regional 1 North West Regional 1 North West is a level five league in the English rugby union system, with the twelve teams drawn from across North West England. The other level five leagues are Regional 1 Midlands, Regional 1 North East, Regional 1 South Central, R ...

. The second XV plays in the NOWIRUL Cotton Traders Premier League with the third with the third team playing in the NOWIRUL Division 2 South and fourth team social rugby.

History

Sandbach RUFC, formally known as Old Sandbachians RUFC (after Sandbach School for Boys), was formed in 1936 but became defunct during

World War II 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 ...

. The Club reformed in 1956 and used one of the Sandbach School's rugby pitches on which to play home games. Local premises near to the school playing fields were used as changing rooms and the Iron Grey, a local pub, was used as a base for after match hospitality. Old boys from Sandbach School were encouraged back to the game and the Club grew from strength to strength. In 1960 the Club began admitting non-old boys and in May 1961 a piece of land on Middlewich Road which backed onto Sandbach School premises was purchased and the first Clubhouse was built. In the summer of 1980 Old Sandbachians moved from Middlewich Road to Bradwall Road where a new Clubhouse and pitches had been developed. By the start of season 1981–82 the Club had changed its name from Old Sandbachians to Sandbach Rugby Club. Sandbach has a rich history of producing top quality players and over the past 20 years the Mini/Junior section has produced a steady stream of top flight players. In the spring of 2012, Premiership side,

Sale Sharks Sale Sharks is a professional rugby union club from Greater Manchester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. Originally founded in 1861 as Sale Football Club, now a distinct amateur club, they adopted the n ...

featured five ex-Sandbach players in a Premiership game against

Wasps A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. T ...

. In 2011, Sandbach became a CASC (Community Amateur Sports Club), reaffirming their principles of not paying players and staying true to their vision as a community based club. In 2012 the club celebrated winning the North 1 West league and with the ensuing promotion celebrated its first ever season of National League Rugby in 2012–13. Sandbach continue to thrive in Level 5 of the RFU Structured Competitions and currently play in the Midlands Premier Division. In June 2017 the club appointed Byron McGuigan and Rob Webber as Joint Head Coaches. Byron and Rob currently both played Premiership Rugby at Sale Sharks. Both have gained full international caps; Rob for England and Byron for Scotland. Currently the coaching team is led Director of Rugby Andy Bird and Head Coach Matt Bebbington, both teachers of sport in local schools.

Honours

* Cheshire Plate winners: 1985 * North West 1 champions: 1989–90 *

Midlands 3 West (North) Midlands 3 West (North) is a level 8 English Rugby Union league and level 3 of the Midlands League, made up of teams from the northern part of the West Midlands region including Shropshire, Staffordshire, parts of Birmingham and the West Mi ...

champions: 2006–07 * Cheshire Vase winners (2): 2008, 2012 * North Division 1 West champions: 2011–12 Cheshire Cup Champions: 2022

Notable former players

* John Olver * Mark Cueto *

Matt Beesley Matthew Beesley (born 3 April 1992) is an English rugby union player, currently playing at Northampton Saints. He joined the team at the start of the 2016–17 season, after previously spending two seasons at National League 1 side Wharfedale. ...

* Will Cargill *

Simon Verbickas Simon may refer to: People * Simon (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name Simon * Simon (surname), including a list of people with the surname Simon * Eugène Simon, French naturalist and the genus ...

Will Cliff William Cliff (born 17 October 1988) is a rugby union player for Sale Sharks. He plays as a scrum half. He scored his first try for Sale in their 49–24 win over CA Brive in the European Challenge Cup quarter-final in 2008. He played for G ...

James Gaskell James Gaskell (born 20 May 1990) is a rugby union player for Shokki Shuttles in the Top League. He plays as a flanker or lock. After making the debut for Sale in 2008, Gaskell was named the club's Breakthrough Player of the Year for the 2009/ ...

* Tom Holmes *

Lee Imiolek Lee Imiolek (born 21 September 1990, in Manchester) is an English rugby union footballer. He plays as a prop. He plays his club rugby for the RFU Championship side Leeds Carnegie. He made his first appearance for Sale Sharks against London Irish ...

Pete Sherratt Pete or Petes or ''variation'', may refer to: People * Pete (given name) * Pete (nickname) * Pete (surname) Fictional characters * Pete (Disney), a cartoon character in the ''Mickey Mouse'' universe * Pete the Pup (a.k.a. 'Petey'), a character ( ...

Graham McCallum Graham and Graeme may refer to: People * Graham (given name), an English-language given name * Graham (surname), an English-language surname * Graeme (surname), an English-language surname * Graham (musician) (born 1979), Burmese singer * Clan G ...

* Duncan MacDonald *

Ewan Ashman Ewan Ashman (born 3 April 2000) is a Scotland international rugby union player. He plays for Sale Sharks in Premiership Rugby. He plays at hooker. Career Club Born in Toronto, Ontario, Ashman started playing rugby at Sandbach RUFC. First pla ...

References

External links

Sandbach Rugby Union Football Club
{{Rugby union in England English rugby union teams Rugby clubs established in 1936 Rugby union in Cheshire Sandbach