Shelford 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 its m ...

football club based in

Great Shelford Great Shelford is a village located approximately to the south of Cambridge, in the county of Cambridgeshire, in eastern England. In 1850 Great Shelford parish contained bisected by the river Cam. The population in 1841 was 803 people. By 2001 ...

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and North ...

. The club 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. ...

– at the fifth tier of the

English rugby union league system Men's Rugby union in England consists of 106 leagues, which includes professional leagues at the highest level, down to amateur regional leagues. Promotion and relegation are in place throughout the system. Women's Rugby union in England cons ...

– following their promotion from

London 1 North London 1 North is an English level 6, rugby union league for clubs in London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-e ...

at the end of the 2021–22 season. Shelford run five men's sides, two women's sides and fifteen junior teams for boys and girls. They are members of the

Eastern Counties Rugby Football Union The Eastern Counties Rugby Union (ECRU) is the governing body for the sport of rugby union in the counties of Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk in England. Clubs in the old Huntingdonshire and the Soke of Peterborough are affiliated to the East ...

History

Shelford Rugby Club was formed in 1933 following the formation of a rugby section of Shelford Amateur Sports Association. The announcement was first published in the ''Cambridge Independent Press'' which also decreed that the club's colours would be claret shirts with white collars. They first played on land loaned to them by a Mrs Goldsmith near

Shelford railway station Shelford railway station is on the West Anglia Main Line serving the villages of Great Shelford, Little Shelford and Stapleford in Cambridgeshire, England. It is down the line from London Liverpool Street and is situated between and . Its th ...

and changed in the nearby pub. The land was given to them by P. J. Davey who donated the land to them, which was named Davey Field in his honour. It was officially opened in 1966 with a match against

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", ...

. The club moved to its present ground in 1965. Since the leagues began in 1987, Shelford have reached as high a level as the fourth tier (

National League 2 South National League 2 South (known before September 2009 as National Division Three South) was a level four league in the English rugby union system until the end of season 2021–22. It was one of two leagues at this level, with its counterpart, N ...

). In 2009, they were promoted to National League 2 South. They played in this division between 2009 and 2015 when they were eventually relegated back to National League 3 London & South East., having finished in 15th place. In 2016, Davey Field was renovated and transformed from a grass pitch to a 3G pitch with floodlights and perimeter barriers installed. This £1 million project was funded by the

Rugby Football Union The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the Sports governing body, 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 ...

as a part of an initiative to increase the number of community 3G pitches following the

2015 Rugby World Cup The 2015 Rugby World Cup was the eighth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial rugby union world championship. The tournament was hosted by England from 18 September to 31 October. Of the 20 countries competing in the World Cup in 2011, there was onl ...

. Shelford also agreed a new ten year lease allowing them twelve guaranteed hours a week on the pitch. They avoided relegation during the 2017-18 London & South East Premier season with a win against

Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in Kent, England, southeast of central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the Weald, High Weald, whose sandstone geology is exemplified by the rock formation High Roc ...

. However, the following season they were relegated to

Honours

* London 3 North East champions (2): 2001–02, 2003–04 * London Division 1 champions: 2008–09

References

External links

Official website

League Website
{{Rugby union in England Rugby union teams in England 1933 establishments in England Rugby clubs established in 1933 Rugby union in Cambridgeshire