Shipston-on-Stour Rugby Football 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 ...

team based in

Shipston-on-Stour Shipston-on-Stour is a town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon District in Warwickshire, England. It is located on the banks of the River Stour, south-southeast of Stratford-upon-Avon, 10 miles (16 km) north-northwest of Chipping Norto ...

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

. They currently play in

Regional 2 South Central Regional 2 South Central is a level six league in the English rugby union system, one of twelve leagues, at this level. The twelve teams are based in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Warwickshire, Wiltshire and Hampshir ...

- a tier 6 league in the

English rugby union 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 the club's promotion from

Southern Counties North Counties 1 Southern North (formerly known as Southern Counties North) is a division at level 7 of the English rugby union system. When league rugby first began in 1987 it was a single league known as Southern Counties but since 1996 the divisio ...

- due to the restructure of the English leagues at the end of the 2021–22 season.

History

Formed in 1963 by a group of

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

s and old pupils from Shipston High School, the first squad came from wide across the region. During their first season, the 'Rams' were forced to be a nomadic club with no pitch of their own to use. Instead they relied on the facilities at the school and using some local pubs for post-match refreshments. In 1964 they were able to regularly put out two teams and with the help of a local farmer, had a pitch of their own to use. Located in the nearby village of Darlingscote the pitch soon became known as 'The Bowl'. By 1968 they were renting an old barn at the rear of The Bell Inn on Sheep Street and with the assistance of Whitbread Flowers they were able to use this structure as a club house. The club moved again in 1973 but with the help of the town's local inhabitants, the local council, the

County Council A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Ireland The county councils created under British rule in 1899 continue to exist in Irela ...

, the

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 ...

, Middlesex RFU and the players themselves a new plan for a Clubhouse and ground at

Mayo Road Maryland Route 253 (MD 253) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. Known as Mayo Road, the route runs from MD 214 north to MD 2 within Edgewater. MD 253 was constructed in Edgewater in the early 1910s and early 1920s. The highway w ...

was created. The club moved yet again in 2000 although this time they stayed based at Mayo Road and moved next door to a purpose-built club house that had been funded with finance from a

Sport England Sport England is a non-departmental public body under the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. Its role is to build the foundations of a community sport system by working with national governing bodies of sport, and other funded par ...

lottery A lottery is a form of gambling that involves the drawing of numbers at random for a prize. Some governments outlaw lotteries, while others endorse it to the extent of organizing a national or state lottery. It is common to find some degree of ...

grant. The club now runs four senior teams, a Veterans team, Colts team as well as Mini and Junior Rugby at eight different age groups. The 2002 season saw the first team run out at

Twickenham Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boroug ...

for the Powergen Junior Vase Final.

Club Honours

Staffordshire/Warwickshire 3 Staffordshire/Warwickshire 3 was a tier 12 English Rugby Union league with teams from Staffordshire and Warwickshire taking part. Promoted teams moved up to Staffordshire/Warwickshire 2 and relegated teams dropped to Staffordshire/Warwickshire 4 ...

champions: 1993–94 *

Midlands 4 West (South) Midlands 4 West (South) is a level 9 English Rugby Union league and level 4 of the English Rugby Union Midland Division, Midlands League, made up of teams from the southern part of the West Midlands (region), West Midlands region including club ...

champions: 2002–03 *

Promotion 2011-12 *

Promotion 2018-19 *

Promotion 2021-22

References

{{coord, 52.07, N, 1.6242, W, region:GB_source:enwiki-osgb36(SP201548), display=title Rugby union teams in England Rugby clubs established in 1963 Shipston-on-Stour