Syston Rugby Football Club is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

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

Queniborough Queniborough is an English village in the county of Leicestershire 2.5 miles (4 km) north-east of the town of Syston and of 7.5 miles (12 km) north-east of the city of Leicester. Its 972 properties housed 1,878 registered electors in 2003. T ...

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

. The club runs four Senior sides, a Vets, Colts and all age groups from U7 to U19. The first XV currently plays in

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

, at the fifth tier of 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 their promotion from

Midlands 1 East Regional 2 East Midlands is an English level 6 rugby union regional league for rugby clubs in the eastern region of the Midlands, including sides from Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Warwickshire and occasion ...

at the end of the 2019–20 season.

History

Syston RFC was formed in 1887 when a number of players who lived locally or who attended nearby Barrow Grammar School came together to form the club. The club had various homes over the years in Syston and their first real home was on the Fosse Way in Syston where the foundations for the current Club were firmly laid. With a permanent home at Fosse Way the club's fortunes began to improve, and by the late 1960s the club was beginning to flourish as the local schools took to playing rugby and a steady stream of players was assured. The club regained its level 5 status in 2011 after the 1st XV gained promotion as champions from

into National League 3 (Midlands). The club had not played at that level for a decade.

Honours

Leicestershire County Cup The Leicestershire County Cup is an annual rugby union knock-out club competition organized by the Leicestershire Rugby Union. It was first introduced in 1890 with the inaugural winners being South Wigston. The competition was known as the Leice ...

winners (9): 1912, 1986, 1990, 1993, 1995, 1997, 2010, 2018, 2019 *

champions (4): 1990–91, 2010–11, 2014–15, 2019–20 *

Midlands 3 East (North) Midlands 3 East (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 East Midlands region including clubs from Derbyshire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and the occa ...

champions: 2006–07 * Midlands 1 (east v west) promotion play-off winner: 2017–18

Notable players

Syston RFC has a history of developing young players with the Club providing players for the County representative sides at all age groups for many years. A number of these players have gone on to play for

Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its hom ...

in the top flight of English club rugby with some going on to represent England at full international level and one,

Paul Dodge Paul William Dodge (born 26 February 1958 in Leicester, England) is a former English rugby union international footballer who gained 32 caps for his country between 1978 and 1985. His Leicester Tigers career earned him 436 appearances. Dodg ...

, also becoming England Captain and a member of the 1980 British Lions squad who toured in South Africa. *

Matt Cornwell Matt Cornwell (born 16 January 1985 in Leicester, England) is a former English rugby union player. He played as a fullback, fly-half and centre. Learning his early rugby at Syston RFC and Oakham School, Cornwell played in two Daily Mail Cup F ...

Louis Deacon Louis Deacon (born 7 October 1980, in Leicester) is a former English professional rugby union footballer. He played lock. Career His playing career started as an eight-year-old, playing with Wigston, before joining Syston RFC and as a Ratc ...

* Brett Deacon *

Matt Hampson Matthew "Hambo" Hampson (born is an English former rugby union prop who became paralysed from the neck down (C4/5 tetraplegic), after a scrummaging accident when practising with England under-21 squad in March 2005. His condition requires pe ...

Notes

References

External links

Official club website
{{Rugby union in England English rugby union teams Rugby clubs established in 1887 Rugby union clubs in Leicestershire