Walsall 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 it ...
team based in
Walsall
Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east of Wolverhampton and from Lichfield.
Walsall is th ...
in the
West Midlands
West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...
, playing home games at the Broadway Ground, Delves Road. The club operates four senior men's teams, a colts side as well as a full range of junior teams (ages 6–17). The men's 1st XV currently plays in
Regional 2 West Midlands (Level 6).
History
Walsall RFC was formed in 1922. Historically part of
Staffordshire they were first members of the
North Midlands Rugby Football Union
The North Midlands Rugby Football Union is a governing body for rugby union in part of The Midlands, England. The union is the constituent body of the Rugby Football Union for the counties of Herefordshire, Shropshire, Worcestershire and the Gre ...
before joining the
Staffordshire Rugby Union as it became established in the 1960s. In the 1970s and early 1980s Walsall would become one of the most successful clubs in Staffordshire rugby, winning the inaugural
Staffordshire Senior Cup
The Staffordshire Senior Challenge Cup is a football cup tournament based in the county of Staffordshire in England first competed for in 1877–78. Organised by the Staffordshire Football Association, it is competed for by a mix of clubs from St ...
during the 1976–77 season and would go on to win the cup 5 times in the first 10 years of the competition.
The advent of league rugby in 1987–88 saw Walsall placed in
Courage Midlands 1, which was the top division of the region, ranked at tier 5 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 ...
. The club did not stay in this division for long and in 1988–89 they finished as champions and gained promotion to the national leagues, to what was then known as
Area League North (now National League 2 North). The 1990s were a chaotic time in the English league system 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 and this was both to Walsall's benefit and detriment as they yo-yoed between the divisions, dropping to
division 5 in 1993–94, all the way up to
division 3 (the highest level in the club's history) by 1996–97, before settling back into division 4 by the turn of the century. They would also re-establish themselves back at the top of the local game with another 3 victories in the Staffordshire Senior Cup during this period.
Having spent the greater part of the past decade in the national leagues, the
2000–01 season would be a difficult one for the club. Walsall struggled through the campaign finishing 11th out of the 14 teams in
National Division 3 North. Usually, this would have been enough to have kept them safe but an outbreak of
foot and mouth
Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) or hoof-and-mouth disease (HMD) is an infectious and sometimes fatal viral disease that affects cloven-hoofed animals, including domestic and wild bovids. The virus causes a high fever lasting two to six days, follow ...
caused havoc in the far north of the country, affecting the most northerly sides, Aspatria and
Tynedale
__NOTOC__
Tynedale is an area and former local government district in south-west Northumberland, England. The district had a resident population of 58,808 according to the 2001 Census. Its main towns were Hexham, Haltwhistle and Prudhoe. Th ...
, who finished in the bottom two positions, with both sides only playing 18 games apiece, six short of the Midlands side. This led to the RFU re-thinking relegation with this in mind, and after taking early season form into account, they decided that Walsall would go down along with Aspatria.
Although Walsall started the 21st century well, winning three Staffordshire Senior Cup titles in a row between 2000 and 2003 (11 wins overall), they were unable to make a return to the national leagues, with the 2001–02 season being the closet when they made the promotion playoffs but were ultimately well beaten by northern side
Hull Ionians
Hull Ionians is a rugby union club in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The first team play in English rugby's National League 2 North, the fourth tier of the English rugby union system, following their relegation from National League 1 ...
. In more recent times the club has struggled with two relegations in 2006–07 and 2015–16 seeing them falling to their lowest ever league position playing in tier 7 (
Midlands 2 West (North)
Midlands 2 West (North) is a level 7 English Rugby Union league and level 2 of the Midlands League, made up of clubs from the northern part of the West Midlands region including Shropshire, Staffordshire, parts of Birmingham and the West Midl ...
).
Honours
*Amsterdam Sevens winners (2): 1972, 1973
*Midlands Junior Cup winners: 1976
*
Staffordshire Senior Cup
The Staffordshire Senior Challenge Cup is a football cup tournament based in the county of Staffordshire in England first competed for in 1877–78. Organised by the Staffordshire Football Association, it is competed for by a mix of clubs from St ...
winners (11): 1977, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1983, 1994, 1995, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003
*
Midlands 1
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 ...
champions: 1988–89
*
Courage League Division 5 North champions: 1994–95
See also
*
Staffordshire RU
References
External links
Official WebsiteFacebook PageTwitter Account
{{Rugby union in England
Rugby union teams in England
Rugby clubs established in 1922
Rugby union in Staffordshire
1922 establishments in England
Walsall