Okehampton RFC 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 ...

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 ...

club, formed in 1884 and based in

Okehampton Okehampton ( ) is a town and civil parish in West Devon in the English county of Devon. It is situated at the northern edge of Dartmoor, and had a population of 5,922 at the 2011 census. Two electoral wards are based in the town (east and w ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

. The club has three senior men's teams, a colts team and multiple junior teams (u-7 to u-16). Nicknamed the 'Okes' the club's colours are maroon and gold and they play home games at the Showground. The first team currently plays in

South West Premier Regional 1 South West (formerly South West Premier and National League 3 South West) is a level five league in the English rugby union system. It is one of six leagues at this level. When this division began in 1987 it was known as South West D ...

, a league 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 c ...

, having won promotion as champions of

Tribute South West 1 West Regional 2 South West, (formerly known as South West 1 West) is an English, level six, rugby union league for clubs based in the south-west of England; i.e. Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and Somerset. It is one of twelve leagues at this level in En ...

at the end of the 2018–19 season. Showfield_Okehampton_RFC

History

Early history

Okehampton had a rugby team dating back as far as 1884, and by 1902 had registered with the Devon Rugby Football Union. The club moved grounds several times during the early days, starting at Northams Meadows in 1902, switching to North Road in 1912 and then Cowlands Field at Mill Road in the 1920s. The outbreak of

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

caused the club to close as many players went into the Armed Forces. After the war was over, the club's former ground, Cowlands Field, was sold for housing development, and they had to share with the local football side, Okehampton Argyle, at Simmonds Park. The club had initially suffered a shortage of senior players after the war but the local grammar school provided a stream of new players, while soldiers at the nearby army camp, some of whom would go on to become international players, were available from time to time. The 1950s saw the club have a period of mixed fortunes. The introduction of rugby union in the secondary modern school would later pave the way for a colts team, while the men's senior team would go unbeaten between 1951–53. By 1955 many of the players had retired and the club had several seasons of poor results but by 1958 they were back on track. By 1961 the club had moved away from Simmons Park to purchase its own ground at Oaklands, where it has remained ever since. This ground had a small grandstand, a bar, changing room facilities, as well as several school pitches across the road from the main ground, where colts and junior games could take place. With a new ground, Okehampton went from strength to strength winning the Devon County Havill Plate competition in 1979, the Devon Merit Table "B" in 1982–83 and the Devon Merit Table "A" in 1983–84.

League rugby

On the advent of league rugby union in 1987, Okehampton were placed in the Western Counties league (tier 7 of the English league system) where they remained until 1996–97 when they gained promotion as champions to South West 2 West. Their stay in tier 6 (the highest level the club have reached) was short lived and they were relegated after just one season in the division. The club also punched well above its weight in the

Devon Senior Cup The Devon Senior Cup is the third tier county cup in the county of Devon. It is administered by the Devon County Football Association The Devon County Football Association, also simply known as the ''Devon FA'', is the governing body of foot ...

, appearing as losing finalists against

Plymouth Albion Plymouth Albion Rugby Football Club are a rugby union club who play in Plymouth, England. The present club was founded in 1920 from a merger between Plymouth RFC (founded 1876) and Devonport Albion RFC (founded 1876). Since 2003 they have pla ...

in 1988 and

Barnstaple Barnstaple ( or ) is a river-port town in North Devon, England, at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool and won great wealth. Later it imported Irish wool, bu ...

in 1997. After a period of relative stability the club would drop down the leagues, first being relegation from

Tribute Western Counties West Counties 1 Western West (formerly known as Western Counties West for sponsorship reasons) is an English rugby union league. Originally a single division called Western Counties, in 1996 the division split into two regional leagues called Weste ...

in 2002–03 and then being relegated from

Tribute Cornwall/Devon Cornwall/Devon League (known as Tribute Cornwall/Devon League for sponsorship reasons) was an English level eight, rugby union league for clubs principally based in Cornwall and Devon. Following the reorganisation of the English rugby union le ...

in 2004–05 in what would be the club's worst spell in its league history so far. From the worst spell in its modern history, Okehampton would regroup and enter one of its best. They won a league and cup double in the 2005–06, winning promotion from Devon League 1 and claiming the

Devon RFU Junior Cup The Devon Junior Cup is an annual rugby union knock-out club competition organized by the Devon Rugby Football Union. It was first introduced in the 1888–89 season when it was won by Paignton. During the pre-war years the Devon Junior Cup was o ...

for the first time, defeating league rivals Cullompton 8–3 in the final. The 2008–09 season saw the club promoted from Tribute/Cornwall Devon in second place and the following season saw them win the inaugural Devon Intermediate Cup defeating Tiverton on the final. In 2016 the club returned to tier 6 by winning the Tribute Western Counties West league title. In 2019 Okehampton reached the highest level in the club's league history when it won promotion to

(level 5) after finishing as the 2018–19 Tribute South West 1 West champions. They also made it a league and cup double when they won the inaugural Devon RFU Shield by beating Devonport Services in a closely contested final at the Showground.

Ground

Okehampton RFC have been based at the Showground since 1961. The ground is situated on Glendale Road next to Okehampton Primary School in a pleasant residential area in the north-west of town, and consists of a club-house and attached stand, a main pitch and a secondary pitch just across the road for 2nd XV and junior fixtures. The ground is quite compact meaning that the capacity is limited to about 1,000 standing, plus another 120 seats in the grandstand, bringing total capacity to approximately 1,120. Parking is extremely limited in and around the ground, although if you do not mind a 5-10 minute walk (admittedly uphill) then there is plenty of parking in town.

Season summary

Honours

1st team * Havill Plate winners: 1979 *Devon Merit Table "B" champions: 1982–83 *Devon Merit Table "A" champions: 1983–84 *

champions (2): 1996–97, 2015–16 * Devon Junior Cup winners: 2006 * Devon League 1 champions: 2005–06 * Devon Intermediate Cup winners: 2010 *

champions: 2018–19 Colts *Devon Colts Cup: 1982

Notable former players

Julian White Julian Martin White MBE (born 14 May 1973) is an English Landowner, best known for his time playing professional rugby union as a prop for Leicester Tigers and England. White was regarded as an aggressive tighthead prop, one of the most powerf ...

–

tighthead prop In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16– ...

who played a couple of seasons at the club during his early career. Won 51 caps for England national rugby team as well as four caps for the

British and Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national ...

Notes

References

External links

Okehampton RFCDevon RFU
{{Rugby union in England 1884 establishments in England English rugby union teams Rugby clubs established in 1884 Rugby union in Devon Okehampton