Otley Rugby Union 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 it ...

club representing

Otley Otley is a market town and civil parish at a bridging point on the River Wharfe, in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the population was 13,668 at the 20 ...

in the

City of Leeds The City of Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. The metropolitan borough includes the administrative centre of Leeds and the towns of Farsley, Garforth, Guiseley, Horsforth, Morley, Otley, Pudsey, Rothwell, W ...

, district of

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

. The club runs two senior teams – the first XV, the Saracens (2nd XV), as well as a full range of junior teams. The first XV play in

National League 2 North National League 2 North is one of three, level four leagues in the English rugby union system and provides semi-professional competition for teams in the northern half of England, the North. The remainder of England is covered by the two counte ...

History

Otley RUFC was founded in 1865 but broke away from rugby union in 1900 to become a

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...

club. They disbanded in 1906 and reformed as a rugby union club in 1907, the ground being at Wharfeside. In 1909–10 they won the

Yorkshire Challenge Cup The Yorkshire Cup is an English Rugby Football Union competition founded in 1878. It is organised by the Yorkshire Rugby Football Union and is open to all eligible clubs in the Yorkshire area. It was initially known as the Yorkshire Challenge C ...

. Play was suspended during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, but started again in 1919, and on 28 September 1921 they moved to a new and better ground at Cross Green, Otley. In the 2007–08 season they won the National Division Two title securing an immediate return to

National Division One The RFU Championship is an English rugby union competition comprising twelve clubs. It is the second level of men’s English rugby and is played by both professional and semi-professional players. The competition has existed since 1987, when ...

having been relegated the previous season, however they were immediately relegated again in the 2008–09 season along with fellow promoted side

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

and three other teams due to the new professionalised format of National Division One (now the

RFU Championship The RFU Championship is an English rugby union competition comprising twelve clubs. It is the second level of men’s English rugby and is played by both professional and semi-professional players. The competition has existed since 1987, when ...

). Two seasons later the club was relegated again, this time to

. The all-time leading try scorer is James Twomey, with 74 in 107 appearances between 2009 and 2013. In 1979 the stadium was the site of a famous victory by the North of England against the New Zealand ″All Blacks″. The Wallabies suffered the same fate in October, 1988. Cross Green hosted one group game of the

1991 Rugby World Cup The 1991 Rugby World Cup was the second edition of the Rugby World Cup, and was jointly hosted by England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and France: at the time, the five European countries who participated in the Five Nations Championship. This was ...

, between the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

which was won by Italy 30–9.

Notable former players

* Alfred "Alf" Bateson (England 1930) *

Danny Care Daniel Stuart Care (born 2 January 1987) is an English rugby union player who plays for Harlequins in the Premiership as a scrum-half. He has played for England national team since 2008 and has won 87 caps. He previously played for England ...

Albert Fert Albert Fert (; born 7 March 1938) is a French physicist and one of the discoverers of giant magnetoresistance which brought about a breakthrough in gigabyte hard disks. Currently, he is an emeritus professor at Paris-Saclay University in Orsay, ...

, (winner of 2007 Nobel Prize for Physics) * Arthur Gray ( Fullback for ''

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

'' while at Otley RUFC in 1947 against Wales, Ireland, and Scotland) * Frank Malir (England 1930) *

Leslie Manfield Leslie Manfield DFC (10 November 1915 – 2 November 2006) was a Welsh rugby union international. He was the second oldest Welsh international of all time, and at the time of his death, aged 91, the oldest living man to have played as a ...

(Wales 1938) *

Nigel Melville Nigel David Melville (born 6 January 1961) is a former England national rugby union team scrum half and captain and currently serves as Director of Professional Rugby for Rugby Football Union. Melville became the youngest player to captain E ...

* Jimmy Keinhorst

Honours

winners (9 times): 1889, 1910, 1911, 1929, 1931, 1934, 1936, 1937, 1993 * North Division 1 champions: 1989–90 * Courage League - Division 4 North champions:

1990–91 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...

National League 1 National One (last season known as National League 1 and previously known before September 2009 as National Division Two), is the third of three national leagues in the domestic rugby union competition of England. It was known as Courage Leagu ...

champions (3):

1992–93 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...

, 1999–00, 2007–08

Current standings

References

External links

Official website
{{Rugby union in England English rugby union teams Rugby clubs established in 1865 Sport in Leeds Otley Rugby union in Yorkshire