North Midlands Rugby Football Union
| Full name | North Midlands Rugby Football Union | |
|---|---|---|
| Union | Rugby Football Union | |
| Founded | 1920 | |
| Region | Greater Birmingham,West Midlands,Herefordshire,WorcestershireShropshire. | |
| Chairman | Malcolm Harris | |
| President | Bill Worth | |
| ||
| Official website | ||
| www | ||
TheNorth Midlands Rugby Football Unionis agoverning bodyforrugby unionin part ofThe Midlands,England. The union is the constituent body of theRugby Football Unionfor the counties ofHerefordshire,Shropshire,Worcestershireand the GreaterBirminghamarea.[1]
History
[edit]The North Midlands RFU was founded at a meeting in Birmingham on 14 January 1920. The area had previously been part of theMidland Counties Rugby Union,from whichWarwickshiresplit in 1914, with further changes in 1919 leading toLeicestershire Rugby Unionbecoming a county on its own and North Midlands being created for the Birmingham, Derbyshire, Staffordshire and Worcestershire areas. The majority of the clubs in the union's initial membership came from the Birmingham area.[2]Staffordshire separated from North Midlands in 1964 to become a county on its own.[3]
County team
[edit]The North Midlands men's county team play in theCounty Championship,competing inDivision 2as of the 2023 tournament.[4]
Honours
- Tetley's County Shieldwinners: 2004[5][6]
Affiliated clubs
[edit]Among the Clubs affiliated with the North Midlands RFU, most have teams at both senior and junior level, although some of the more prominent second teams have also been listed by the North Midlands RFU as affiliated clubs. The North Midlands region covers a large area with club sides based inGreater Birmingham RFU,Hereford & Worcestershire RFUandShropshire RFU.
- Aldridge
- Aston Old Edwardians
- Aston University
- Birmingham Barbarians
- Birmingham Bulls
- Birmingham Exiles
- Birmingham Medics
- Birmingham MoseleyMoseley Oak are the amateur side of Birmingham Moseley RFC
- Birmingham & Solihull
- Bishops Castle & Onny Valley
- Bournville
- Bredon Star
- Bridgnorth
- Bromsgrove
- Bromyard
- Camp Hill
- Chaddesley Corbett
- Church Stretton Samurai
- Clee Hill
- Cleobury Mortimer
- Dixonians
- Droitwich
- Dudley Kingswinford
- Dudley Wasps[a]
- Edwardians
- Erdington
- Evesham
- Five Ways Old Edwardians
- Greyhound
- Harborne
- Harper Adams University
- Hereford
- Kidderminster Carolians
- Kings Norton
- Ledbury
- Luctonians
- Ludlow
- Malvern
- Market Drayton
- Newport (Salop)
- Old Halesonians
- Old Saltleians
- Old Yardleians
- Oswestry
- Pershore
- Redditch
- Ross-on-Wye
- Shrewsbury
- Solihull
- Stourbridge
- Stourport
- Telford Hornets
- Tenbury Wells
- University of Birmingham RFC
- Upton-upon-Severn
- Veseyans
- Warley
- West Mercia Police
- West Midlands Police
- Whitchurch
- Woodrush
- Worcester
- Worcester Students RFC
- Yardley & District
County club competitions
[edit]The North Midlands currently runs the following competition for clubs sides based inBirminghamand theWest Midlands,Herefordshire,ShropshireandWorcestershire:
Cups
[edit]- North Midlands Cup– founded in 1972, currently open to clubs at tiers 5–6 of theEnglish rugby union system
- North Midlands Shield– founded in 2001, clubs at tiers 7–8
- North Midlands Vase– founded in 2005, clubs at tiers 9–10
Discontinued competitions
[edit]- North Midlands 1- tier 7-10 league that ran between 1987 and 2006
- North Midlands 2- tier 8-11 league that ran between 1987 and 2006
- North Midlands 3– tier 9-12 league that ran intermittently between 1987 and 2004
- North Midlands 4– tier 10 league that ran between 1987 and 1992
- Midlands 5 West (North)[b]– tier 10 league for North Midlands andStaffordshireclubs that ran between 2005 and 2019
Notes
[edit]- ^Dudley Wasps are the second team ofDudley Kingswinford RFC.
- ^Midlands 5 West (North)was known as Midlands 6 West (North) between 2005 and 2009.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^"North Midlands RFU".Archived fromthe originalon 30 November 2023.Retrieved30 December2014.
- ^"North Midlands".Archived fromthe originalon 4 January 2019.Retrieved4 January2019.
- ^Gallagher, Brendan (30 April 2004)."About Rugby: Nostalgic Park play the Blues".The Daily Telegraph.Retrieved14 July2017.
- ^"County Championships".Englandrugby.Archived fromthe originalon 30 November 2023.Retrieved30 November2023.
- ^"Tetley's County Shield 2004".englandrugby. 29 May 2004.
- ^"RUGBY: Twickenham heartache".Bury Free Press. 3 June 2004. Archived fromthe originalon 22 December 2016.Retrieved12 December2016.
- ^"CLUB DIRECTORY".North Midlands RFU.Retrieved12 June2017.
- ^"NORTH MIDLANDS CUP COMPETITIONS".North Midlands RFU.Retrieved9 May2016.
