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 Greater Birmingham area.[1]
| Full name | North Midlands Rugby Football Union | |
|---|---|---|
| Union | Rugby Football Union | |
| Founded | 1920 | |
| Region | Greater Birmingham, West Midlands, Herefordshire, Worcestershire Shropshire. | |
| Chairman | Malcolm Harris | |
| President | Bill Worth | |
| ||
| Official website | ||
| www | ||
History
editThe North Midlands RFU was founded at a meeting in Birmingham on 14 January 1920. The area had previously been part of the Midland Counties Rugby Union, from which Warwickshire split in 1914, with further changes in 1919 leading to Leicestershire Rugby Union becoming 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
editThe North Midlands men's county team play in the County Championship, competing in Division 2 as of the 2023 tournament.[4]
Honours
- Tetley's County Shield winners: 2004[5][6]
Affiliated clubs
editAmong 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 in Greater Birmingham RFU, Hereford & Worcestershire RFU and Shropshire 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
editThe North Midlands currently runs the following competition for clubs sides based in Birmingham and the West Midlands, Herefordshire, Shropshire and Worcestershire:
Cups
edit- North Midlands Cup – founded in 1972, currently open to clubs at tiers 5–6 of the English 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 and Staffordshire clubs that ran between 2005 and 2019
Notes
edit- ^ Dudley Wasps are the second team of Dudley Kingswinford RFC.
- ^ Midlands 5 West (North) was known as Midlands 6 West (North) between 2005 and 2009.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "North Midlands RFU". Archived from the original on 30 November 2023. Retrieved 30 December 2014.
- ^ "North Midlands". Archived from the original on 4 January 2019. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
- ^ Gallagher, Brendan (30 April 2004). "About Rugby: Nostalgic Park play the Blues". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 14 July 2017.
- ^ "County Championships". Englandrugby. Archived from the original on 30 November 2023. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
- ^ "Tetley's County Shield 2004". englandrugby.com. 29 May 2004.
- ^ "RUGBY: Twickenham heartache". Bury Free Press. 3 June 2004. Archived from the original on 22 December 2016. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
- ^ "CLUB DIRECTORY". North Midlands RFU. Retrieved 12 June 2017.
- ^ "NORTH MIDLANDS CUP COMPETITIONS". North Midlands RFU. Retrieved 9 May 2016.