Nottingham R.F.C.

Nottingham Rugby Club is a rugby union club based in Nottingham, England. The club's first team currently play in the Championship, the second tier of English Rugby.

Nicknamed the Green & Whites, in reference to the club's kit, the first XV play at Lady Bay, The club has recently made a move from Meadow Lane, the home ground of Notts County to Lady Bay in West Bridgford, outside Nottingham. They previously played at Ireland Avenue in Beeston until the end of the 2005–06 season.

History
The club was established circa 1877 by Alexander Birkin after returning from Rugby School, where he was introduced to the sport. The Birkin family later purchased the land at Ireland Avenue that would be the home of the club until 2006.

The club's heyday was in the late 1980s with a number of top international players representing the first XV. These included Simon Hodgkinson, Rob Andrew, Dusty Hare and Brian Moore (also a Lion) representing England and Chris Gray representing Scotland.

The advent of professionalism saw the Green & Whites fall on hard times and the first XV narrowly avoided relegation to the regional divisions in 2002–03. The club has bounced back since then and was promoted into National League One in 2003–04. The club finished a creditable 7th in 2005–06 before leaving Ireland Avenue after 102 years. Alistair Bow was appointed chairman in 2010 after having been a director since 2008.

Martin Haag appointed Dan Montagu captain on 21 July 2015. He replaced Brent Wilson who retired at the end of 2014–15 season.  Since then Ian Costello has been appointed as Head Coach, with Neil Fowkes and Alex O'Dowd rounding out the coaching team.

The club play at Lady Bay, previously at Meadow Lane. On 30 July 2010 the club signed an agreement to become part of Notts County PLC. In early July 2012 it was announced that Martin Haag had become the new director of rugby at the club.

Club honours
Midland Counties Senior Cup winners: 1905–06
Midland Counties Junior Cup winners: 1907–08
Noel Syson Cup (Notts, Lincs & Derby Sevens) winners: 1935, 1936, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1955, 1959, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1980, 1981, 1983
Middlesex Sevens winners: 1944–45
Midland Merit Table champions: 1984–85
Selkirk Sevens winners: 1990–91

Current standings

Current squad

The Nottingham squad for the 2019–20 season is:

Notes:

Notable former players

  Rob Andrew
  Vincent Cartwright
  Chris Gray
  Dusty Hare
  Simon Hodgkinson
  Brian Moore
  Gary Rees
  Chris Wyles
  Ali Williams
  Chris Oti
  Tom Youngs
  Alex Corbisiero
  Nick Preston
  Neil Back

References

External links
The Official Site of Nottingham RFC

Category:Premiership Rugby teams
Category:English rugby union teams
Category:Rugby clubs established in 1877
Category:Sport in Nottingham
Category:Rugby union in Nottinghamshire