Birkenhead Park FC
Birkenhead Park Football Club is an English rugby union team based in Birkenhead, Wirral. The club operates five senior teams, a ladies team (Birkenhead Park Panthers) and six junior sides. The men's senior team play in North 1 West at the sixth level of the English rugby union system, following their relegation from North Premier at the end of the 2017-18 season.
| Full name | Birkenhead Park Rugby Club | |
|---|---|---|
| Union | Cheshire RFU | |
| Founded | 1871 | |
| Location | Birkenhead, Merseyside, England | |
| Ground(s) | Upper Park | |
| Chairman | Barry Fitzgerald | |
| President | Richard Morris | |
| Captain(s) | Olly Mabbott | |
| League(s) | North 1 West | |
| 2019–20 | 6th | |
| ||
| Official website | ||
| birkenheadparkrfc | ||
History edit
Birkenhead Park was formed in 1871, the same year as the Rugby Football Union, from the amalgamation of two smaller clubs, Claughton and Birkenhead Wanderers during the 1871/72 season.[1] After an initial period where the club failed to find any form, the season of 1877/78 saw the team losing only two matches from 19. The club was central to the formation of the Cheshire County Union, and in 1887 Birkenhead Park was chosen as the venue for the Home Nations clash between Wales and Ireland; the first time a Home Nations Championship game had ever been played on neutral soil.
The club has a rich history and have hosted the New Zealand All Blacks team on four occasions most recently in 1978 and in 1984 they hosted the North of England's match against Romania.
The club has won two promotions in the 25 years of club rugby - winning South Lancashire and Cheshire Division One and North 2 West in consecutive seasons in the early 2000s.[2] The first team now plays at the sixth level - North 1 West.
Club honours edit
- Cheshire Cup winners (4): 1878, 1879, 1881, 2008
- Euromanx South Lancs/Cheshire 1 champions: 2000–01
- North 1 West champions (2): 2001–02, 2014–15
- Cheshire Vase winners: 2016
- North 1 (east v west) promotion playoff winners: 2016–17
Notable former players edit
British Lions edit
- Paul Robert Clauss 1891
- Elliot Nicholson (1899)
- George Edward Hancock (1936 British Lions tour to Argentina)
- Frank Croft Hulme (1904)
- R. B. Maxwell (1924)
- Thomas Knowles (1930)
International players while at Birkenhead Park edit
- Harry Alexander
- James Baxter
- Paul Robert Clauss
- Wilfrid Lowry
- C. S. Edgar
- Frank Croft Hulme
- P. D. Kendall
- J. C. Marquis
- B. B. Middleton
- Elliot Nicholson
- John Paterson
- C. Phillips
- J. J. Ravenscroft
- J. Feldman
Other notable players edit
- Ian Buckett
- Austin Healey
- Richard Downend (a notable cricketer)
References edit
External links edit
- Official website