Birstall RFC

Club Info

A number of clubs were formed by ex-pupils of schools within Leicestershire immediately following the Second World War. Amongst these was Moat Road Old Boys who were founded in 1949. Following the loss of their use of their school playing fields in 1952, the club moved to Birstall Village Park and introduced the game to Birstall for the first time. The club were, by all accounts, regarded as enthusiastic & superbly fit and played all the top clubs in the county at the time. On one memorable occasion, they lost to Leicester Tigers by ONE POINT. Unfortunately, following the departure of a number of players to form a singing group called The Dallas Boys, the club failed to thrive and the club folded in 1956. Birstall had to wait for another 10 years to pass before the game returned with the formation of a new club in 1965. The club took the village name as Birstall RFC, played on the village park and changed in the scout hut. As the village of Birstall began to grow and new senior schools were established in the area, the rugby club went from strength to strength and was soon running two senior sides and a colts team. Unfortunately, despite considerable success, the club failed to recruit sufficient junior players and the club was forced to cease playing in 1973.The current club was formed in 1975 by a group of dedicated teachers at the local senior schools with the intention of providing ex-pupils with a club that would enable them to continue playing the game. It was decided to affiliate the new club with Birstall Community College thus avoiding the “old boys” tag with all the limitations this brings.
With the failure of local schools and colleges to provide any form of competitive sport, the supply of youth players joining the club began to dry up in the mid-eighties. With no youngsters available to take over from retiring players, the club shrank in size until, in the late nineties, it virtually ceased to exist. However, strenuous efforts made by a number of key individuals kept the club afloat and, by the end of the 1999/2000 season, Birstall RFC were proudly crowned champions of the Leicestershire Merit Table
During the early part of the millennium Birstall started to feel the pinch like so many local sides. Raising enough players to field a side became extremely difficult and the club came close to folding in 2003. Thankfully, due to a lot of hard work by the committee and links once again being developed with Longslade Community college, the Green Dogs are once against going from strength to strength. Recent increases in the number of younger players mean that the club is now fielding two sides again for the first time in ten years and then fielding a 3rd XV this season for the first time in 15 years.

Website