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Fylde Rugby Club

Full name	Fylde Rugby Club
Union	Lancashire RFU
Nickname(s)	Fylde
Founded	1919; 100 years ago (1919) [1]
Location	Lytham St. Annes, Lancashire, England
Ground(s)	Woodlands Memorial Ground (Capacity: 9,000 [2])
Chairman	Dave Young
Captain(s)	Chris Briers
League(s)	National League 2 North
2017–18	Relegated from National League 1 (16th)
Team kit
Official website
www.fylderugby.co.uk

Fylde Rugby Union Club /ˈfaɪld/ is a rugby union club based in Lytham St Annes, on the Fylde coast in Lancashire, England. The home venue is the Woodlands Memorial Ground on Blackpool Road in Ansdell and the first team play in English rugby's National League 2 North, the fourth tier of the English rugby union system, following their relegation from National League 1 at the end of the 2017-18 season. There are another three senior teams, the Wanderers, the Saracens and the Vandals who play in the English North West Leagues; respectively in the NW Premiership, NW1 North and NW4 North. There is currently no Colts team. In previous seasons the Colts have played in the Lancashire & Cheshire regional leagues.

In the past, Woodlands Memorial Ground was shared by Blackpool Rugby League Club.

History

Overview

Fylde Rugby Club was founded on 25 July 1919, literally on the toss of a coin when a group of Manchester businessmen met at Ansdell Institute to discuss the formation of either a rugby union or a football club. A coin was tossed and it fell in favour of rugby union. The club grew steadily and achieved a strong fixture list by the 1960s and has been in the National Leagues since the leagues inception in 1987.

It takes its name from The Fylde, a roughly 13-mile (20-kilometre) square-shaped peninsula, bounded by Morecambe Bay to the north, the Ribble estuary to the south, the Irish Sea to the west, and the Bowland hills to the east, with Blackpool to the west and Preston to the south-east.

Formative years

In May, 1920 the present Woodlands site was first used for rugby. The admission was 5d and the first yearly gate receipts amounted to just over £57. In 1922, Harold Brooks was elected President and through his efforts Fylde progressed. He also provided the present stand. In 1924 the club was represented in the Lancashire team by players such as "Ham" Neville, who was capped 33 times, and "Pop" Ogden. The club was strengthened by the merger with Blackpool Old Boys in the 1934–35 season.

During the World War II, Fylde, along with many other clubs, had to close as the Army took over the ground. In 1946 the President, G.W. Parkes, welcomed back members from the war and by this time the ground had been purchased and named the Woodlands Memorial Ground in recognition of those members who gave their lives during the war.

Post-war years

In the 1950s, the dressing rooms were built and Pop Ogden was elected President of Lancashire. Arthur Bell and Rothwell Bamber were given life memberships for their work with the club. Bell served for 34 years as the Honorary Secretary.

In 1964 the second England trial was held at Fylde and Sir Laurie Edwards opened the new pavilion extension and presented the club with a rugby union shield which is still on the clubhouse wall.

1969 was Fylde’s jubilee year, when they were fielding six or seven teams every Saturday. The club's two most famous players were home grown, Malcolm Phillips and Bill Beaumont. Phillips, who attended Arnold School in Blackpool, won 25 England caps at centre between 1958 and 1964. He was President of the Rugby Football Union (RFU) from 2004 to 2005 and has served on the International Rugby Board (IRB) for a number of years. Beaumont was also a one club man having joined Fylde as a 17-year-old in 1969 and stayed with the club until injury forced him to retire in 1982. His father had also played for Fylde and he wrote suggesting that his son be given a trial. His first game was in the sixth team as fullback. With his size and his 6'3" height, he was very quickly made into a forward to play for the first team. He earned 34 England caps between 1975 and 1982, 21 of them as captain. This included leading the side to the Grand Slam in 1980, as well as skippering the 1980 British Lions tour to South Africa. In retirement he has remained in the public eye as a broadcaster and columnist. He is still a regular face at Fylde. He has also made major contribution to rugby administration in the United Kingdom and internationally as an IRB Member, with the RFU and he was manager of the 2005 British and Irish Lions tour to New Zealand.

In the same era, a young Roger Uttley, subsequently to skipper and then manage England, and Brian Ashton, England's Head Coach, also played for Fylde. Other more recent internationals associated with Fylde include England wingers Tony Swift and Simon Smith, who were capped in the 1980s after leaving the club and locks Steve Bainbridge and Wade Dooley, established internationals who won further caps whilst with Fylde.

England 'A' winger Mark Preston had a record of scoring 98 tries in 131 appearances. He subsequently made a similar impact in rugby league with Wigan and Halifax.

Present day

As with so many former top-flight clubs outside the Guinness Premiership, attendances at home matches have fallen in recent years. In the early 1990s, 2,000 spectators would watch local derbies with Preston Grasshoppers and as many as 5,000 attended in 1982 to see Bill Beaumont's XV play Lancashire, staged when he retired through injury. But the club still stages representative games such as the England v Scotland Under 19 international in January 2004 which attracted 2,500 spectators. There were 1,500 people at the Fylde v Preston Grasshoppers league match in December 2006.

Today, the teams still go onto the field wearing the colours of claret, gold and white, which were originally the colours of the Huddersfield Old Boys. It has never been resolved why the colours were chosen. The colours have not changed, although the design is now rather different.

Recent seasons have seen Fylde move between National Division One, National Division Two and more recently National Division Three North (from which the club gained promotion during the 2010/11 season). The club ran up significant debts in trying to compete in National One from 1997 to 1999 and had to sell a small portion of the Woodlands' grounds in order to re-establish financial health. With the receipts of the sale, a period of redevelopment of various facilities at Woodlands began in January 2005. The new clubhouse opened in October 2005 and houses 500 people.

The club finished in sixth place in National Division Three North in the 2003–04 season, fourth in 2004–05 and seventh in 2005–06. The club's rugby management, including coaches Stuart Connell, who used to play for Fylde and Cumbria), Martin Scott, who played for Orrell, Fylde and Scotland, as well as Alistair Atkinson who played for Orrell and Sedgley Park. They are planning a promotion bid back to National Division Two. Leading scorers in the 2005–06 season included skipper and fly-half Mike Scott with 300 points, and one of the top goal kickers in national rugby, winger Nick Royle with 16 tries and flanker Andy Atkinson with 11 tries. The Players' Player of the Season was Paul Newton who was appointed skipper for the 2006–07 season.

Like so many clubs, Fylde has struggled in the professional era to maintain a balance between a members' club, based on traditional local community values and structures, and a professional outfit able to compete for players, regionally and nationally. The club has reasserted itself as a community-oriented members' club, basically amateur, bringing together experienced players in the area, together with nurturing considerable local talent and a sprinkling of overseas players. The club fields ten mini/junior sides, a Junior Colts squad and four other senior teams, the Wanderers, the Saracens, the Vikings and the Vandals. Apart from a new clubhouse completed in September 2005, the club's strategic plan to 2011 envisages an expansion of community multisports facilities including an all-weather pitch and floodlighting.^{[citation needed]}

Midway through the 2007–08 season the coaches Stuart Connell and Martin Scott were replaced with Mark Nelson the Lancashire coach who has previous experience of coaching at the club along with a successful spell as backs coach at Sale. Nelson has recruited a number of high calibre players including England Counties' Steve Nutt, Craig Aikman and David Wilks. He has also rekindled the club's relationship with Sale which has allowed him to call on some of the Premiership club's young players whilst Sale have also given game time to Fylde's Nick Royle. Roger Banks is the current 1st XV captain.

In June 2010, it was announced that former England manager Brian Ashton would be a coaching consultant for his former club.^[3] On the 26 July 2010, it was announced that former England international Jason Robinson would be making his comeback at the club.^[4]

In June 2012, Sam Beaumont stepped down from his role as the skipper of Fylde.^[5]

Honours

1st Team:

• 
  Glengarth Sevens Davenport Shield winners 1976


• 
  Lancashire Cup winners (4 times): 1995, 2009, 2010, 2011


• 
  National League 2 North champions: 2010–11
  

Fylde Saracens (2nd Team):

• 
  North Lancs 2 champions: 2000–01

Current squad

2016–17
Note: Flags indicate national union as has been defined under WR eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-WR nationality.

Player Position Union Tom Burtonwood Hooker England Ben Gregory Hooker England Alex Loney Hooker England Danny Maher Hooker England Simon Griffiths Prop England Adam Lewis Prop England Jake Pope (D/R) Prop England Sam Simpson Prop England Oli Trippier Prop England Jonny Wild Prop England Paul Arnold Lock England Matt Garrod Lock England Nick Gray Lock England George Nott (D/R) Lock England Jack Turley Lock New Zealand George Blackwell Flanker England Jamie Brookes Flanker England David Fairbrother Flanker England Matt Lamprey Flanker England Evan Stewart Flanker England Ben Vernon Flanker England Mark Goodman Number 8 England Andy Hughes Number 8 England Matt Rogerson (D/R) Number 8 England

Player Position Union Connor Dever Scrum-half England Greg Nicholls Scrum-half England Jack Harrison Fly-half England Greg Smith Fly-half England Scott Armstrong Centre England Sam Bedlow (D/R) Centre England Chris Briers Centre England Ralph Dowds Centre England Scott Rawlings Centre England Connor Wilkinson Centre England James Bailey Wing England Anthony Bingham Wing England Oli Brennand Wing England Jordan Dorrington Wing England Warren Spragg Fullback Italy

Notable former players

• 
  Peter Altham – deaf rugby player.^[6]
  


• 
   England – Brian Ashton – managed England to 2007 Rugby World Cup final.


• 
   England – Steve Bainbridge, 1983 British Lions tour to New Zealand and 1987 Rugby World Cup.


• 
   England – Bill Beaumont – won 34 England caps, 21 as Captain, including the Grand Slam in 1980. Captained the British Lions in South Africa.


• 
   England – Jason Robinson – won 51 England caps, 2001 and 2005 British Lions, won 13 Great Britain caps (RL)


• Lee Blackett


• 
   Great Britain (RL), and  England (RL) – William "Bill" Burgess
  


• 
   England – Wade Dooley, 55 caps for England, nicknamed "Blackpool Tower"


• Phil Hassan


• 
   England – Chris Jones
  


• 
   Ireland – Dylan O'Grady
  


• 
   Scotland – Eric Peters
  


• 
   England – Malcolm Phillips – won 25 England caps at centre between 1958 and 1964. He was President of the RFU in 2004/5


• 
   England – Mark Preston, England 'A' winger who subsequently played for Wigan (RL)


• Nick Royle


• 
   England – Simon Smith
  


• 
   Great Britain (RL) – David Stephenson
  


• 
   England – Tony Swift
  


• 
   England – Roger Uttley – captained and managed England


• Taylor Welch


• Greg Nicholls – Bristol, Londons Welsh

Current standings

Notes

References

External links

• Official site


• Fixture list


• 
  Fylde RC stories^{[permanent dead link]} on Lytham St Annes Express website.