{{Short description|English rugby union football team}} {{Use British English|date=June 2014}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2026}} {{Infobox rugby team | image = Nottingham rugby logo.png | imagesize = 150 | countryflag = ENG | fullname = ''Nottingham Rugby Club'' | union = Notts, Lincs & Derbyshire RFU | founded = {{Start date and age|1877}} | chairman = Alistair Bow | president = Nigel Bettinson-Eatch | rugby director = Craig Hammond | captain = | league = Champ Rugby | season = 2024–25 | position = 7th | ground = Lady Bay Sports Ground | capacity = 3,700{{efn|Lady Bay capacity increased from 3,500 to 3,700 for the 2024–25 season.}} | url = {{URL|https://www.nottinghamrugby.co.uk/| nottinghamrugby.co.uk}} <!-- home kit --> | pattern_la1 = _thinwhiteborder | pattern_b1 = _black_white_hoops | pattern_ra1 = _thinwhiteborder | pattern_sh1 = | pattern_so1 = | leftarm1 = 006600 | body1 = 006600 | rightarm1 = 006600 | shorts1 = 000000 | socks1 = 000000 | pattern_name1 = Home <!-- away kit --> | pattern_la2 = _thinwhiteborder | pattern_b2 = _whitecollar | pattern_ra2 = _thinwhiteborder | pattern_sh2 = | pattern_so2 = | leftarm2 = 38ABFF | body2 = 38ABFF | rightarm2 = 38ABFF | shorts2 = 000000 | socks2 = 000000 | pattern_name2 = Away }}
'''Nottingham Rugby Club''' is a rugby union club based in Nottingham, England. The club's first team currently plays in the Champ Rugby, the second tier of the English rugby union system.
The first XV are nicknamed The Archers, in reference to the famous Robin Hood. Now situated in the Lady Bay area of Nottingham, the club was formerly based at Meadow Lane, the home ground of Notts County F.C. 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.{{cn|date=April 2026}}
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, Gary Rees, Dusty Hare and Brian Moore (also a Lion) representing England and Chris Gray representing Scotland.{{cn|date=April 2026}}
The advent of professionalism{{Citation needed|date=February 2019}} 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.{{cn|date=April 2026}}
On 30 July 2010 the club signed an agreement to become part of Notts County PLC.<ref>{{cite news|title=Ray Trew takes over Nottingham Rugby Club |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/n/notts_county/8871338.stm|date=30 July 2010 | work=BBC News}}</ref>
In early July 2012 it was announced that Martin Haag had become the new director of rugby at the club. 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.{{cn|date=April 2026}}
A change in funding by the RFU ahead of the 2020–21 season forced the club into become only a part-time professional club.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-04-17|title=Planning for Next Season|url=https://www.nottinghamrugby.co.uk/planning-for-next-season|access-date=2020-06-22|website=Nottingham Rugby|language=en-GB}}</ref>
==Ground==
Founded in 1877, the club originally played in a field behind the White Hart Inn in Lenton. In 1904 the club purchased land in the village of Beeston and were able to have their first permanent ground, initially known as Rylands Road but becoming Ireland Avenue by 1947. By the advent of league rugby in the late 1980s the capacity of Ireland Avenue was 4,990 which included a covered grandstand with 590 seats and space for around 4,400 standing.<ref>{{cite book|title=Courage Official Rugby Union Club Directory 1990–91|year=1990|publisher=Burlington Publishing Co. Ltd|location=Windsor|edition=3rd|editor=Tony Williams and Bill Mitchell|page=66|chapter=Nottingham R.F.C. (Ground Details)}}</ref> The club would play at Ireland Avenue for over a century, eventually selling the ground for housing development in 2004.<ref>{{cite news|title=Ireland Avenue, Nottingham R.F.C, 1904-2004 |url=https://www.therugbyjournal.com/ghost-grounds/ireland-avenue-nottingham-rfc-1904-2004|access-date=30 July 2010 | publisher=The Rugby Journal}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=A last farewell to Ireland Avenue |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/nottingham/content/articles/2006/04/26/rugby_last_game_ireland_avenue_feature.shtml|date=27 April 2006 | publisher=BBC Sport}}</ref>
The club spent a couple of seasons ground sharing at Notts County's home, Meadow Lane between 2004 and 2006. Since 2006 the club have been based at Lady Bay Sports Ground at Lady Bay. Ground capacity at Lady Bay was originally 3,500 but this has risen to 3,700 for the 2024–25 season, when a Lady Bay ground record of 3,690 watched the club's Premiership Rugby Cup game against Leicester Tigers on 22 November 2024.<ref>{{cite news |title=Ten-try Tigers take charge to brush past Nottingham|work=The RugbyPaper |issue=845 |date=24 November 2024 |page=19}}</ref>
==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== {{#section:2025–26 Champ Rugby|Table}}
==Current squad== {{for|player movements before or during the 2025-26 season|List of 2025–26 Champ Rugby transfers#Nottingham}}
The Nottingham squad for the 2025–26 season is:<ref name="Squad - Nottingham Rugby">{{cite web | url=https://www.nottinghamrugby.co.uk/players-coaches/senior-squad | title=Senior Squad – Nottingham Rugby | work=Nottingham Rugby | access-date=18 December 2025}}</ref>
{{Rugby union squad start | title = Nottingham 2025–26 Champ Rugby squad | width = 70% }} '''Props''' {{RU squad player|ENG|Archie van der Flier|ex=Leicester Tigers players who are dual-registered with the club for the 2025-26 season.}} {{RU squad player|SWE|Ale Loman|cap=y}} {{RU squad player|ENG|Dan Richardson}} {{RU squad player|NED|Mink Scharink|nolink=y}} {{RU squad player|SAM|Aniseko Sio|cap=y|nolink=y}} {{RU squad player|ENG|Oscar Stott|nolink=y}} '''Hookers''' {{RU squad player|NZL|Arthur Allen|nolink=y}} {{RU squad player|ENG|Ben Brownlie|nolink=y}} {{RU squad player|ENG|Jack Dickinson|nolink=y}} {{RU squad player|ENG|Finn Theobald-Thomas|ex=Leicester Tigers players who are dual-registered with the club for the 2025-26 season.}} '''Locks''' {{RU squad player|ENG|Jay Ecclesfield|nolink=y}} {{RU squad player|ENG|Michael Etete|nolink=y}} {{RU squad player|ENG|Tom Manz|nolink=y|ex=Leicester Tigers players who are dual-registered with the club for the 2025-26 season.}} {{RU squad player|WAL|Osian Thomas|nolink=y}} || '''Back row''' {{RU squad player|ENG|James Cherry|nolink=y}} {{RU squad player|ENG|Sam Green|nolink=y}} {{RU squad player|WAL|Iestyn Rees}} {{RU squad player|ENG|Kody Vereti|nolink=y}} {{RU squad player|ENG|Sam Williams|nolink=y|ex=Leicester Tigers players who are dual-registered with the club for the 2025-26 season.}} {{RU squad player|ENG|Jacob Wright|nolink=y}} '''Scrum-halves''' {{RU squad player|ENG|Josh Goodwin|nolink=y}} {{RU squad player|ENG|Will Yarnell|nolink=y}} '''Fly-halves''' {{RU squad player|ENG|Evan Mitchell|nolink=y}} {{RU squad player|WAL|Gwyn Parks|nolink=y}} {{RU squad player|ENG|Charlie West|nolink=y}} || '''Centres''' {{RU squad player|NZL|Kegan Christian-Goss|nolink=y}} {{RU squad player|ENG|Charlie Davies|nolink=y}} {{RU squad player|ENG|Michael Green|nolink=y}} {{RU squad player|ENG|Wilf McCarthy|nolink=y|ex=Leicester Tigers players who are dual-registered with the club for the 2025-26 season.}} {{RU squad player|ENG|Levi Roper|nolink=y}} '''Wings''' {{RU squad player|ENG|Harry Graham|nolink=y}} {{RU squad player|ENG|Sam Mercer|nolink=y}} {{RU squad player|ENG|Luke Rokomoce|nolink=y}} {{RU squad player|ENG|David Williams|nolink=y}} '''Fullbacks''' {{RU squad player|UAE|Jack Stapley|cap=y|nolink=y}} {{Rugby union squad end | ref = <ref name="Squad - Nottingham Rugby"/> | st = y | cap = y | captain = y | vc = y | group = upper-alpha | ex = }}
==Notable former players==
===British & Irish Lions=== The following Nottingham players have been selected for the Lions tours while at the club: * Brian Moore (1989)
===Rugby World Cup=== The following are players which have represented their countries at the Rugby World Cup while playing for Nottingham: {| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" !Tournament !Players selected !{{nrut|England}} players !Other national team players |- |1987 |2 |Brian Moore, Gary Rees | |- |1991 |3 |Gary Rees, Simon Hodgkinson |Chris Gray {{flagicon|SCO}} |- |2011 |4 | |James Arlidge {{flagicon|JAP}}, Sione Kalamafoni {{flagicon|TON}}, Tim Usasz {{flagicon|USA}}, Filipo Levi {{flagicon|SAM}} |- |2019 |1 | |Shane O'Leary {{flagicon|CAN}} |}
===Other notable former players=== The following players have played for Nottingham and have been capped by their national side. * {{flagicon|England}} Rob Andrew, England and British & Irish Lions * {{flagicon|England}} Vincent Cartwright, England captain * {{flagicon|England}} Dusty Hare, England and British & Irish Lions * {{flagicon|USA}} Chris Wyles, United States * {{flagicon|New Zealand}} Ali Williams, All Black #1022 * {{flagicon|England}} Chris Oti, England * {{flagicon|England}} Tom Youngs, England and British & Irish Lions * {{flagicon|England}} Alex Corbisiero, England and British & Irish Lions * {{flagicon|England}} Nick Preston, England * {{flagicon|England}} Neil Back, England and British & Irish Lions * {{flagicon|England}} Billy Twelvetrees, England * {{flagicon|England}} Ollie Chessum, England and British & Irish Lions * {{flagicon|England}} Joe Carpenter, England * {{flagicon|England}} George Furbank, England * {{flagicon|England}} Will Stuart, England and British & Irish Lions * {{flagicon|Wales}} Josh Adams, Wales and British & Irish Lions * {{flagicon|Wales}} Ellis Mee, Wales * {{flagicon|Sweden}} Ale Loman, Sweden * {{flagicon|UAE}} Jack Stapley, UAE
<ref>https://www.nottinghamrugbyhistory.co.uk/players/all-time/</ref>
==Notes== {{notelist}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{Official website}}
{{RFU Championship}} {{British and Irish Cup}} {{English Premiership (rugby union)}} {{Original Courage League 1 clubs}}
Category:Premiership Rugby teams Category:Rugby union teams in England Category:Rugby clubs established in 1877 Category:Sport in Nottingham Category:Rugby union in Nottinghamshire Category:1877 establishments in England