Antrim RFC

Antrim RFC (Antrim Rugby Football Club) is a rugby

Rugby football

Rugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...

 club based at Allen Park in Antrim, County Antrim

Antrim, County Antrim

Antrim is a town in County Antrim in the northeast of Northern Ireland, on the banks of the Six Mile Water, half a mile north-east of Lough Neagh. It had a population of 20,001 people in the 2001 Census. The town is the administrative centre of Antrim Borough Council...

, Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

. It is affiliated to the Ulster Branch

Ulster Rugby

Ulster Rugby, usually referred to simply as Ulster, is an Irish professional rugby union team based in Belfast, representing the Irish province of Ulster, that competes in the RaboDirect Pro12 and also competes in the Heineken Cup...

 of the Irish Rugby Football Union. The club presently field a First XV in the Kukri Qualifying league 3A and a Second XV consisting of older players and fringe players who play friendly fixtures. The squad train at Allen Park on a Tuesday and Thursday evening at 7:30pm.

Traditionally, the team wear blue and white with navy shorts and navy socks.

History

Back in the 1960s the town of Antrim suffered a population explosion from the extent of being situated on the main route between Belfast

Belfast

Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...

 and the North West. A government paper known as the Butler report suggested that the new town should be able to support a rugby club. On the strength of this report, several local enthusiasts including Councillors Jack Allen and Jarvis Campbell got together and Antrim RFC was formed in the Summer of 1966. Jarvis Campbell became the first president and Jack Allen became the founder Chairman. To this day, 2 of the founder members (Neville Laverty and Dennis Manson) remain active with the club.
Initially a 1st and 2nd XV were formed and played a season of friendlies and cup matches. The teams were formed from local players who left neighbouring clubs plus a large influx of schoolboys mainly from the Ballymena

Ballymena

Ballymena is a large town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland and the seat of Ballymena Borough Council. Ballymena had a population of 28,717 people in the 2001 Census....

. After one season, the 1st XV and the 2nd XV entered the Ulster Junior and Intermediate leagues respectively.
In 1970 a 3rd XV was formed and the club soon had a 4th XV come 1976. Conveniently in 1974, Antrim Grammar School

Antrim Grammar School

Antrim Grammar School is the newest grammar school in Northern Ireland. It is situated in County Antrim, within the North Eastern Education and Library Board area.- History :...

 was formed and the club were able to enjoy an influx of ex schoolboys and teachers ever since.
After the 1st XV winning the league in 1980, the club were able to attract more players and field a 5th XV. Progress continued as the 3rds and 4ths gained successive promotions through the leagues and the 1sts won a further promotion in 1987.

However successful the team were on the pitch, off it also came success. Until the early 1970s, the pitch was still a field beside the Antrim Borough Council offices on the Steeple Road with changing rooms being a converted cow shed. In 1971 the club acquired ground on the Randalstown Road and amalgamated with Antrim Hockey Club

Antrim Hockey Club

Antrim Hockey Club is a hockey club based at Muckamore Cricket Club, Moylena, Nursery Park, Belfast Road, Muckamore. Home fixtures are played on the sand-filled artificial surface at the Local Council owned Antrim Forum in Antrim town. The Club was founded in 1894 and was one of the founding...

. To raise money to develop the pitches, a clubhouse was opened in the Antrim Castle Grounds which was the base of the Hockey section in 1972 and opened by none other than Willie John McBride

Willie John McBride

William James McBride, MBE, better known as Willie John McBride is a former rugby union footballer who played as a lock for Ireland and the British and Irish Lions. He played 63 Tests for Ireland including eleven as captain, and toured with the Lions five times — a record that gave him 17...

. In 1979 the official move was made to the club's present home Allen Park, which was named after local Mayor, and the then Club President Jack Allen. The facilities included a floodlit training area, 4 grass rugby pitches, 2 grass hockey pitches and one all weather training pitch.
Come 1986, the club extended the changing rooms and added a new club house which was opened by Sir Ewart Bell(President of the IRFU).

1st XV Honours

Gordon West cup 2001,2002 (First side to ever defend it and joint top most wins)Gordon West Cup History

Junior League section 5 winners 1980

Ulster Towns Cup

Ulster Towns Cup

The Ulster Towns Cup is a rugby union competition organized by the Ulster branch of the Irish Rugby Football Union.It is confined to teams outside of Belfast...

 runners up 1989

The Reformation

In 1995 the Hockey Club severed their ties with the rugby team and moved to Muckamore Cricket Club.

After becoming recognised as one of the most ambitious teams in the Qualifying league, Antrim RFC went on to win the Gordon West Memorial in 2001 at Ravenhill

Ravenhill Stadium

Ravenhill Stadium is located in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is used by Ulster Rugby. It has a normal capacity of 12,300 and is owned by the Irish Rugby Football Union.-History:The grounds were opened in the 1923/24 season...

. A year later, the squad defended their title and brought the trophy back to Allen Park, remaining to this very day, the only team to defend it successfully. However due to a lack of recruitment to a 2ndXV and a significant number of player retirements in 2006, the team unfortunately could not complete its fixtures post Christmas 2007 and did not field a rugby team for rest of the 2007 season. The players dispersed to play their rugby elsewhere. In the new season a group of older players and former schoolboys decided to start a team again in order to keep the team going on a social basis. In 2007 Antrim re-entered the Magners Minor Leagues and after finding their footing, went on to finish 3rd in 2009. The league was once again restructured & with the team holding their own and with player numbers increasing on a continuous basis, the playing squad formed their own sub committee and appointed a proper coach, found a new sponsor for the match kits and approached the Ulster Branch with a proposal to rejoin the Kukri Qualifying Section. The application was accepted and the club turned over a new leaf and fielded their first team within the league in 4 years against Letterkenny

Letterkenny RFC

Letterkenny RFC is an Irish rugby union club based in Letterkenny, County Donegal. The team plays its home games at Dave Gallaher Memorial Park in Letterkenny.- History :...

RFC.

Representative Players Past and Present

Alan Cluff (Junior Ulster Captain, English Universities)

Stephen Dinsmore (Junior Ulster)

David Arther (Junior Ulster)

George Arther (Junior Ulster, Ulster U-19s, Ulster U-21s)

Colin Jones (Junior Ulster)

Hugh Octavius Wallace (Ulster U-20s,Irish Colleges)

Rick McKee (Irish Colleges)

Michael Laverty (Ulster U-19s)

Adrian Cochrane-Watson (Ulster U-20s)

Gareth Falls (Ulster Schools)

Gary Wilson (Ulster Schools)

Richard Manson (Ulster Schools,)

Jason Bonnes (Ulster U-18s)

Neil Manson (Ulster Youths U-16s, Ulster Youths U-18s)