Hove Rugby Football Club
Encyclopedia
Hove Rugby Football Club is an English
community rugby union
club, located in the City of Brighton and Hove, who play in the London Division of the RFU in the 2010-2011 Season. Hove Rugby Club is based at Hove Recreation Ground in Shirley Drive Hove
. Hove RFC is affiliated to the English RFU
via the Sussex RFU
.
In 1952 the Yeomanry could no longer continue without an influx of new players. The members approached Alderman Arthur Brocke who was then Mayor of Hove and Councillor Jack Woolley. They secured a pitch in Hove Park and the old timber Scout Hut was refurbished and extended to provide showers, kitchen and a bar.
The new Clubhouse was opened by the Mayor of Brighton and Hove in August 2002 - coincidentally, this was the Club's 50th anniversary as Hove - a fact that was missed at the time!
The inevitable happened and the Club finished top of Sussex 1 and were promoted to London SE4 again.
Hove reached the final of the Sussex Cup losing out to Chichester. Hove were knocked out of the Senior Vase in round 2 away to London Cornish.
Hove's second team suffered from a lack of fixtures as the newly formed reserve league didn't attract the Kent sides. This is to change for 2012-2013 and so the Yeomen should have a full card - which is essential. The Beef had a great year and may have won promotion apart from a disgraceful rule interpretation. In the end, they still had a game to play but finished on 64 points in third. The Volunteers struggled to compete at the same level as the Beef and finished 9th on 42 points in the Sussex Canterbury Jack Intermediate League. The Fusiliers also had a great year finishing second in Sussex Late Red League Three West.
The WRFC - playing in RFUW Championship South - found the standard very high and finished second from bottom with 20 points. I only see 7 teams in the league as reported on the RFU - but I'm sure there were more who may have dropped out. Clearly, that would mean that the WRFC didn't fare as badly as it may look.
In addition to the First XV, the Club has a further four senior men's teams, a Senior WRFC or women's team (affiliated to the RFUW
), Colts team at Under 18 and Under 17, Youth Teams from Under 13 to Under 16 as well as Mini Rugby for ages from Under 6 to Under 12.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
community rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
club, located in the City of Brighton and Hove, who play in the London Division of the RFU in the 2010-2011 Season. Hove Rugby Club is based at Hove Recreation Ground in Shirley Drive Hove
Hove
Hove is a town on the south coast of England, immediately to the west of its larger neighbour Brighton, with which it forms the unitary authority Brighton and Hove. It forms a single conurbation together with Brighton and some smaller towns and villages running along the coast...
. Hove RFC is affiliated to the English RFU
Rugby Football Union
The Rugby Football Union was founded in 1871 as the governing body for the sport of rugby union, and performed as the international governing body prior to the formation of the International Rugby Board in 1886...
via the Sussex RFU
Sussex Rugby Football Union
The Sussex Rugby Football Union is the society responsible for rugby union in the county of Sussex, England and is one of the constituent bodies of the national Rugby Football Union.-Membership:...
.
The Beginnings
Territorial Army officers and men of the Sussex Yeomanry formed a rugby club, which was affiliated to the Rugby Football Union in 1933. Records of their results have been lost in the mist of time but, post war in 1945 the players reformed and continued to turn out on Saturdays, the home matches being played at East Brighton Park.In 1952 the Yeomanry could no longer continue without an influx of new players. The members approached Alderman Arthur Brocke who was then Mayor of Hove and Councillor Jack Woolley. They secured a pitch in Hove Park and the old timber Scout Hut was refurbished and extended to provide showers, kitchen and a bar.
Hove Recreation Ground
The local Council had plans for Hove Park and the rugby Club had to plan for a move. After many false starts, the Club finally moved the short distance to Hove Recreation Ground ready for the start of the 2002-2003 season. The building of excellent new facilities and the provision of four pitches at one location gave the Club the facilities it needed to break out from the lower levels of the English structure and to enable it to look to the future.The new Clubhouse was opened by the Mayor of Brighton and Hove in August 2002 - coincidentally, this was the Club's 50th anniversary as Hove - a fact that was missed at the time!
2002-2003
The season 2002-2003 brought mixed fortunes. Hove had been promoted a year or so earlier to the dizzy heights of London SE4. Despite them finishing third from bottom, the Club suffered relegation because of the cascade rulings of the RFU.2003-2004
As a result of last year's unfortunate - and undeserved - relegation, the Club found itself back in RFU Level 9 in the Sussex 1 division. It was clear from the start that Hove were too good for that level and huge scores were put on unfortunate visiting teams - Pulborough being on the wrong end of a 97-0 spanking in one particular game.The inevitable happened and the Club finished top of Sussex 1 and were promoted to London SE4 again.
2004-2005
A season of bedding in and as yet I cannot find the finishing position for this season. However, Hove progressed in the Sussex Cup that year eventually losing to near neighbours Lewes in the Semi Final.2005-2006
This season saw Hove climb SE4 and finished a creditable fourth place. There was no cup glory to be had this season.2006-2007
Hove went better this year finishing second to Bognor who took the only promotion spot. Bognor must have had the Indian Sign over Hove that year as Hove went out of the Sussex Cup to Bognor but reaching the Semi Final for the second successive year.2007-2008
All eyes were on the league this year and Hove finished as Champions of London SE4 and gained promotion to London SE3 and the never before reached heights of Level 7 in the structure.2008-2009
Hove were challenging hard for league honours this season and spent most of the season in second place of London 3SE until the demise of Lordswood saw the results expunged (subsequently returned on appeal) and they dropped to fourth. That is where they remained as they then lost games they would perhaps have been expected to win. Nonetheless, there was promotion of sorts as this was the year that the Championship was being formed and so next year saw all leagues renamed.Hove reached the final of the Sussex Cup losing out to Chichester. Hove were knocked out of the Senior Vase in round 2 away to London Cornish.
2009-2010
In the newly renamed London 2SE (but still level 7) Hove competed again for promotion. This time they were successful in what was their best ever season thus far - finishing second to undefeated Tonbridge Juddian and drawing the home fixture in the play off by having the better points total. Hove entertained Guernsey in the play off and won through in the greatest day at Hove Recreation Ground that I have witnessed. This performance was topped off by avenging last year's defeat by overcoming Chichester in the Sussex Cup Semi Final and beating Worthing II in the final - held at Crawley. The first - and only thus far - time that Hove have won this trophy.2010-2011
This season was one perhaps of consolidation, with the team finishing in the bottom half of the table, but clear of relegation. The final position was 9th - just behind Sutton and Epson in 8th by one point. Hove had 59 and Sutton 60. Following behind Hove were Thanet Wanderers and Cobham on 56 and 55 points respectively and then the relegated three of Wimbledon (33), Tunbridge Wells (9) and Chobham (9). The top half of the league saw Tonbridge Juddians promoted with 121 points and London Irish in the play off with the London 1 North representative (all still to happen). Chichester came third and missed out on a play off spot with 103 points and then the other Sussex team - Haywards Heath were fourth with 81 points. Dover, Beckenham and Portsmouth completed the top half on 77, 73 and 63 points respectively. Hove could - perhaps should - have been higher placed, having lost 7 games by low scores - Beckenham away by 1; Portsmouth away by 2; Portsmouth at home by 3; Cobham and Heath away - both by 3, Sutton & Epsom away by 5 and Chichester away by 6. Notice some top teams in that list! Had all those been wins, then the league total could have been closer to 80.Hove's second team suffered from a lack of fixtures as the newly formed reserve league didn't attract the Kent sides. This is to change for 2012-2013 and so the Yeomen should have a full card - which is essential. The Beef had a great year and may have won promotion apart from a disgraceful rule interpretation. In the end, they still had a game to play but finished on 64 points in third. The Volunteers struggled to compete at the same level as the Beef and finished 9th on 42 points in the Sussex Canterbury Jack Intermediate League. The Fusiliers also had a great year finishing second in Sussex Late Red League Three West.
The WRFC - playing in RFUW Championship South - found the standard very high and finished second from bottom with 20 points. I only see 7 teams in the league as reported on the RFU - but I'm sure there were more who may have dropped out. Clearly, that would mean that the WRFC didn't fare as badly as it may look.
Current
Hove RFC are a level 6 club within the English League structure of the RFU. They play league rugby in London 1 South which is administered by the London and South East Division - one of the four divisions of the RFU (the other being Northern Division, Midlands Division and South West Division). This league contains 14 Clubs - as do all others at this level and covers Kent, Sussex (East and West) as well as Surrey and Hampshire.In addition to the First XV, the Club has a further four senior men's teams, a Senior WRFC or women's team (affiliated to the RFUW
Rugby Football Union for Women
The Rugby Football Union for Women is the governing body for women's rugby union in England. Its headquarters are at Twickenham Stadium, London.-History:Women's rugby union was first played seriously in Great Britain in the late 1970’s...
), Colts team at Under 18 and Under 17, Youth Teams from Under 13 to Under 16 as well as Mini Rugby for ages from Under 6 to Under 12.
Status
Hove RFC are an amateur Club run by volunteers who give freely of their time. The players are also amateurs who play for the love of the game. In order to supplement income from Membership Funds and Bar/Function revenue, the Club benefits from the generosity of many sponsors who partner with the Club to help provide the sporting opportunities for both adults - men and women - and children of all ages.Alumni
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