London Irish Amateur

London Irish Amateur
Full name London Irish Amateur Rugby Football Club
Union RFU
Nickname(s) The Wild Geese[1]
Founded September 1999[2]
Location Sunbury-on-Thames, England
Ground(s) Hazelwood
Chairman David Fitzgerald
President Alan McCartney
Coach(es) Duncan Cormack
Captain(s) Eddie Fraher
League(s) National League 3 South East
2013–14 14th (demoted)
Official website
www.london-irish-amateur.co.uk

London Irish Amateur Rugby Football Club, also London Irish Wild Geese, are an amateur English rugby union club based in Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey, who currently play their rugby in National League 3 South East. They are the amateur team of London Irish[3] and play at Hazelwood.[4]

History

The creation of London Irish Amateur was first discussed in 1995 when rugby union became professional and London Irish set aside resources for the creation of an amateur team.[5] The club was founded in September 1999 after London Irish left The Avenue to play at the Madjeski Stadium in Reading.[4][6][7][8] It was formed to be the feeder club for senior and junior amateur players to then go on to play for London Irish, who play in the English Premiership.[9] A few players such as Justin Bishop and Kieran Campbell went on to play international rugby.[2]

London Irish and London Irish Amateur jointly share the new Hazelwood Rugby complex. Since 2012, links between London Irish and London Irish Amateur were upgraded with the two becoming part of a joint venture where London Irish Amateur players play for London Irish in the A League.[10] In return, members of London Irish's Academy are entitled to play for London Irish Amateur.[11]

The first team's official name was changed to London Irish Wild Geese after the Rugby Football Union's governance committee gave consent for the change of name. In 2011, they were promoted from London 1 into National League 3 London & SE.[12] In 2012, they were moved into National League 3 South West,.[13][14] In 2013, they were promoted into National League 2 South.[15]

London Irish Amateur receives a grant from the Irish Government's Emigrant Support Programme to support Mini Rugby.[16]

Club Honours

Current standings

London Irish Amateurs were demoted from National League 2 South at the end of the 2013–14 season and will play in National League 3 London & SE from 2014–15.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Wild Geese on brink of the title". guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 12 April 2010.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "About us". London Irish (archived). 2010-04-08. Retrieved 2014-03-01.
  3. ↑ "Titans tackle London Irish Wild Geese". Somerset County Gazette. 2013-12-14. Retrieved 2014-03-01.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Cambridge eye hat-trick by clipping wings of Wild Geese". Cambridge News. 2013-10-18. Retrieved 2014-03-01.
  5. ↑ Intouch Rugby | Ulster Rugby Coverage (2012-02-29). "LONDON IRISH AMATEUR RFC: Wild Geese Flying The Flag For Amateur Status". Intouchrugby.com. Retrieved 2014-03-01.
  6. ↑ "London Irish (Rugby Team)". 20thcenturylondon.org.uk. Retrieved 2014-03-01.
  7. ↑ "Exiles up for "Craic in the Valley"". ESPN. 2000-07-11. Retrieved 2014-03-01.
  8. ↑ About the Club at www.london-irish.com. Retrieved 1 Mar 2014.
  9. ↑ Intouch Rugby (2011-04-23). "London Irish Amateur RFC, Flourishing Thanks To A Former NIFC Scrum Half From Armagh". Intouchrugby.com. Retrieved 2014-03-01.
  10. ↑ "London Irish join forces in Amateur partnership". Get Surrey. 2012-06-21. Retrieved 2014-03-01.
  11. ↑ "Billy Clark excited by London Irish academy squad". Get Reading. 2013-07-05. Retrieved 2014-03-01.
  12. ↑ Intouch Rugby (2011-04-23). "London Irish Wild Geese Rugby I XV 21 – 14 Sidcup Rugby I XV: London Division 1 Promotion play off – 23rd April 2011". Intouchrugby.com. Retrieved 2014-03-01.
  13. ↑ Owens, Trevor (2012-05-13). "Malvern RFC made to switch divisions". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2014-03-01.
  14. ↑ "The Wild Geese Division Transfer". London-irish-amateur.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-03-01.
  15. ↑ Bristol, The (2013-10-14). "We just couldn't get our game firing, admits Dings coach Alex Guest". Bristol Post. Retrieved 2014-03-01.
  16. ↑ Name *. "British-based charities given £5.4m by Irish government". Irish Post. Retrieved 2014-03-01.
  17. ↑ http://clubs.rfu.com/Fixtures/MatchByDivision.aspx?DivID=17119918
  18. ↑ http://www.cobhamrfc.com/archive-news/1sts-miss-out-in-cup-challenge/
  19. ↑ http://www.cobhamrfc.com/senior-rugby/1st-xv/archive
  20. ↑ http://www.surreyrugby.com/pages/pv.asp?p=surrey415
  21. ↑ http://clubs.rfu.com/fixtures/ViewClubDetail.aspx?CompetitionID=5730102&TeamID=5747358&LeagueID=158565975&sType=League
  22. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/LondonIrishARFC

External links