Bideford RFC

Bideford
Full name Bideford Rugby Football Club
Union Devon RFU
Nickname(s) The Chiefs
Founded 1926 (1926)
Location Bideford, Devon, England
Ground(s) King George's Field (Capacity: 2,000)
Chairman Lester Bird
Coach(es) Dave Kimberley
League(s) Tribute South West 1 West
2016–17 11th
Team kit
Official website
www.pitchero.com/clubs/bidefordrfc

Bideford RFC is an English Rugby union team formed in 1926, based in Bideford, Devon. The club operates four senior men's teams including the colts, as well as multiple youth, ladies and mini teams. The first team, known as the "Chiefs", currently play in Tribute South West 1 West. The club has a longstanding rivalry with neighbours Barnstaple, and the traditional Boxing Day fixture between the two sides often attracts crowds in excess of a thousand supporters.[1] Bideford plays home games at the King George's Field.[2]

King George's Field, home of Bideford RFC

History

Early days

Bideford was founded in 1926 by local players who had, up until then, played for its neighbors, Barnstaple RFC, the traditional rugby powerhouse in North Devon. It was the beginning of a long sporting rivalry between the clubs. Bideford played their first game against a Barnstaple reserve side, held at Victoria Park. Victoria Park remained Bideford's home ground until 1929 when they moved to the Sports Ground. This ground was shared with local football side, Bideford AFC.[3] During the 1930s the club had a degree of success in the Devon Junior Cup (the secondary cup competition for men's rugby at the time), winning the competition twice in 1933 and 1935.[4] In 1969, Bideford left the Sports Ground and moved to King George's Field, where it currently plays.[3] They won the Havill Plate in 1975.[4]

League rugby

When the leagues were introduced for the 1987–88 season, Bideford was placed in Courage Cornwall/Devon, a regional league for Cornish and Devon-based clubs ranked in tier 8 of the English league system.[5][6] In 1992, after four seasons in this division, the club finished as champions and thus were promoted to Tribute Western Counties West.[7] They remained part of Tribute Western Counties West for six years, until the 1997–98 season when they finished last and were relegated,[8] returning to Cornwall/Devon. In 2001, after several years in that league, Bideford achieved promotion as runners-up and returned to their former league. This promotion was short-lived as they were relegated the following year after a poor league campaign which saw just 1 win in 22 games.[9] Two years later disaster struck as Bideford sunk to the lowest league ranking of their league history so far, and were relegated at the end of the 2004–05 season to Devon 1.[10]

The 2006–07 season saw Bideford start to rebuild and they finished second in the league behind champions Teignmouth, qualifying for a promotion play-off against the runners-up from Cornwall League 1 – Liskeard-Looe. Due to a better league record, Bideford had home advantage, and they managed to win a close tie 23–18 to return to Cornwall/Devon.[11] The next year saw Bideford not only stave off relegation with a mid-table finish, but they also won the Devon Junior Cup for the third time, beating Teignmouth 23–7 in the final held at King George's Field.[12] Victory in the junior cup saw Bideford go from strength-to-strength as they won the league and cup double during the 2010–11 season, first winning Tribute Devon/Cornwall with 25 wins from 26 games, and then outclassing Crediton, 45–12 away in the final of the Devon Intermediate Cup.[13][14] A second intermediate cup victory followed the next year as once again Bideford thrashed Okehampton 51–17 in front of a home crowd of around 400 supporters.[15]

In 2013, Bideford finished second in Western Counties West after losing a competitive title battle with eventual champions St Austell and qualified for the promotion play-off against Western Counties North runners-up, Wells. Despite having to travel to Somerset, Bideford survived a late fightback to clinch promotion 27–20.[16] This promotion saw Bideford play in Tribute South West 1 West for the 2013–14 season, which at tier 6 is the highest level the club have played at.[17]

Honours

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Bideford v Barnstaple: Boxing Day rugby derby match preview". North Devon Journal. 24 December 2016.
  2. ↑ "Bideford RFC". Bideford RFC. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
  3. 1 2 "Bideford Town Council - Victoria Park". Western Morning News. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
  4. 1 2 "DRFU Handbook 2011-12" (PDF). Devon RFU. Retrieved 30 January 2017.
  5. ↑ Stephen Jones, ed. (1988). Rothmans Rugby Union Yearbook 1988–89. London: Rothmans Publications Ltd.
  6. ↑ Tony Williams and Bill Mitchell, ed. (1990). Courage Official Rugby Union Club Directory 1990–91. Windsor: Burlington Publishing Co Ltd.
  7. ↑ Williams, T. and Mitchell, B. (1991) Courage Clubs Championship Official Rugby Union Club Directory 1991–92. Taunton: Tony Williams.
  8. ↑ "Final League Tables 1997–98". Trelawny's Army. Retrieved 1 September 2014.
  9. ↑ "Final League Tables 2002–2003". Trelawny's Army. Retrieved 1 September 2014.
  10. ↑ "Final League Tables 2004–2005". Trelawny's Army. Retrieved 1 September 2014.
  11. ↑ Hooper, Bill. "Bill Hooper's Cornish Roundup". Retrieved 23 August 2014.
  12. ↑ "RHINO DEVON JUNIOR CUP FINAL". Everything Rugby. 7 April 2008.
  13. ↑ "Final League Tables 2010–2011". Trelawny's Army. Retrieved 1 September 2014.
  14. ↑ "Crediton thrashed by Bideford in cup final". This is Devon. 27 April 2011.
  15. ↑ "Bideford lift cup again after Olde's hat-trick". Western Morning News. 28 April 2012.
  16. ↑ "Wells RFC miss out on promotion after losing play-off against Bideford". Somerset Live. 12 May 2013.
  17. ↑ "Final League Tables 2012–2013". Trelawny's Army. Retrieved 1 September 2014.
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