Founded 1960 Ground Greensfield Avenue | League North 1 East | |
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Full name Alnwick Rugby Football Club Location Alnwick, Northumberland, United Kingdom Coach(es) Michael Walton, James Hamilton, Peter Moralee, Ali Gray Captain(s) Frank Hutchinson (1st XV)
Andrew Ord (2nd XV) | ||
Alnwick morpeth february 2016 first half
Alnwick RFC is an amateur rugby union club based in the town of Alnwick, Northumberland in north-east England. The club play in North 1 East, a level six league in the English rugby union system and are the most northerly rugby union club in English league rugby, (Berwick like their football team play in the Scottish rugby union system). Alnwick remain a strictly amateur club with all players paying annual and weekly match subscriptions. Alnwick regularly field three senior sides, all of which play competitive league and cup rugby. The club also has a junior section running teams from under 7's through to under 18's and a girls section.
Contents
League history
The 1987–88 season saw the formation of rugby union leagues in England which placed Alnwick in level six then known as North 2. They remained in that league until the 2002–03 season when they were relegated to Durham & Northumberland 1. The winners of Durham & Northumberland 1 are automatically promoted, with the second placed team going into a play-off promtion game against the second place team from Yorkshire 1.
The 2003–04 campaign saw Alnwick finish in second place, meaning they faced Pontefract RFC in the play-off for promotion. The game saw Alnwick claw back a 10-18 deficit to claim a thrilling 25-18 victory, Alan Moses' late 40-yard drop goal and a last gasp try from Jon Snaith sealed the victory and promotion back into North East 2. They remained at this level for two seasons until the 2005–06 season when they were relegated back to Durham & Northumberland 1 after finishing the campaign in 10th position.
After a four-season rebuilding period in Durham & Northumberland 1 Alnwick produced a young team, captained by the prolific try scoring wing Andrew Shell. The 2010–11 season saw the club finish in third position in Durham & Northumberland 1. The following campaign saw Alnwick go one better and finish in 2nd place, and face Keighley RUFC who finished 2nd in Yorkshire 1 in a play-off for promotion. Alnwick went into half time with a 16–3 lead. The second half saw Keighley fight back to win 18–16 and seal promotion to the restructured level 6 league North 1 East.
In 2013 Alnwick were promoted to North 1 East. They clinched promotion by finishing as champions of Durham & Northumberland 1 with a 10–28 victory against Medicals RFC in the final game of the season.
The 2013/14 season resulted in Alnwick finishing the campaign in 11th position and narrowly avoiding relegation back to Durham & Northumberland 1 on the final day of the season. This was the first time since Northern and Team Northumbria in the 2010/2011 season, that a newly promoted club from Durham & Northumberland 1 had avoided relegation from North 1 East.
Alnwicks 2014/15 season, the second back at level six resulted in a creditable 7th-place finish. The 2014/15 campaign proved to be more comfortable for Alnwick in comparison to the 2013/14 relegation battle with more games being won than lost, some notable performances and a terrific victory against Northumberland neighbors Percy Park.
2015/16 season Alnwick pipped West Hartlepool to 3rd in North 1 East after a convincing win over league champions Doncaster Phoenix in the last game of the season.
Local rivalries
Each season Alnwick play against local rivals Berwick, Northern and Morpeth for a trophy (as well as league points in the case of Morpeth in the 2016/17 campaign). The annual Alnwick v Berwick fixture contested for the Claret Jug takes place on the traditional derby date of boxing day. The venue for this fixture alternates between the clubs each year and often attracts the largest attendance of the season. The fixture is deemed as a special occasion by both sets of players and supporters alike, despite being local rivals the two clubs play in separate league structures meaning the clubs will never meet in a league fixture. This results in the boxing day clash being a fiercely contested game often settled by a single point.
Facilities
Greensfield, the home of Alnwick RFC has 3 Rugby pitches. The 1st team Pitch has a small grandstand on the touchline, the pitch is floodlit. The clubhouse overlooks the dead-ball area behind the posts at the north eastern end of the pitch. Greensfield is often chosen by the Northumberland Rugby Union to host home Northumberland, County Championship fixtures.
A major overhaul of facilities took place in 2012 resulting in new changing rooms being built along with a gym, improved toilets and showers, enhanced car parking, flood defense work and new advertising boards for the 1st team pitch. The project cost £240,000, which was made up from £130,000 in grants and a fundraising campaign which raised £110,000.
The new facilities were officially opened by the president of the RFU, Bob Reeves on 19 October 2013 before the North One east clash: Alnwick 14 Wheatley Hills 8.