Birmingham & Solihull R.F.C.

Birmingham & Solihull Bees
Full name Birmingham & Solihull Rugby Club
Founded 1989 (1989)
Location Birmingham, England
Ground(s) Portway
Coach(es) Ian Matthews
League(s) National League 3 Midlands
Team kit
Official website
www.beesrugby.com

Birmingham and Solihull Rugby Football Club are a rugby union club representing Birmingham and Solihull. It was formed in 1989 by a merger of the original Birmingham (founded 1911)[1] and Solihull rugby clubs, which were both established over 60 years ago.

History

Origins

The club's original name was Birmingham and Solihull RFC, but in 2001 due to the club colours of black, white, red and gold, and the alliteration of the name, the club underwent a large scale rebranding, adopting the alias Pertemps Bees.[2] The team have since shortened this to Bees.

Birmingham Bees are remembered by many fans for their cup success of 2004, in which they caused the biggest upset in the professional rugby era by beating London Wasps 28–24 in the quarter final of the Powergen Cup overcoming odds of 250–1, known as "The Greatest Ever Sporting Upset", subsequently playing Newcastle Falcons in the semi final, live on BBC television. The club however hit rock bottom just two seasons later in 2005–06 when they finished last in National Division One but were saved from relegation because of league expansion.

In October 2006 it was announced that Bees were in the planning stage of building a £60 million super stadium at their training ground known as Portway just off the M42 in Solihull. It would be one of the nation's largest sports villages to rival anything built for the 2012 Olympics. Plans include a regional sports academy, education and conference centre, 12,000 capacity stadium, seven all-weather rugby pitches, archery and shooting ranges and a watersports lake.

In June 2007 Bees coach Steve Williams left the club with one year still left on his contact to become assistant manager at Magners League side Ulster. Williams a former Northampton and London Irish player won 29 caps for Wales.

The 2007–08 season began under a split coaching structure in which two former England Sevens internationals had equal control over the squad. Ben Harvey coached the backs and Russell Earnshaw was player/forwards coach. The coaching structure however was widely viewed as unsuccessful and former Bees scrum-half Harvey was sacked shortly before Christmas. On a temporary basis former Rotherham head coach Andre Bester was appointed to take charge of the side before being replaced by former Wales A coach Allan Lewis.

In November 2007 it was announced that Bees would sell their Sharmans Cross Road pitch and play at local football side Solihull Moors Damson Park as part of a ground share arrangement.

On 28 January former Llanelli centre Allan Lewis was announced as the head coach of Bees. Lewis brought experience to the club after previously holding the role of head coach at Celtic Warriors, Moseley, Newport and Bridgend. Lewis had also worked with the Welsh national squad working as selector, backs coach and Wales A head coach at different times throughout his career. However, by 17 April it was reported that Lewis would not remain at the club past the 2007–08 season and would return to his post at Hartpury College.

Bees were relegated to National Division Two at the end of the 2007–08 season finishing in 15th position. Following their relegation they would also end the clubs association with the Pertemps Group losing the monikor of 'Pertemps Bees' and changing back to the original name of 'Birmingham & Solihull'.[3]

Birmingham and Solihull finished the 2008–09 season as winners of National Division Two and were promoted to the newly formed Championship. Fly half Mark Woodrow finished as top point scorer within the National Leagues and winger Simon Hunt as top try scorer.

A New Beginning

Bees' campaign in the 2009–10 season was blighted by administration, a fate which also befell Coventry. Bees finished the main season on negative points, rock bottom of the table. However, with a mini-league of the bottom four teams to be played to decide relegation, all hope was not lost.

Unfortunately, due to an administration error back in January, Bees were to start the playoff league on −2 points. The odds were stacked against them.

Yet despite all this, on 1 May 2010, Bees turned out at Billesley Common and held on to win 34–38 versus a determined Moseley Side. With the result at Clifton Lane having to go to Rotherham for Bees to stay up, the Moseley announcer did not take too long in letting the waiting crowd know the score. Rotherham had beaten Coventry at Butts Park, and Bees were safe.

However, their stay in English rugby union's second tier was not confirmed until 26 May 2010, when the RFU published a Press Release confirming that Bees had passed an audit of their finances and business plan – and were accepted as full members of the union. The club would finally leave Sharmans Cross Road following relegation from the 2009-10 RFU Championship to start groundsharing with a local football team at Damson Park.[4]

For the 2012-13 season Bees moved to what had formerly been their training ground, Portway, having been groundsharing for a couple of seasons.[5]

Club honours

Current standings

2014–15 National League 2 North Table
Club Played Won Drawn Lost Points For Points Against Points Difference Try Bonus Losing Bonus Points
1 Hull Ionians (C) 30 27 0 3 976 407 569 25 1 134
2 Ampthill (P) 30 26 1 3 1113 440 673 23 2 131
3 Sedgley Park 30 18 1 11 881 666 215 16 4 89
4 Harrogate 30 17 3 10 720 652 68 11 4 89
5 Chester 30 16 1 13 706 595 111 12 6 84
6 Caldy 30 16 1 13 696 720 –24 11 7 84
7 Broadstreet 30 17 0 13 773 687 86 11 4 83
8 Otley 30 13 1 16 676 682 –6 13 8 75
9 Huddersfield 30 14 2 14 586 658 –72 7 4 71
10 Stourbridge 30 12 1 17 740 803 –63 12 7 69
11 Leicester Lions 30 13 0 17 612 804 –192 10 2 64
12 Preston Grasshoppers 30 11 0 19 621 664 –43 10 10 64
13 Luctonians 30 11 1 18 599 766 –167 10 5 61
14 Birmingham & Solihull (R) 30 9 2 18 724 809 –85 8 10 58
15 Hull (R) 30 10 1 19 543 836 –293 9 3 54
16 Stockport (R) 30 2 1 27 444 1221 –777 5 4 19
  • If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:
  1. Number of matches won
  2. Difference between points for and against
  3. Total number of points for
  4. Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams
  5. Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled
Green background is the promotion place. Blue background is the play-off place. Pink background are relegation places.
Updated: 2 May 2015
Source: "National League 2 North". NCA Rugby. 

Current squad

Note: Flags indicate national union as has been defined under WR eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-WR nationality.

Player Position Union
Ben Gerry Hooker England England
Ross McMillan Hooker England England
Dan Oselton Hooker England England
Rob Dugard Prop England England
Leo Halavatau Prop Tonga Tonga
Matt Long (c) Prop England England
Joe Reid Prop England England
Mauro Sperandio Prop Argentina Argentina
Ngalu Tau Prop Tonga Tonga
Alex Ball Lock England England
Dan Sanderson (loan) Lock England England
Dan Wright Lock England England
Jack Bentall Flanker England England
Rob Connolly Flanker Ireland Ireland
Mike Denbee Flanker England England
Ross Noonan Flanker Ireland Ireland
Jack Preece Flanker England England
Adam Clayton Number 8 England England
Russell Earnshaw Number 8 England England
Mark Hopley Number 8 England England
Player Position Union
John Brake Scrum-half England England
Rod Petty Scrum-half Australia Australia
Jimmy Williams Scrum-half England England
Sam Robinson Fly-half England England
Mark Woodrow Fly-half England England
Ben Barkley Centre England England
Ed Binham Centre England England
Sam Cox Centre England England
Oliver Grove Centre Scotland Scotland
Will Lawson Centre England England
Mitch Culpin Wing England England
Ian Davey Wing England England
John Holtby Wing England England
Simon Hunt Wing England England
Tomasi Tanumi Wing Fiji Fiji
Tom Foden Fullback England England
Ollie Winter Fullback England England

Full Internationals

Sevens

Other representative teams

References

  1. ↑ Stephen Jones, ed. (1986). Rothmans Rugby Yearbook 1986-87. London: Queen Anne Press.
  2. ↑ http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/welsh/4792039.stm
  3. ↑ "Bees back as B&S as Pertemps pull sponsorship". Birmingham Post. 5 August 2008.
  4. ↑ "Birmingham and Solihull Bees to announce ground share deal with Solihull Moors.". Birmingham Mail. 15 June 2010.
  5. ↑ "Birmingham & Solihull Bees in shape for new rugby season". Solihull News. 22 August 2012.
  6. ↑ "NM CUP PREVIOUS WINNERS". North Midlands RFU. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  7. ↑ "Bees win North Midlands Cup in tense final". North Midlands RFU. 8 May 2016.

External links

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