Petersfield R.F.C.

Petersfield
Full name Petersfield Rugby Football Club
Union RFU
Founded 1927
Ground(s) Penn's Place
Chairman Stuart Barden
CEO Rob Mocatta, Hon Secretary
President Clive Waller
Coach(es) Scott Heffield
Captain(s) Gareth Crane
League(s) Hampshire 1
Team kit
Official website
www.pitchero.com/clubs/petersfield/

Petersfield Rugby Football Club is a rugby union club based in the town of Petersfield, Hampshire, England.

The club was formed in 1927, at the instigation of Frank Guy, a former pupil of Churcher's College, with which the club still enjoys an excellent relationship. Affiliated to the Hampshire Union in the same year, the club quickly became a focus for both sporting and social activity. In that first year, its vice-presidents included five doctors, two clergymen and two ladies!

Petersfield’s long reputation as a highly hospitable venue for sport was rapidly established. By 1934 the club was running two teams and gained its first county honour when G.E.Twine was capped to play against Kent (Hampshire won 6-3). In those days players were “carded” the post being sufficiently rapid and reliable to ensure that players were aware that they had been selected for the next match.

In 1938 the club changed its colours to its well-known scarlet and white hoop.

The club affiliated itself to the Rugby Football Union in 1948 and in that year moved to Love Lane Stadium. However, as the club grew, the need was soon recognized to provide a more permanent home in the town. Plans were well advanced to build a separate clubhouse at Love Lane, when the Town Council decided to develop the Penns Place site at the edge of the town. The club moved to Penns Place in 1979; the first clubhouse was a wooden structure which was irreparably damaged in the Great Storm of 1987. In 1989 Frank Guy, the founder member, officially opened the current clubhouse with a celebratory match between a Petersfield XV and Derek White’s Invitation XV being played. At the beginning of the 2006-07 season, a new changing room block was opened. This development was made necessary by the loss of the changing facility in the Taro Centre, which had been a key assumption in the design of the 1979 and 1989 clubhouses. After several years where portable cabins were used for changing, the new development was achieved through the significant support of the Rugby Football Foundation,[1] grants and fundraising by Club members.

Ex-Petersfield player Tim Rodber is one of the club's best known old boys, having gone on to be capped for England, and the British and Irish Lions.

The club has reputation for an outstanding youth setup and want to create a centre of excellence to push players through the ranks. Recent success stories include the ex Harlequins, Newcastle Falcons, Sale Sharks and now Bristol Rugby winger Charlie Amesbury,[2] England Ladies international Fiona Pocock,[3] and Joe Atkinson, capped by England U18s and England Students, who joined Cornish Pirates in 2013.[4]

Since the start of the 2011-12 season, the Director of Rugby has been Scott Heffield.

In the RFU English Clubs Championship, Petersfield has achieved the following outcomes in recent seasons:

Season Division (level) Result
2007-08 London 4 South West (8) 8th/12
2008-09 London 4 South West (8) 12th/12, relegated
2009-10 Hampshire Division 1 (9) 2nd/12, promoted
2010-11 London 3 South West (8) 9th/12 but relegated due to restructuring of London 3 South West Division
2011-12 Hampshire Division 1 (9) 5th/12
2012-13 Hampshire Division 1 (9) 11th/12, relegated
2013-14 Hampshire Division 2 (10) 1st/12, promoted
2014-15 Hampshire Division 1 (9) 6th/10 (league should have had 11 teams; Team Solent withdrew)

Club Honours

See also

References

  1. ↑ Rugby Football Foundation
  2. ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/21740792
  3. ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/31886517
  4. ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/26341270
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