Formative Years

Royston Rugby Union Football Club (RRUFC) was formed in 1961. Its founder and first club President was former England prop, Geoff Kelly.

Rowley Taylor, was also one of the co-founders of Royston Rugby Union Football Club, and was an army officer based at Bassingbourn Barracks where he arranged for initial home games to be played. The first clubhouse adopted by the team was the Chequers PH, Royston.

Michael Phizacklea who recently corrected some of our historical detail remembers playing in the very first match for the club, which was played away to Hitchin.

As the club established itself, home matches were moved to the Newmarket Road Recreational Ground with the teams celebrating success and failure at the Black Boy pub, now named The Jockey.

RRUFC was active in the formation of the Royston Sporting Club, which was opened in 1968 by the MP Shirley Williams. Rugby then began to grace The Heath and joined with the cricket, tennis and hockey sections. Initially the various sports sections ran the Sporting Club until the club was taken over in 1992 and managed as a commercial venture such as it is now.

Rapid Growth

RRUFC developed rapidly, in the late 1970's. The 1st XV was particularly successful and was one of the top sides in Hertfordshire. Several Royston players represented the County at this time.

Numerically, with regards to senior players, the club was at its strongest in the early 1980's, on some occasions putting out six teams.

In 1981, after a section of The Heath was levelled, a second rugby pitch was added. The Heath is a conservation area and currently the club does not own the land used for rugby but does benefit from the good will of the Conservators who manage The Heath. In addition to The Heath's two pitches, local school pitches were also needed to accommodate the number of teams active at the club.

At about this time a Veterans' team was formed which has been very successful at retaining 'old' rugby playing friends with a good standard of rugby played against old friends and adversaries from clubs in the area. In 1994 the Vet's won the County competition - the Sabbath

One United Club Across All Age Groups

The number of playing members of the club fell considerably through the '90s, as was the case nationally with many rugby clubs and other sporting organisations. However, in 1992 the club saw a big push for mini-rugby on The Heath. At first this section was called The Rabbits and the Junior section of the club has grown from strength to strength. On Sunday mornings hundreds of children of all ages now enjoy the joys of rugby football at Royston.

The mini and youth sections are now fully integrated with the senior section and RRUFC benefits from playing members from U6 to Veterans in one united club. As a result of this development and the changes to The Heath Sports Club, the rugby club now plays a vital role within the Royston area, both as an active family sports club with a growing social character as well as increasingly becoming a prominent feature of the Royston community.

Royston Rugby Club

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