O'Neills Club Focus: Rochdale Rugby Union Club

Club Name: Rochdale Rugby Union Club

Geographical Location: Rochdale,Lancashire

Clubs nickname: Dale

No of Teams: 4 senior team, 2 ladies team, senior and junior colts, M&J section from U6-u16, Expendables (over 35’s)

Brief History of the club:

Rochdale inherits a tradition in Rugby Union Football which goes as far back as 1867, when the Rochdale Football Club was formed. The present club was formed in 1921 by a small band of enthusiasts, who continued to play at the Club for many decades.

In the new Millennium the Club members took things to new heights. Their  vision and drive led the Club through the construction of a fine new Clubhouse and the reconstruction / drainage of all the rugby pitches.

In addition to the four existing playing pitches, in 2009-10 with the aid of an RFU grant, a fully reconstructed and drained training area with floodlights was created from unused Club land ("the Hollow") to accommodate the greatly increased demand for training facilities by all age groups, used throughout the week.

The Mini and Junior section continues to thrive and prepare young players for their eventual step up to the Senior teams.  Their Easter Tours provide fantastic opportunities for travel and team bonding and the Minis' end of season tournament held at the club is one of the largest of its kind in Lancashire.  Thanks to the first class organisation of the clubs committees, Rochdale has been the venue for the Finals of Lancashire Schools, Lancashire Colts and Lancashire Juniors (Blackstick Blue Challenge) competitions and county games

January, 2010 also saw the Club gain the RFU's 'Whole Club Seal of Approval' one of the first clubs in the North of England to achieve this prestigious award.  The presentation of their Certificate was made on 6th November 2010 by Senior RFU Vice President Willie Wildash to the RRUFC Chairman at Twickenham, during half time of the England v New Zealand Autumn International, just one of four such awards made on the day.

Rochdale Rugby Union Football club (RRUFC) clubhouse was built to enable the club to prosper in the future as the existing club facilities unfortunately where not to present standards and the club membership was growing year on year in particular within the mini and youth section. Following the success of the new clubhouse the club has grown again and now has 4 senior teams and over 300 mini and junior members form under 6’s to under 19s, making it one of the biggest sections in Lancashire. The club is proud to be fully amateur and everything goes back into rugby and the upkeep of the facilities.

Clubs greatest achievements: RRUFC have gained various promotions throughout the RFU league structure with the highest promotion being into RFU National 3 Level 5. They currently recide in North One, level 6. They have also won the Lancashire Trophy a record 5 times and become runners up once.

Interesting facts about the club: The 2016/17 season has seen RRUFC establish two girls teams at u13’s and u15’s level, the teams are going from strength to strength.

Expectations for the year: 1st team to stay within the NW One league, 3/4th team to win their respective cups, establish, promote and fully integrate the girls teams within RRUFC.

Any upcoming key dates / events / matches:

From all the team here at O'Neills, we would like to wish Rochdale Rugby Union Club the very best of luck for the remainder of the season. #ChoiceofChampions