Chinnor
Full nameChinnor Rugby Football Club
UnionRFU
Nickname(s)The Villagers
Founded1962; 62 years ago (1962)
RegionOxfordshire Rugby Football Union
Ground(s)Kingsey Road, Thame (Capacity: 2,500)
ChairmanNick Stainton
PresidentSimon Vickers
Director of RugbyNick Easter
Coach(es)Craig Hampson, Tom Knibbs, Caolan Ryan, Daz Oliver
Captain(s)George Grose
League(s)National League 1
2022–238th
Team kit
Official website
www.chinnor-rfc.com

Chinnor Rugby Football Club is an English rugby union club based in Thame, Oxfordshire. They currently play in the third tier of the English league system, National League 1 following their promotion from National League 2 South via the promotion play-off at the end of the 2017–18 season. The club regularly runs five senior teams as well as a full youth setup from age 5 upwards. Chinnor's youth setup is widely thought of as one of the best in the country having produced top Premiership players such as Tom Varndell (Leicester Tigers), Tom Johnson (Exeter Chiefs), Dave Seymour (Saracens), Paul Volley (Wasps), and Sam Jones (Wasps). Chinnor became the first club in Oxfordshire or Buckinghamshire to establish an under-19 academy.

History

Chinnor RFC was formed in 1962, by Frank Angel, Cyril Perry and Marcus Cann at the Bird in Hand pub in Chinnor, playing its first game the following year.[1] Norman Baldwin (the sponge) was one of the first to play for Chinnor and wrote the clubs first “song book”. The 1970s saw the club expand to include junior and youth teams and in 1976 the club won the Oxfordshire Cup. When the English league system started the club was placed in Bucks and Oxon Division 1 and have progressed through the Southern Counties section to gained promotion to the National Leagues in 2006; the youngest club to do so.[2] The club gained a further promotion from National League 3 South West in 2012.

During the 2016–17 National League 2 South season, the club achieved a record attendance at Kingsey Road of 1,580 during a top of the table clash against Bishop's Stortford, a game Chinnor won 27–25.[3]

Honours

1st team:

2nd team:

3rd team:

Current standings

2023–24 National League 1 Table
Played Won Drawn Lost Points for Points against Points diff Try bonus Losing bonus Points
1 Chinnor 24 20 0 4 945 363 582 19 3 102
2 Rams 24 18 0 6 737 533 204 19 3 94
3 Rosslyn Park 24 14 1 9 708 594 114 15 4 77
4 Plymouth Albion 24 14 0 10 569 496 73 11 4 71
5 Birmingham Moseley 24 13 1 10 610 584 26 11 6 71
6 Darlington Mowden Park 24 12 0 12 585 597 -12 11 6 65
7 Richmond 24 10 1 13 626 644 -18 13 7 62
8 Blackheath 24 12 0 12 580 537 43 8 4 60
9 Sedgley Park 24 10 1 13 592 705 -113 10 4 56
10 Sale FC 24 11 0 13 534 583 -49 8 3 55
11 Bishop's Stortford 24 8 0 16 543 705 -162 9 6 47
12 Leicester Lions 24 9 0 15 459 673 -214 6 3 45
13 Cinderford 24 9 0 15 475 711 -236 4 4 44
14 Taunton Titans 24 6 0 18 629 867 -238 15 4 43
  • 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. Pink background are the relegation places.
Updated: 6 April 2024

Source: "National League 1". RugbyEngland. Source: "National League Rugby – Promotion and Relegation: 2023-24".


References

  1. ^ "Welcome To The Bird In Hand". chinnor-rfc.com. 30 March 2021.
  2. ^ "Club History" by former player John Gardner, at official website
  3. ^ "Bittersweet victory for Chinnor in pulsating match". Chinnor RFC (Pitchero). 1 April 2017.
  4. ^ "South West 1". Archived from the original on 22 May 2014. Retrieved 22 May 2014.
  5. ^ "Trelawny's Army Final League Tables 2007-2008".

External links

National League 1
Categories