Rugby union team
Rugby team
London Welsh Amateur Rugby Football Club, previously known as London Welsh Druids[1] and as of 2017 London Welsh,[2] is an English amateur rugby union club based at Old Deer Park in Richmond, London. They were the amateur team of London Welsh until the professional team's liquidation in 2017.[3] The amateur team continued independently as they were considered a separate club by the Rugby Football Union.[4] For season 2021–22 they played in London 1 South - a league at tier 6 of the English rugby union system - following the club's promotion as champions of London 2 North West at the end of the 2019–20 season. Following completion of 'Project Reset' with 4 promotions in 4 seasons after the professional sides' liquidation, LWRFC play in the 5th Tier Regional 1 South Central league from the 2022-23 season
History
London Welsh Amateur were founded in the 1990s after London Welsh reached the top of National League 1 and decided to split the club to separate the professional wing from the community club.[5] In 2004, London Welsh Amateur were incorporated as a limited company.[6] In 2017, London Welsh were expelled from the RFU Championship and later liquidated due to debt.[3] When London Welsh were given extra time for a phoenix company to take over the club and fulfill RFU regulations, one of the conditions was that they had to show a clear separation between London Welsh and London Welsh Amateur but were unable to meet the requirements.[3] Despite this decision, it did not affect London Welsh Amateur as they were held as having a separate membership of the RFU and separate voting rights.[7]
As a result, London Welsh Amateur became the primary representatives of the London Welsh club. They also stated that they would remain amateur despite inheriting the liquidated professional club's infrastructure.[2] For their first season since London Welsh's liquidation, London Welsh Amateur appointed former Welsh international Sonny Parker as director of rugby.[8] Following the professional side's liquidation, London Welsh Amateur adopted the London Welsh name.[2]
At the end of the 2017–18 season they finished as champions of Herts/Middlesex 1 and gained promotion to London 3 North West.[9]
After the 2019-20 season was abandoned due to the coronavirus outbreak, London Welsh finished as Champions of London 2 North West and were promoted to London 1 South for 2020-21 season, which was not played due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
