Fylde RFC

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Fylde Rugby Club
Full nameFylde Rugby Football Club
UnionLancashire RFU
Founded1919 (107 years ago) (1919) [1]
LocationLytham St. Annes, Lancashire, England
GroundWoodlands Memorial Ground (Capacity: 9,000 [2])
ChairmanNew Zealand Matt Filipo
PresidentEngland Anthony Hoskisson
CaptainEngland Toby Harrison
LeagueNational League 2 North
2024–254th
Team kit
Official website
www.fylderugby.co.uk

Fylde Rugby Union Club /ˈfld/ is a rugby union club based in Lytham St Annes, on the Fylde coast in Lancashire, England. The home venue is the Woodlands Memorial Ground on Blackpool Road in Ansdell and the first team play in English rugby's National League 2 North, the fourth tier of the English rugby union system, following their relegation from National League 1 at the end of the 2017–18 season. There are another two senior teams, the Hawks and the Vandals, who play in the English North West Leagues, in the NW Premiership and NW3 North. There is also a Colts team. In previous seasons the Colts have played in the Lancashire & Cheshire regional leagues.

History

[edit]

Overview

[edit]

Fylde Rugby Club was founded on 25 July 1919, literally on the toss of a coin when a group of Huddersfield businessmen met at Ansdell Institute to discuss the formation of either a rugby union or a football club. A coin was tossed and it fell in favour of rugby union. Hence the similarity in kit between clubs. The club grew steadily and achieved a strong fixture list by the 1960s and has been in the National Leagues since the league's inception in 1987.

It takes its name from The Fylde, a roughly 13-mile (20-kilometre) square-shaped peninsula, bounded by Morecambe Bay to the north, the Ribble estuary to the south, the Irish Sea to the west, and the Bowland hills to the east, with Blackpool to the north and Preston to the east.

Formative years

[edit]

In May, 1920 the present Woodlands site was first used for rugby. The admission was 5d and the first yearly gate receipts amounted to just over £57. In 1922, Harold Brooks was elected President and through his efforts Fylde progressed. He also provided the present stand. In 1924 the club was represented in the Lancashire team by players such as "Ham" Neville, who was capped 33 times, and "Pop" Ogden. The club was strengthened by the merger with Blackpool Old Boys in the 1934–35 season.

During the World War II, Fylde, along with many other clubs, had to close as the Army took over the ground. In 1946 the President, G.W. Parkes, welcomed back members from the war and by this time the ground had been purchased and named the Woodlands Memorial Ground in recognition of those members who gave their lives during the war.

Post-war years

[edit]

In the 1950s, the dressing rooms were built and Pop Ogden was elected President of Lancashire. Arthur Bell and Rothwell Bamber were given life memberships for their work with the club. Bell served for 34 years as the Honorary Secretary.

In 1964 the second England trial was held at Fylde and Sir Laurie Edwards opened the new pavilion extension and presented the club with a rugby union shield which is still on the clubhouse wall.

1969 was Fylde's jubilee year, when they were fielding six or seven teams every Saturday. The club's two most famous players were home grown, Malcolm Phillips and Bill Beaumont. Phillips, who attended Arnold School in Blackpool, won 25 England caps at centre between 1958 and 1964. He was President of the Rugby Football Union (RFU) from 2004 to 2005 and has served on the International Rugby Board (IRB) for a number of years. Beaumont was also a one club man having joined Fylde as a 17-year-old in 1969 and stayed with the club until injury forced him to retire in 1982. His father had also played for Fylde and he wrote suggesting that his son be given a trial. His first game was in the sixth team as fullback. With his size and his 6'3" height, he was very quickly made into a forward to play for the first team. He earned 34 England caps between 1975 and 1982, 21 of them as captain. This included leading the side to the Grand Slam in 1980, as well as skippering the 1980 British Lions tour to South Africa. In retirement he has remained in the public eye as a broadcaster and columnist. He is still a regular face at Fylde. He has also made major contribution to rugby administration in the United Kingdom and internationally as an IRB Member, with the RFU and he was manager of the 2005 British & Irish Lions tour to New Zealand.

In the same era, a young Roger Uttley, subsequently to skipper and then manage England, and Brian Ashton, England's Head Coach, also played for Fylde. Other more recent internationals associated with Fylde include England wingers Tony Swift and Simon Smith, who were capped in the 1980s after leaving the club and locks Steve Bainbridge and Wade Dooley, established internationals who won further caps whilst with Fylde.

England 'A' winger Mark Preston had a record of scoring 98 tries in 131 appearances. He subsequently made a similar impact in rugby league with Wigan and Halifax.

Present day

[edit]

As with many former top-flight clubs outside the Guinness Premiership, attendances at home matches have fallen in recent years. In the early 1990s, 2,000 spectators would watch local derbies with Preston Grasshoppers and as many as 5,000 attended in 1982 to see Bill Beaumont's XV play Lancashire, staged when he retired through injury. But the club still stages representative games such as the England v Scotland Under 19 international in January 2004 which attracted 2,500 spectators. There were 1,500 people at the Fylde v Preston Grasshoppers league match in December 2006.

Today, the teams still go onto the field wearing the colours of claret, gold and white, which were originally the colours of the Huddersfield Old Boys following the origins of Fylde’s formation by Huddersfield businessmen. The colours have not changed, although the design is now modernised.

Recent seasons have seen Fylde move between National Division One, National Division Two and more recently National Division Three North (from which the club gained promotion during the 2010–11 season). The club ran up significant debts in trying to compete in National One from 1997 to 1999 and had to sell a small portion of the Woodlands' grounds in order to re-establish financial health. With the receipts of the sale, a period of redevelopment of various facilities at Woodlands began in January 2005. The new clubhouse opened in October 2005 and can house more than 600 people.

The club finished in sixth place in National Division Three North in the 2003–04 season, fourth in 2004–05 and seventh in 2005–06. The club's then rugby management, including coaches Stuart Connell, who used to play for Fylde and Cumbria, Martin Scott, who played for Orrell, Fylde and Scotland, as well as Alistair Atkinson who played for Orrell and Sedgley Park. They planned a promotion bid back to National Division Two. Leading scorers in the 2005–06 season included skipper and fly-half Mike Scott with 300 points, and one of the top goal kickers in national rugby, winger Nick Royle with 16 tries and flanker Andy Atkinson with 11 tries. The Players' Player of the Season was Paul Newton who was appointed skipper for the 2006–07 season.

Like so many clubs, Fylde has struggled in the professional era to maintain a balance between a members' club, based on traditional local community values and structures, and a professional outfit able to compete for players, regionally and nationally. The club, following this era, reasserted itself as a community-oriented members' club, basically amateur, bringing together experienced players in the area, together with nurturing considerable local talent and a sprinkling of overseas players. Since this period of reorganisation the club has promoted and excelled promoting young local and regional players, along with the promotion of former mini junior players to drive the club forward providing an exciting attacking form of rugby and hence the more recent moniker of #runitfylde.

The club fields eleven mini/junior sides, a Junior Colts squad and three other senior teams, the Hawks, the Saracens and the Vandals. In more recent seasons the club has also promoted more community rugby teams to promote rugby across all ages and abilities such as walking rugby. It further has a flourishing community rugby set up to promote, encourage and develop rugby in the surrounding community especially in the more disadvantaged areas at both junior and senior level.

Apart from a new clubhouse completed in September 2005, the club has developed an all-weather pitch, upgraded facilities and non-rugby items and activities forming a core to the local and regional community.

Midway through the 2007–08 season the coaches Stuart Connell and Martin Scott were replaced with Mark Nelson the Lancashire coach who has previous experience of coaching at the club along with a successful spell as backs coach at Sale. Nelson recruited a number of high calibre players including England Counties' Steve Nutt, Craig Aikman and David Wilks. He has also rekindled the club's relationship with Sale which has allowed him to call on some of the Premiership club's young players whilst Sale have also given game time to Fylde's Nick Royle.

In June 2010, it was announced that former England manager Brian Ashton would be a coaching consultant for his former club.[3] On the 26 July 2010, it was announced that former England international Jason Robinson would be making his comeback at the club.[4]

In June 2012, Sam Beaumont stepped down from his role as the skipper of Fylde.[5]

Current standings

[edit]
2025–26 National League 2 North table
PosTeamPldWDLPFPAPDTBLBPtsQualification
1Sheffield131300511212+29912064Promotion place
2Macclesfield141202620354+26611160
3Tynedale141103516258+25811257
4Hull Ionians14914450275+17511251
5Darlington Mowden Park14914470408+6211150
6Fylde14932425312+1136149
7Wharfedale14608387420−337536
8Preston Grasshoppers14518383416−338131
9Otley144010412461−498630
10Sheffield Tigers14509314372−586329
11Billingham14509308491−1838129
12Hull142012275501−2264416
13Scunthorpe132011258557−2995316Relegation place
14Rossendale142012287579−2926115
Updated to match(es) played on 20 December 2025. Source: National League Rugby [6]
Rules for classification: If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:
  1. Number of matches won
  2. Number of matches drawn
  3. Difference between points for and against
  4. Total number of points for
  5. Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams
  6. Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled

Honours

[edit]

1st team:

Fylde Saracens (2nd tam):

Fylde Vandals (4th team):

  • NOWIRUL Plate winners 2017

Current squad

[edit]

2016–17Note: Flags indicate national union under World Rugby eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-World Rugby nationality.

PlayerPositionUnion
Tom BurtonwoodHookerEngland England
Ben GregoryHookerEngland England
Alex LoneyHookerEngland England
Danny MaherHookerEngland England
Simon GriffithsPropEngland England
Adam LewisPropEngland England
Jake Pope (D/R)PropEngland England
Sam SimpsonPropEngland England
Oli TrippierPropEngland England
Jonny WildPropEngland England
Paul ArnoldLockEngland England
Matt GarrodLockEngland England
Nick GrayLockEngland England
George Nott (D/R)LockEngland England
Jack TurleyLockNew Zealand New Zealand
George BlackwellFlankerEngland England
Jamie BrookesFlankerEngland England
David FairbrotherFlankerEngland England
Matt LampreyFlankerEngland England
Evan StewartFlankerEngland England
Ben VernonFlankerEngland England
Mark GoodmanNumber 8England England
Andy HughesNumber 8England England
Matt Rogerson (D/R)Number 8England England
PlayerPositionUnion
Connor DeverScrum-halfEngland England
Greg NichollsScrum-halfEngland England
Jack HarrisonFly-halfEngland England
Greg SmithFly-halfEngland England
Scott ArmstrongCentreEngland England
Sam Bedlow (D/R)CentreEngland England
Chris BriersCentreEngland England
Ralph DowdsCentreEngland England
Scott RawlingsCentreEngland England
Connor WilkinsonCentreEngland England
James BaileyWingEngland England
Anthony BinghamWingEngland England
Oli BrennandWingEngland England
Jordan DorringtonWingEngland England
Warren SpraggFullbackItaly Italy

Notable former players

[edit]

Lions Tourists

[edit]

The following Fylde players have been selected for the Lions tours while at the club:

Bill Beaumont (1977 & 1980), tour captain in 1980

Rugby World Cup

[edit]

The following are players which have represented their countries at the Rugby World Cup whilst playing for Fylde:

TournamentPlayers selectedEngland playersOther national team players
19872Steve Bainbridge, Wade Dooley

Other notable former players

[edit]

Notes

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "History 1919-present Fylde Rugby". fylderugby.co.uk. Archived from the original on 26 March 2010. Retrieved 2010-04-07.
  2. ^ "Details for Woodlands Memorial Ground, Lytham St Annes". worldstadia.com. Retrieved 7 April 2010.
  3. ^ Mairs, Gavin (29 June 2010). "Brian Ashton to help coach Fylde". London: The Telegraph. Retrieved 4 July 2010.
  4. ^ "Jason Robinson to make comeback for Fylde". BBC Sport. 26 July 2010. Retrieved 27 July 2010.
  5. ^ "Sam Beaumont". BBC Sport. Retrieved 26 June 2012.
  6. ^ "National League 2 North". NCA Rugby.
  7. ^ "International debut for deaf rugby player". Craven Herald. 18 February 2010.
[edit]

    Fylde Rugby Club
    Full nameFylde Rugby Football Club
    UnionLancashire RFU
    Founded1919 (107 years ago) (1919) [1]
    LocationLytham St. Annes, Lancashire, England
    GroundWoodlands Memorial Ground (Capacity: 9,000 [2])
    ChairmanNew Zealand Matt Filipo
    PresidentEngland Anthony Hoskisson
    CaptainEngland Toby Harrison
    LeagueNational League 2 North
    2024–254th
    Team kit
    Official website
    www.fylderugby.co.uk

    Fylde Rugby Union Club /ˈfld/ is a rugby union club based in Lytham St Annes, on the Fylde coast in Lancashire, England. The home venue is the Woodlands Memorial Ground on Blackpool Road in Ansdell and the first team play in English rugby's National League 2 North, the fourth tier of the English rugby union system, following their relegation from National League 1 at the end of the 2017–18 season. There are another two senior teams, the Hawks and the Vandals, who play in the English North West Leagues, in the NW Premiership and NW3 North. There is also a Colts team. In previous seasons the Colts have played in the Lancashire & Cheshire regional leagues.

    History

    Overview

    Fylde Rugby Club was founded on 25 July 1919, literally on the toss of a coin when a group of Huddersfield businessmen met at Ansdell Institute to discuss the formation of either a rugby union or a football club. A coin was tossed and it fell in favour of rugby union. Hence the similarity in kit between clubs. The club grew steadily and achieved a strong fixture list by the 1960s and has been in the National Leagues since the league's inception in 1987.

    It takes its name from The Fylde, a roughly 13-mile (20-kilometre) square-shaped peninsula, bounded by Morecambe Bay to the north, the Ribble estuary to the south, the Irish Sea to the west, and the Bowland hills to the east, with Blackpool to the north and Preston to the east.

    Formative years

    In May, 1920 the present Woodlands site was first used for rugby. The admission was 5d and the first yearly gate receipts amounted to just over £57. In 1922, Harold Brooks was elected President and through his efforts Fylde progressed. He also provided the present stand. In 1924 the club was represented in the Lancashire team by players such as "Ham" Neville, who was capped 33 times, and "Pop" Ogden. The club was strengthened by the merger with Blackpool Old Boys in the 1934–35 season.

    During the World War II, Fylde, along with many other clubs, had to close as the Army took over the ground. In 1946 the President, G.W. Parkes, welcomed back members from the war and by this time the ground had been purchased and named the Woodlands Memorial Ground in recognition of those members who gave their lives during the war.

    Post-war years

    In the 1950s, the dressing rooms were built and Pop Ogden was elected President of Lancashire. Arthur Bell and Rothwell Bamber were given life memberships for their work with the club. Bell served for 34 years as the Honorary Secretary.

    In 1964 the second England trial was held at Fylde and Sir Laurie Edwards opened the new pavilion extension and presented the club with a rugby union shield which is still on the clubhouse wall.

    1969 was Fylde's jubilee year, when they were fielding six or seven teams every Saturday. The club's two most famous players were home grown, Malcolm Phillips and Bill Beaumont. Phillips, who attended Arnold School in Blackpool, won 25 England caps at centre between 1958 and 1964. He was President of the Rugby Football Union (RFU) from 2004 to 2005 and has served on the International Rugby Board (IRB) for a number of years. Beaumont was also a one club man having joined Fylde as a 17-year-old in 1969 and stayed with the club until injury forced him to retire in 1982. His father had also played for Fylde and he wrote suggesting that his son be given a trial. His first game was in the sixth team as fullback. With his size and his 6'3" height, he was very quickly made into a forward to play for the first team. He earned 34 England caps between 1975 and 1982, 21 of them as captain. This included leading the side to the Grand Slam in 1980, as well as skippering the 1980 British Lions tour to South Africa. In retirement he has remained in the public eye as a broadcaster and columnist. He is still a regular face at Fylde. He has also made major contribution to rugby administration in the United Kingdom and internationally as an IRB Member, with the RFU and he was manager of the 2005 British & Irish Lions tour to New Zealand.

    In the same era, a young Roger Uttley, subsequently to skipper and then manage England, and Brian Ashton, England's Head Coach, also played for Fylde. Other more recent internationals associated with Fylde include England wingers Tony Swift and Simon Smith, who were capped in the 1980s after leaving the club and locks Steve Bainbridge and Wade Dooley, established internationals who won further caps whilst with Fylde.

    England 'A' winger Mark Preston had a record of scoring 98 tries in 131 appearances. He subsequently made a similar impact in rugby league with Wigan and Halifax.

    Present day

    As with many former top-flight clubs outside the Guinness Premiership, attendances at home matches have fallen in recent years. In the early 1990s, 2,000 spectators would watch local derbies with Preston Grasshoppers and as many as 5,000 attended in 1982 to see Bill Beaumont's XV play Lancashire, staged when he retired through injury. But the club still stages representative games such as the England v Scotland Under 19 international in January 2004 which attracted 2,500 spectators. There were 1,500 people at the Fylde v Preston Grasshoppers league match in December 2006.

    Today, the teams still go onto the field wearing the colours of claret, gold and white, which were originally the colours of the Huddersfield Old Boys following the origins of Fylde’s formation by Huddersfield businessmen. The colours have not changed, although the design is now modernised.

    Recent seasons have seen Fylde move between National Division One, National Division Two and more recently National Division Three North (from which the club gained promotion during the 2010–11 season). The club ran up significant debts in trying to compete in National One from 1997 to 1999 and had to sell a small portion of the Woodlands' grounds in order to re-establish financial health. With the receipts of the sale, a period of redevelopment of various facilities at Woodlands began in January 2005. The new clubhouse opened in October 2005 and can house more than 600 people.

    The club finished in sixth place in National Division Three North in the 2003–04 season, fourth in 2004–05 and seventh in 2005–06. The club's then rugby management, including coaches Stuart Connell, who used to play for Fylde and Cumbria, Martin Scott, who played for Orrell, Fylde and Scotland, as well as Alistair Atkinson who played for Orrell and Sedgley Park. They planned a promotion bid back to National Division Two. Leading scorers in the 2005–06 season included skipper and fly-half Mike Scott with 300 points, and one of the top goal kickers in national rugby, winger Nick Royle with 16 tries and flanker Andy Atkinson with 11 tries. The Players' Player of the Season was Paul Newton who was appointed skipper for the 2006–07 season.

    Like so many clubs, Fylde has struggled in the professional era to maintain a balance between a members' club, based on traditional local community values and structures, and a professional outfit able to compete for players, regionally and nationally. The club, following this era, reasserted itself as a community-oriented members' club, basically amateur, bringing together experienced players in the area, together with nurturing considerable local talent and a sprinkling of overseas players. Since this period of reorganisation the club has promoted and excelled promoting young local and regional players, along with the promotion of former mini junior players to drive the club forward providing an exciting attacking form of rugby and hence the more recent moniker of #runitfylde.

    The club fields eleven mini/junior sides, a Junior Colts squad and three other senior teams, the Hawks, the Saracens and the Vandals. In more recent seasons the club has also promoted more community rugby teams to promote rugby across all ages and abilities such as walking rugby. It further has a flourishing community rugby set up to promote, encourage and develop rugby in the surrounding community especially in the more disadvantaged areas at both junior and senior level.

    Apart from a new clubhouse completed in September 2005, the club has developed an all-weather pitch, upgraded facilities and non-rugby items and activities forming a core to the local and regional community.

    Midway through the 2007–08 season the coaches Stuart Connell and Martin Scott were replaced with Mark Nelson the Lancashire coach who has previous experience of coaching at the club along with a successful spell as backs coach at Sale. Nelson recruited a number of high calibre players including England Counties' Steve Nutt, Craig Aikman and David Wilks. He has also rekindled the club's relationship with Sale which has allowed him to call on some of the Premiership club's young players whilst Sale have also given game time to Fylde's Nick Royle.

    In June 2010, it was announced that former England manager Brian Ashton would be a coaching consultant for his former club.[3] On the 26 July 2010, it was announced that former England international Jason Robinson would be making his comeback at the club.[4]

    In June 2012, Sam Beaumont stepped down from his role as the skipper of Fylde.[5]

    Current standings

    2025–26 National League 2 North table
    PosTeamPldWDLPFPAPDTBLBPtsQualification
    1Sheffield131300511212+29912064Promotion place
    2Macclesfield141202620354+26611160
    3Tynedale141103516258+25811257
    4Hull Ionians14914450275+17511251
    5Darlington Mowden Park14914470408+6211150
    6Fylde14932425312+1136149
    7Wharfedale14608387420−337536
    8Preston Grasshoppers14518383416−338131
    9Otley144010412461−498630
    10Sheffield Tigers14509314372−586329
    11Billingham14509308491−1838129
    12Hull142012275501−2264416
    13Scunthorpe132011258557−2995316Relegation place
    14Rossendale142012287579−2926115
    Updated to match(es) played on 20 December 2025. Source: National League Rugby [6]
    Rules for classification: If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:
    1. Number of matches won
    2. Number of matches drawn
    3. Difference between points for and against
    4. Total number of points for
    5. Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams
    6. Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled

    Honours

    1st team:

    Fylde Saracens (2nd tam):

    Fylde Vandals (4th team):

    • NOWIRUL Plate winners 2017

    Current squad

    2016–17Note: Flags indicate national union under World Rugby eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-World Rugby nationality.

    PlayerPositionUnion
    Tom BurtonwoodHookerEngland England
    Ben GregoryHookerEngland England
    Alex LoneyHookerEngland England
    Danny MaherHookerEngland England
    Simon GriffithsPropEngland England
    Adam LewisPropEngland England
    Jake Pope (D/R)PropEngland England
    Sam SimpsonPropEngland England
    Oli TrippierPropEngland England
    Jonny WildPropEngland England
    Paul ArnoldLockEngland England
    Matt GarrodLockEngland England
    Nick GrayLockEngland England
    George Nott (D/R)LockEngland England
    Jack TurleyLockNew Zealand New Zealand
    George BlackwellFlankerEngland England
    Jamie BrookesFlankerEngland England
    David FairbrotherFlankerEngland England
    Matt LampreyFlankerEngland England
    Evan StewartFlankerEngland England
    Ben VernonFlankerEngland England
    Mark GoodmanNumber 8England England
    Andy HughesNumber 8England England
    Matt Rogerson (D/R)Number 8England England
    PlayerPositionUnion
    Connor DeverScrum-halfEngland England
    Greg NichollsScrum-halfEngland England
    Jack HarrisonFly-halfEngland England
    Greg SmithFly-halfEngland England
    Scott ArmstrongCentreEngland England
    Sam Bedlow (D/R)CentreEngland England
    Chris BriersCentreEngland England
    Ralph DowdsCentreEngland England
    Scott RawlingsCentreEngland England
    Connor WilkinsonCentreEngland England
    James BaileyWingEngland England
    Anthony BinghamWingEngland England
    Oli BrennandWingEngland England
    Jordan DorringtonWingEngland England
    Warren SpraggFullbackItaly Italy

    Notable former players

    Lions Tourists

    The following Fylde players have been selected for the Lions tours while at the club:

    Bill Beaumont (1977 & 1980), tour captain in 1980

    Rugby World Cup

    The following are players which have represented their countries at the Rugby World Cup whilst playing for Fylde:

    TournamentPlayers selectedEngland playersOther national team players
    19872Steve Bainbridge, Wade Dooley

    Other notable former players

    Notes

    References

    1. ^ "History 1919-present Fylde Rugby". fylderugby.co.uk. Archived from the original on 26 March 2010. Retrieved 2010-04-07.
    2. ^ "Details for Woodlands Memorial Ground, Lytham St Annes". worldstadia.com. Retrieved 7 April 2010.
    3. ^ Mairs, Gavin (29 June 2010). "Brian Ashton to help coach Fylde". London: The Telegraph. Retrieved 4 July 2010.
    4. ^ "Jason Robinson to make comeback for Fylde". BBC Sport. 26 July 2010. Retrieved 27 July 2010.
    5. ^ "Sam Beaumont". BBC Sport. Retrieved 26 June 2012.
    6. ^ "National League 2 North". NCA Rugby.
    7. ^ "International debut for deaf rugby player". Craven Herald. 18 February 2010.
    • Official website
    • Fixture list
    Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fylde_RFC&oldid=1328560865"