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Sedgley Park Rugby Union Football Club, the 1st XV team of which play under the name of Sedgley Tigers, is a rugby union club based in Whitefield, in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury, Greater Manchester. They play in the third tier of the English rugby union league hierarchy following their promotion to National League 1 from National League 2 North in 2022–23. The Tigers nickname is due to their striped kit.
 | ||
| Union | Lancashire RFU | |
|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Tigers | |
| Founded | 1932 | |
| Location | Whitefield, Greater Manchester, England | |
| Ground(s) | Park Lane (Capacity: 3,000 [1]) | |
| Chairman | Steve Ward | |
| League(s) | National League 1 | |
| 2023–24 | 9th | |
| ||
| Official website | ||
| www | ||
History
editSedgley Park is a district of Prestwich approximately two miles north of Manchester city centre. In 1932 at a public meeting in a temperance bar, the club began. The very first ground was a farmer's field in Whitefield, and the club has never been based in Sedgley Park. Despite primitive conditions - cowshed for changing, farmyard pump for washing - the new club thrived.
A clubhouse had already been built and three regular teams were being fielded before World War II broke out in 1939. They survived the war years, and also a difficult period afterward when they lost their rented ground. For two years all games were played away, with barely enough playing members for two teams, until in 1955 they moved to their present site, Park Lane in Whitefield, with an immediate and spectacular improvement in playing standards. During the next twenty years Sedgley Park became a successful and respected junior club but, in the years before league rugby, advancement was practically impossible, especially for a club notorious for its muddy pitches; they were often nicknamed 'Sludgley Park' by other teams! The decision to build a large, two-story clubhouse was arguably the most significant one in their history.
Building began in 1978 at a time when the club was enjoying great success on the field, and was completed in time for the 1982 Golden Jubilee season; it had been a risky venture at the time, but it set them apart from all the local junior clubs. When the Courage Leagues began in 1987 they had progressed far enough to be placed in North West 2 (level 8), from which they gained promotion at the first attempt. They remained in North West 1 for seven years; meanwhile, the club was expanding in other directions with a huge increase in quantity and quality at the age-group level of the game.
When the game went 'open' in the middle 1990s, Sedgley Park was ready for the next leap forward. Promotion was achieved three years in succession; the clubhouse was extended; the two pitches became one, now in excellent condition, with floodlights and terracing. A newly purchased field, just across the road, provided three more much needed pitches and floodlit training.
Another promotion, in 2001, took them to National League Two, level 3 of the English game. The Tigers attained League One status in 2004, their 6th promotion since 1987, but were relegated back to level three in 2009.
Sedgley Park were National League Division 2 (North) champions in season 2022-23 and won promotion back to National League One, being the 3rd tier of Rugby Union in England at the time.
Honours
edit
- North West 2 champions: 1987–88
- North West 1 champions: 1994–95
- North 1 champions: 1996–97
- National League 2 (north v south) promotion play-off winner: 2000–01
- National League 2 North champions: 2022–23
- Lancashire Cup winners (4 times): 2002, 2004, 2007, 2013[2]
- National Division 2 champions: 2003–04
Current standings
edit| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | TB | LB | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rams | 9 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 310 | 152 | +158 | 7 | 0 | 43 | Promotion place |
| 2 | Richmond | 9 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 342 | 178 | +164 | 7 | 0 | 41 | |
| 3 | Rotherham Titans | 9 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 302 | 206 | +96 | 5 | 1 | 34 | |
| 4 | Blackheath | 9 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 284 | 212 | +72 | 6 | 1 | 31 | |
| 5 | Rosslyn Park | 9 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 315 | 201 | +114 | 5 | 1 | 30 | |
| 6 | Sale FC | 9 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 213 | 244 | −31 | 4 | 2 | 26 | |
| 7 | Plymouth Albion | 9 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 242 | 234 | +8 | 6 | 3 | 25 | |
| 8 | Birmingham Moseley | 9 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 207 | 211 | −4 | 4 | 0 | 24 | |
| 9 | Dings Crusaders | 9 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 274 | 332 | −58 | 6 | 0 | 20 | |
| 10 | Bishop's Stortford | 9 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 204 | 235 | −31 | 4 | 2 | 18 | |
| 11 | Sedgley Park | 9 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 242 | 254 | −12 | 3 | 3 | 14 | |
| 12 | Esher | 9 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 241 | 388 | −147 | 5 | 0 | 13 | Relegation place |
| 13 | Leicester Lions | 9 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 181 | 322 | −141 | 4 | 2 | 10 | |
| 14 | Darlington Mowden Park | 9 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 176 | 364 | −188 | 3 | 1 | 8 |
Rules for classification: If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:
- Number of matches won
- Difference between points for and against
- Total number of points for
- Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams
- Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled
References
edit- ^ "Park Lane - Sedgley Park RUFC".
- ^ "Lancashire Rugby | Strength in Union". Archived from the original on 27 March 2014. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
- ^ "National League 1". NCA Rugby.
