London Welsh RFC

London Welsh

Full name	London Welsh Rugby Football Club/Clwb Rygbi Cymry Llundain
Founded	1885
Location	London, England
Ground(s)	Old Deer Park (Capacity: 5,850)
Coach(es)	Lyn Jones
Captain(s)	Jonathan Mills
League(s)	RFU Championship
2011–12	4th
Team kit
Official website
www.london-welsh.co.uk

London Welsh Rugby Football Club (Welsh: Clwb Rygbi Cymry Llundain) are a rugby union club based in London that currently plays in The Championship, the second level of the English rugby union league system (below the Aviva Premiership).

Club history

London Welsh, established by and for London's Welsh community, has played senior-level rugby in England since its formation in 1885.^[1] Its name in Welsh, though it is rarely used, is Clwb Rygbi Cymry Llundain.

The 2010–11 season was the club's 125th anniversary and to kick off the celebrations they held a military tattoo on the evening of Wednesday 25 August at Old Deer Park with the Band and Corps of Drums of the Welsh Guards, plus the London Welsh Rugby Club Choir. All proceeds were donated to the Welsh Guards Afghanistan Appeal.

Over the years the club has contributed 177 players to the Wales national team and 43 players to the British and Irish Lions. Seven London Welsh players were selected for the 1971 tour to New Zealand (a Lions record in amateur times): captain John Dawes (now London Welsh president), JPR Williams, Gerald Davies, Mervyn Davies, John Taylor (now Managing Director^[2] and ITV commentator), Mike Roberts and Geoff Evans.

Currently the 1st XV squad are fully professional, and hopes are high that this will lead to a sustained challenge for promotion to the Premiership. Head Coach Lyn Jones and Captain Jonathan Mills have all been brought in to continue the club ethos and have more professional mindset on the pitch.

Despite the new professionalism, London Welsh has tried to retain the atmosphere of an amateur club. Although the 1XV squad are fully professional, the new London Welsh Amateurs, Wizards and Occies are still strong parts of the club. They also have a successful social section, who go a long way towards maintaining the 'amateur ethos' of enjoying a game and a pint on a Saturday.

London Welsh has one of the longest standing women's sides - LWWRFC, who celebrated twenty years of women's rugby at the club in the 2005/6 season. Whilst still being amateur, the women train hard and have enjoyed recent success with the club, both in XVs in the winter and 7s during the summer. There are London Welsh Women representatives at England Regional Level and on the Wales National Touch team. There is also a popular Mini & Junior Section.

In December 2006, London Welsh revealed their ambition to turn their back on the English league and become the 5th Welsh team in the Magners League. The club later appeared to go back on this report, claiming they had been misquoted and said this would only be considered if the Guinness Premiership decided to prohibit promotion/relegation, but confirmed their hopes of ground-sharing with Brentford FC either at their current stadium Griffin Park or a new 20,000 seat ground to be built at Lionel Road, near Kew Bridge.

In June 2009, the club went into administration shortly after turning professional.^[3] They were bought from the receivers in July 2009 by Saudex Global, owned by Neil Hollinshead, and allowed to continue in The Championship, albeit with a five point deduction.^[4][5] According to the BBC in March 2011, court documents show that Hollinshead is "alleged to have submitted forged documents and fake bank account details in order to continue his control of London Welsh and that he repeatedly lied to ensure that ownership of London Welsh was transferred over to him."^[5] The former shareholders of London Welsh RFC rescinded the 2009 agreement, by which they sold the shares of the club to Hollinshead, and had regained control by January 2010.^[5]

Current Standings

Current squad

Note: Flags indicate national union as has been defined under IRB eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-IRB nationality.

Player Position Union Dan George Hooker Wales Viliami Ma'asi Hooker Tonga Saul Nelson Hooker Wales Greg Bateman Prop England Tom French Prop England Billy Moss (Bath) Prop England Shawn Pittman Prop United States Guillermo Roan (Wasps) Prop Argentina James Tideswell Prop England Adam Brown Lock Wales Matt Corker Lock England Gary Johnson (London Irish) Lock England Mike Powell Lock Wales Martin Purdy Lock England Mike Denbee Flanker England Michael Hills Flanker England Jonathan Mills (c) Flanker Wales Ben Russell Flanker England Lee Beach Number 8 Wales Ed Jackson Number 8 England

Player Position Union Robert Lewis Scrum-half Wales Jack Moates (London Irish) Scrum-half Wales Ben Stevenson Scrum-half England Gordon Ross Fly-half Scotland Guy Armitage (London Irish) Centre England Seb Jewell Centre England James Lewis Centre Wales Paul Mackey Centre Wales Hudson Tonga'uiha Centre Tonga Simon Whatling Centre England Joe Ajuwa Wing Nigeria Liam Gibson Wing England Will Hurrell Wing England Nick Scott (Bath) Wing England Ashley Smith Wing England Alex Davies Fullback England Edd Thrower Fullback England

• The following players have made brief appearances for London Welsh on loan.

Note: Flags indicate national union as has been defined under IRB eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-IRB nationality.

Player Position Union Nathan Morris (Wasps) Hooker England Leopold Halavatau (London Irish) Prop Tonga Max Lahiff (London Irish) Prop England Kieran Low (London Irish) Flanker England Ed Siggery (London Irish) Flanker Wales

Transfers 2012–2013

In

• Sonny Parker from Ospreys^[6]

Out

Notable former players

British and Irish Lions

The following former players were selected for the British and Irish Lions touring squads whilst playing for London Welsh.

Wales International Captains

The following former players captained the Wales national rugby union team while playing for London Welsh RFC.

See also Wales rugby union captains

• Teddy Morgan 1908
• Wick Powell 1927
• John Dawes 1968-71

Other notable former players

See also Category:London Welsh RFC players

London Welsh F.C.

The club set up an association football side in 1890 called London Welsh F.C.. They, however, disbanded after a couple of seasons.

See also

• London Scottish
• London Irish
• Rugby union in London

External links

• Official site
• Occies site
• Women's site

Bibliography

• Jones, Stephen; Paul Beken (1985). Dragon in Exile, The Centenary History of London Welsh R.F.C.. London: Springwood Books. ISBN 0-86254-125-5. 

References