- Sedgley Park R.U.F.C.
Infobox_esl_club | clubname = Sedgley Park
fullname = "Sedgley Park Rugby Union Football Club"
emblem = club crest
colours = Claret and Gold
founded =1932
sport =Rugby union
league =National Division One
ground = Park Lane
web = [http://www.sedgleytigers.com www.sedgleytigers.com]Sedgley Park Rugby Union Football Club are a
rugby union club based in Whitefield, in theMetropolitan Borough of Bury ,Greater Manchester . They currently play inNational Division One , the second tier of the English rugby union league hierarchy.Sedgley are nicknamed "The Tigers" due to their striped kit
History
Sedgley Park is a district ofManchester about two miles north of the city centre. Here 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 afterwards 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-storey 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 nineties, 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.
They now had a stand from which to watch the tigers and they responded by attaining League One status in 2004, the sixth promotion since 1987.
External links
* [http://www.sedgleytigers.com The Official Site of Sedgley Park RUFC]
* [http://www.itsrugby.co.uk/equipe-sedgleypark.html Sedgley Park on itsrugby.co.uk]
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