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History
A number of clubs were formed by ex-pupils of schools within Leicestershire immediately following the Second World War. Amongst these was Moat Road Old Boys who were founded in 1949. Following the loss of their use of their school playing fields in 1952, the club moved to Birstall Village Park and introduced the game to Birstall for the first time. The club were, by all accounts, regarded as enthusiastic & superbly fit and played all the top clubs in the county at the time. On one memorable occasion, they lost to Leicester Tigers by ONE POINT. Unfortunately, following the departure of a number of players to form a singing group called The Dallas Boys, the club failed to thrive and the club folded in 1956. Birstall had to wait for another 10 years to pass before the game returned with the formation of a new club in 1965. The club took the village name as Birstall RFC, played on the village park and changed in the scout hut. As the village of Birstall began to grow and new senior schools were established in the area, the rugby club went from strength to strength and was soon running two senior sides and a colts team. Unfortunately, despite considerable success, the club failed to recruit sufficient junior players and the club was forced to cease playing in 1973.The current club was formed in 1975 by a group of dedicated teachers at the local senior schools with the intention of providing ex-pupils with a club that would enable them to continue playing the game. It was decided to affiliate the new club with Birstall Community College thus avoiding the "old boys" tag with all the limitations this brings.
With the failure of local schools and colleges to provide any form of competitive sport, the supply of youth players joining the club began to dry up in the mid-eighties. With no youngsters available to take over from retiring players, the club shrank in size until, in the late nineties, it virtually ceased to exist. However, strenuous efforts made by a number of key individuals kept the club afloat and, by the end of the 1999/2000 season, Birstall RFC were proudly crowned champions of the Leicestershire Merit Table
During the early part of the millennium Birstall started to feel the pinch like so many local sides. Raising enough players to field a side became extremely difficult and the club came close to folding in 2003. Thankfully, due to a lot of hard work by the committee and links once again being developed with Longslade Community college, the Green Dogs are once against going from strength to strength. Recent increases in the number of younger players mean that the club is now fielding two sides again for the first time in ten years and then fielding a 3rd XV this season for the first time in 15 years.
The 2010's have so far been the most successful in the clubs history with the club progressing quickly and moving from the Leicestershire Merit Leagues to the RFU league structure with 3 promotions putting the club alongside not only leicestershire's biggest clubs but also the midlands. This success lead the club to be names the Charnwood Sports Club of the year in 2016, a very proud moment for the club.
2017 saw a monumental movement for the club as it moved from its home ground at the school to the Coop Sports Ground on Birstall Road. The new ground boasts two of the finest pitches in Leicestershire and has hosted County representative fixtures in addition to Cup finals and of course Birstall's home fixtures.
Back on the field the following year another sideways move put Birstall in the tougher Midlands 3 (south) from Mids 3 (N) where a final day defeat to high flying Stamford saw Birstall suffer their first relegation in a decade. The 2019-20 season saw Birstall in Mids 4 (south.) With a strong side Birstall made inroads into not only winning the League but also challenged for cups too. In the Midlands Junior Vase, Birstall professed all the way to the final where a tight 13-12 win against Clee Hill from Shopshire made them Midlands Champions. This meant Birstall were now only one game away from the National final at Twickenham. Unfortunately this turned out to be the final action of the season as the Covid-19 Pandemic ended all rugby union the the UK with the season postponed. The leagues were decided later in the month as the RFU used calculations to figure out the final standings and Birstall were crowned Champions ahead of second place Northampton Mens Own.
With the failure of local schools and colleges to provide any form of competitive sport, the supply of youth players joining the club began to dry up in the mid-eighties. With no youngsters available to take over from retiring players, the club shrank in size until, in the late nineties, it virtually ceased to exist. However, strenuous efforts made by a number of key individuals kept the club afloat and, by the end of the 1999/2000 season, Birstall RFC were proudly crowned champions of the Leicestershire Merit Table
During the early part of the millennium Birstall started to feel the pinch like so many local sides. Raising enough players to field a side became extremely difficult and the club came close to folding in 2003. Thankfully, due to a lot of hard work by the committee and links once again being developed with Longslade Community college, the Green Dogs are once against going from strength to strength. Recent increases in the number of younger players mean that the club is now fielding two sides again for the first time in ten years and then fielding a 3rd XV this season for the first time in 15 years.
The 2010's have so far been the most successful in the clubs history with the club progressing quickly and moving from the Leicestershire Merit Leagues to the RFU league structure with 3 promotions putting the club alongside not only leicestershire's biggest clubs but also the midlands. This success lead the club to be names the Charnwood Sports Club of the year in 2016, a very proud moment for the club.
2017 saw a monumental movement for the club as it moved from its home ground at the school to the Coop Sports Ground on Birstall Road. The new ground boasts two of the finest pitches in Leicestershire and has hosted County representative fixtures in addition to Cup finals and of course Birstall's home fixtures.
Back on the field the following year another sideways move put Birstall in the tougher Midlands 3 (south) from Mids 3 (N) where a final day defeat to high flying Stamford saw Birstall suffer their first relegation in a decade. The 2019-20 season saw Birstall in Mids 4 (south.) With a strong side Birstall made inroads into not only winning the League but also challenged for cups too. In the Midlands Junior Vase, Birstall professed all the way to the final where a tight 13-12 win against Clee Hill from Shopshire made them Midlands Champions. This meant Birstall were now only one game away from the National final at Twickenham. Unfortunately this turned out to be the final action of the season as the Covid-19 Pandemic ended all rugby union the the UK with the season postponed. The leagues were decided later in the month as the RFU used calculations to figure out the final standings and Birstall were crowned Champions ahead of second place Northampton Mens Own.