Brixham RFC

Brixham Rugby Football Club is an English rugby union team based at Astley Park in Brixham, Devon. The club runs three senior teams and the full range of junior teams.^[1] The first XV currently plays in Regional 1 South West, a level five league in the English rugby union system.

Astley Park, home of Brixham Rugby Club

Brixham

Full name	Brixham Rugby Football Club
Union	Devon RFU
Nickname(s)	The Fishermen
Founded	1875; 150 years ago (1875)
Location	Brixham, Devon, England
Ground(s)	Astley Park (Capacity: 1,800 (300 stand))
Chairman	Chris Forster
President	Keith Gardner
Coach(es)	Adam Thomas
Captain(s)	Jordan Watson
League(s)	Regional 1 South West
2024–25	2nd
Team kit
Official website
www.brixhamrfc.co.uk

History

Brixham RFC was formed in 1875, as reported in Alcock’s Football Annual 1876 edition, and became one of the founder members of the Devon RFU. In 1896 the club moved to its present ground, having previously played at Furzeham Green. Between 1924 and 1934 the club won the Devon Cup twice and were runners-up on four other occasions. When club rugby was introduced in 1987 the club was placed in the sixth tier league; South West 2.

At the end of 1989 Brixham achieved promotion into South West 1 where they would remain for the following eight seasons until they were relegated at the end of the 1996–97 season. During this period they also enjoyed several runs in the old Pilkington Cup, with the best performance coming in 1988–89 when they reached the third round, losing at home to Gloucester in front of almost 3,000 supporters.^[2] The club would remain at level 6 for fifteen seasons until they finally got promoted back into level 5 by winning South West 1 West at the end of the 2011–12 season. This promotion would also see the club become one of the premier sides in the county, finally winning the Devon RFU Senior Cup in 2015 (the first victory since 1932) and then again in 2017.^[3]

Ground

Astley Park is situated on Rea Barn Road in Brixham, opposite the police station and near to Brixham College. The ground consists of a club-house/stand alongside the main pitch, and there are also several other pitches on adjoining land for second XV and junior rugby. The stand sits atop the club-house and has seating/standing capacity for up to 300, while there is standing space for around 1,500 supporters pitch side, bringing the total capacity to approximately 1,800. There is limited parking in and around the ground.

Season summary

Season	League			National Cup(s)		County Cup(s)
	Competition/Level	Position	Points	Competition	Performance	Competition	Performance
1987–88	South West 2 (6)
1988–89	South West 2 (6)	2nd (promoted)		Pilkington Cup	3rd Round
1989–90	South West 1 (5)
1990–91	South West 1 (5)			Pilkington Cup	1st Round
1991–92	South West 1 (5)
1992–93	South West 1 (5)			Pilkington Cup	1st Round
1993–94	South West 1 (6)[a 1]			Pilkington Cup	2nd Round
1994–95	South West 1 (6)
1995–96	South West 1 (6)			Pilkington Cup	1st Round
1996–97	South West 1 (5)[a 2]	11th (relegated)[4]	12
1997–98	South West 2 West (6)	6th[5]	22
1998–99	South West 2 West (6)	3rd[6]	28
1999–00	South West 2 West (6)	2nd[7]	36
2000–01	South West 2 West (6)	5th[8]	24
2001–02	South West 2 West (6)	3rd[9]	31
2002–03	South West 2 West (6)	5th[10]	28
2003–04	South West 2 West (6)	4th[11]	26	Powergen Intermediate Cup	6th Round[12][13]	Devon Senior Cup	Runners up
2004–05	South West 2 West (6)	7th[14]	18	Powergen Cup	Qualifying Round[15]
2005–06	South West 2 West (6)	3rd[16]	32	Powergen Intermediate Cup	[17]
2006–07	South West 2 West (6)	2nd (lost playoff)[18]	32	EDF Energy Intermediate Cup	1st Round[19][20]
2007–08	South West 2 West (6)	8th[21]	19	EDF Energy Intermediate Cup	2nd Round[22][23]
2008–09	South West 2 West (6)	7th[24]	19	EDF Energy Intermediate Cup	1st Round[25][26]
2009–10	South West 1 West (6)[a 3]	3rd[27]	39			Devon Senior Cup	Runners up
2010–11	South West 1 West (6)	3rd[28]	99[a 4]
2011–12	South West 1 West (6)	1st (promoted)[29]	100			Devon Senior Cup	Runners up
2012–13	National 3 South West (5)[a 5]	7th[30]	77			Devon Senior Cup	1st Round[31]
2013–14	National 3 South West (5)	7th[32]	68			Devon Senior Cup	Semi-finals[33]
2014–15	National 3 South West (5)	5th[34]	84			Devon Senior Cup	Winners
2015–16	National 3 South West (5)	4th[35]	77			Devon Senior Cup	Runners up
2016–17	National 3 South West (5)	7th[36]	71			Devon Senior Cup	Winners
2017–18	South West Premier (5)[a 6]	10th[37]	65			Devon Senior Cup	Semi-finals[38]
2018–19	South West Premier (5)	8th[39]	71			Devon Senior Cup	5th[40]
2019–20	South West Premier (5)	5th	63.60[a 7]			Devon Senior Cup
2020–21	South West Premier (5)	Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom.
2021–22	South West Premier (5)	7th	60
2022–23	South West Premier (5)	3rd	71
Green background stands for either league champions (with promotion) or cup winners. Blue background stands for promotion without winning league or losing cup finalists. Pink background stands for relegation.

Honours

• Devon Junior Cup winners (3): 1905, 1909, 1934^{[a 8][42]}
• Devon Senior Cup winners (4): 1922, 1932, 2015, 2017^[42]
• Tribute South West Division 1 West champions: 2011–12

See also

• Devon RFU

Notes

1. RFU restructuring of the English rugby union system for the 1993–94 season due to the creation Courage League Division 5 meant that South West 1 became a tier 6 league.
2. The cancellation of Courage League Division 5 at the end of the 1995–96 season meant that South West 1 once again became a tier 5 league.
3. RFU restructuring of the English rugby union system for the 2009–10 season meant that South West 2 West was renamed as South West 1 West.
4. The 2010–11 season would see the introduction of bonus points into lower league English rugby union (tier 6 and below).
5. The last time Brixham had been in this division it had been known as South West 1.
6. National League 3 South West was renamed as South West Premier for the 2017–18 season.
7. The season was postponed and ultimately cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom with Brixham sitting in 5th, having played 20 games and gained 53 points. The remaining games were calculated on a 'best playing record formula', with Brixham remaining in 5th place with 63.30 points.^[41]
8. One of Brixham's Devon Junior Cup wins (1934) was won by the reserve side.