Surrey Rugby Football Union

Surrey RFU

Full name	Surrey Rugby Football Union
Union	RFU
Founded	1879
Region	Surrey, parts of London
President	Gary Ashburn
Team kit
Official website
www.surreyrugby.co.uk

The Surrey County Rugby Football Union is the union responsible for rugby union in the county of Surrey, England, and is one of the constituent bodies of the national Rugby Football Union having been formed in 1879.

History

Early years of County representative team

The earliest recorded game played by a team purporting to represent Surrey under rugby union auspices was played before the Surrey County Club has been formed. This was played on 21 February 1878 against Middlesex and won by Surrey with a try scored by AS Trevor.

Formation of the County Club

On 22 December 1879, a meeting was held at the York Hotel, on Waterloo Road, South London (then in Surrey), at which the County Club was formed. Two fixtures were played that season. The first was against Middlesex which turned out to be an easy win for Surrey. However, their confidence was put into check when they were soundly beaten by Yorkshire. Another match with Middlesex was played at Old Deer Park on 6 December 1880 with the result of each fifteen scoring one goal, in what was described as a ″splendidly-contested game″.

County side

Honours

County Championship finals (2 wins);

Year	Winners	Home team	Score	Away team	Venue	Notes
1896	Yorkshire	Surrey	4 – 16	Yorkshire	Richmond
1938	Lancashire	Lancashire	24 – 12	Surrey	Blundellsands
1960	Warwickshire	Warwickshire	9 – 6	Surrey	Coundon Road, Coventry
1967	(replay)	Surrey	14 – 14	Durham County	Twickenham
		Durham County	0 – 0	Surrey	Hartlepool	title shared after a drawn replay
1971	Surrey	Gloucestershire	3 – 14	Surrey	Kingsholm

County Championship Shield finals (4 wins);

Year	Winners	Score	Runners-up	Notes
2005	Surrey	29 - 18	Somerset
2011	Dorset & Wilts	43 – 22	Surrey
2012	Surrey	43 – 12	Leicestershire
2013	Surrey	21 – 16	Cumbria
2014	Surrey	39 – 12	Leicestershire

County Championship Plate finals (1 win);

Year	Winners	Score	Runners-up	Notes
2015	Surrey	17 – 3	Eastern Counties

Notable players for the County side

Many notable players have represented Surrey. The most appearances in County Championship games for the Surrey side have been by:

• Bob Hiller (Harlequins) – 68
• Bob Lloyd (Harlequins) – 46
• Stanley Couchman (Old Cranleighans) – 45
• Ted Priest (Old Alleynians) – 39

Other famous players include:

• George Doherty (former captain of Ireland)
• Jonny Wilkinson
• Fraser Gore

Presidents

The 2008–09 president of Surrey RFU is John Vale.

Affiliated clubs

There are currently 73 full member adult clubs affiliated with the Surrey RFU, most of which have teams at both senior and junior level and are based in Surrey and parts of London. Many of the London-based sides are also members of the Middlesex RFU.

County club competitions

The Surrey RFU currently runs the following club competitions for club sides based in Surrey and parts of London:

Leagues

• Surrey 1 – league ranked at tier 9 of the English rugby union system
• Surrey 2 – tier 10 league
• Surrey 3 – tier 11 league
• Surrey 4 – tier 12 league

Cups

• Surrey Cup – founded in 1890, for local clubs at tier 5 of the English rugby union system
• Surrey Trophy – founded in 2009, for clubs at tiers 6–8
• Surrey Shield – founded in 1998, for clubs at tiers 9–10
• Surrey Bowl – founded in 2006, for clubs at tiers 11–12

Discontinued Competitions

• Surrey 5 - tier 12 league that ran between 1989 and 1992