National League 1 Collection
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Rosslyn Park had been blessed by Russian royalty, part of a much-vaunted history, but the advent of professionalism led to a plummet down the leagues. It was only saved when a stranger with a familiar surname walked through the clubhouse door offering a route to salvation.
They had fixtures against rugby’s elite, including the All Blacks. They produced players for England and even had the tenacity to have a level playing field. Albion, a side made up of dockyard workers in the city of Plymouth, never knew their place. And they still don’t.
In a forest where the trees can stop a foreign invasion and not even dancing bears can walk safely, Tykes and Titans continue to be slain, and it’s all down to the rugby men of Cinderford, refusing to know their place.
Amid tales of being among the founding fathers of football, rugby, the Barbarians, the Lions, of having Jack the Ripper as a member, and Dr Watson in the pack, to find out about the modern-day Blackheath, we go in search of a crook-catching Scottish wrestler.
When Berkshire was a lawless place, the picturesque village of Sonning was a hideaway for the infamous outlaw Dick Turpin and his fabled steed Black Bess. Just under 300 years later, Rams RFC are attempting their own form of highway robbery by stealing the National One title from the rugby aristrocrats of Richmond.
The daily life of Matt Williams used to involve deals with Hollywood execs, launching girlbands across the planet, making movies with the Harry Potter team, and helping the Hannah Montana soundtrack go platinum. Today, it’s much harder. Finding rugby refs for friendly fixtures and helping to get Chinnor RFC promoted from National One.
In 1492, Henry VII held a month-long tournament with minstrels, stilt-walkers, jesters and rope dancers, with revelry spilling from palace to Richmond Green – all to the sound of splintered lances and men crashing to the floor as jousting took centre stage. Less than 400 years later, a football club named after the town started playing ‘rugby’ on the very same ground. It was then that things got interesting.