Preston Grasshoppers R.F.C.

Preston Grasshoppers
Full name Preston Grasshoppers Rugby Football Club
Union RFU
Nickname(s) Hoppers
Founded 1869 (1869)
Ground(s) Lightfoot Green (Capacity: 5,000)
Chairman George Erdozain
President Malcom Alden
Captain(s) Dominic Moon
Top scorer Sean Taylor
League(s) National League 2 North
2015–16 9th
Team kit
Official website
www.pgrfc.co.uk

Preston Grasshoppers Rugby Football Club is an English rugby union team from Preston, Lancashire.

History

The club was founded on 28 September 1869 at a meeting held at the Bull Hotel, Preston, making it one of the oldest 'northern' rugby union teams.

Grasshoppers' players who have progressed to bigger stages include A.N. Hornby, the first man to captain both the English national rugby and cricket sides, Dick Greenwood and his son Will Greenwood, later to play outside centre for Harlequins and England, second row star Steve Borthwick, captaining Bath and playing a key role in the England international side, Wade Dooley, who won 55 caps in the second row for England, and Paul Grayson, who went on to play a number of games at fly half for England. Other past players gaining England caps include Pat & Alex Sanderson, Don Rutherford and Iain Balshaw.

Norwich City striker James Vaughan also played rugby union for the side, before switching more permanently to football.

When the national league structure was introduced in the mid nineties, Hoppers remained in National League 3 (North) until their promotion in the 1998-1999 season. This was achieved with the help of Australian Michael Lough and winger Ian Bruce who, between them, racked up over 50 tries.

In 2013 Preston Grasshoppers 2nd Team won the Preston Sports Awards Team Performance of the Year.[1] At the End of the 2015/16 Season Preston Grasshoppers chose to accept an offer from the RFU. The offer was to replace the grass surface at Lightfoot Green Lane with an artificial 3G pitch. The terms of the agreement mean that the RFU have exclusive use of the pitch for the next 30 years.

Club honours [2][3]

Current standings

2014–15 National League 2 North Table
Club Played Won Drawn Lost Points For Points Against Points Difference Try Bonus Losing Bonus Points
1 Hull Ionians (C) 30 27 0 3 976 407 569 25 1 134
2 Ampthill (P) 30 26 1 3 1113 440 673 23 2 131
3 Sedgley Park 30 18 1 11 881 666 215 16 4 89
4 Harrogate 30 17 3 10 720 652 68 11 4 89
5 Chester 30 16 1 13 706 595 111 12 6 84
6 Caldy 30 16 1 13 696 720 –24 11 7 84
7 Broadstreet 30 17 0 13 773 687 86 11 4 83
8 Otley 30 13 1 16 676 682 –6 13 8 75
9 Huddersfield 30 14 2 14 586 658 –72 7 4 71
10 Stourbridge 30 12 1 17 740 803 –63 12 7 69
11 Leicester Lions 30 13 0 17 612 804 –192 10 2 64
12 Preston Grasshoppers 30 11 0 19 621 664 –43 10 10 64
13 Luctonians 30 11 1 18 599 766 –167 10 5 61
14 Birmingham & Solihull (R) 30 9 2 18 724 809 –85 8 10 58
15 Hull (R) 30 10 1 19 543 836 –293 9 3 54
16 Stockport (R) 30 2 1 27 444 1221 –777 5 4 19
  • If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:
  1. Number of matches won
  2. Difference between points for and against
  3. Total number of points for
  4. Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams
  5. Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled
Green background is the promotion place. Blue background is the play-off place. Pink background are relegation places.
Updated: 2 May 2015
Source: "National League 2 North". NCA Rugby. 

References

  1. ↑ "Skiddle Sponsors Preston Sports Awards - Could Grasshoppers Win Again?". Skiddle.
  2. ↑ http://www.pgrfc.co.uk/the-club/history/2000-present/
  3. ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/lancashire/content/articles/2006/12/20/ru_preston_grasshoppers_profile.shtml
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