Club Overview

Commonly known as the 'Friendliest Club in South London', Old Emanuel Rugby Football Club (www.oldemanuelrfc.co.uk @old_emanuel_rfc) was founded in 1909-10 as the old boy's club for Emanuel School Alumni. Matches are played at our current home 'Blagdons' (between New Malden and Raynes Park in South West London) which was established in the mid 1920's. Barring the two world wars, the Club has played continuously since its inception. The 1st XV currently play in London & SE Division 2 South West with 2nd and 3rd XVs playing in the Surrey Merit table leagues.

In 1999, the club opened its doors to non-old boys and since then has expanded to become an RFU-accredited Community Club gaining the RFU’s Seal of Approval and Club Mark accreditation. The club now boasts a 300-strong Minis 'Lions' section (U5-18), Girls, Touch Rugby and Vets 'Portscullers' teams. Members also have Crossfit and state-of-the-art weights facilities.

The aims of the club are:

• To promote rugby in our local community
• To encourage and support rugby participation in all aspects and teams within the club in a safe and enjoyable environment
• To create a sustainable financial, legal and commercial framework from which the rugby club and its activities can be maintained, thrive and grow.

Club Details

Old Emanuel RFC was founded in 1909-10 as a club for Alumni of Emanuel School in Clapham. Our home matches and training are at our home 'Blagdons' (between New Malden and Raynes Park in South West London) which was established in the mid-1920s. Barring the two world wars, the Club has played continuously since its inception.

As a club of over 500 members, currently:

·         Our 1^st XV currently play in London 2 South West (following three promotions in four years)

·         Our 2^nd and 3^rd XVs playing in the Surrey Merit table leagues.

·         Whilst we have not provided any household names in the rugby world, the Club has enjoyed the pleasure of having many fine players representing England A, England Students, England Colts, Scotland U21, Combined Services, Surrey and Combined London Old Boys

·         Since 1999, Old Emanuel RFC has expanded to become a fully RFU-accredited Community Club gaining the RFU’s Seal of Approval and Club Mark accreditation. It is also an affiliate club to Premiership rugby club, Harlequins RFC. Old Emanuel RFC’s greatest achievement is the creation of our Mini and Junior programme “The Lions”. The Lions contains around 400 playing members both boys and girls between the ages of 5 and 18 all of whom are drawn from local schools. The Lions programme is supported by over 50 volunteer coaches, team managers and referees. We encourage parental participation and fund relevant coaching courses as well as having an active community support policy; taking rugby into schools and the surrounding region. We also have a hardship fund which enables young people to participate in the club who may otherwise miss out. Last season, we successfully transitioned the first of our youth players into the senior sides. This success has been hard won over 15 years of sustained effort by the club. This has led to Old Emanuel being named ‘Surrey RFU Community Development Club of the Year’ for five consecutive years between 2011 and 2015. In 2011, the Lions also set up a partnership with Royal Borough Kingston (RBK) coaching their girls’ team to win the London Youth Games that also won RBK Team of the Year that year.                                                                                                        

·         We also field a Vets ‘Old Emanuel Port Scullers’ side offering Rugby to over 35s.

·         In terms of the wider club, we have an O₂ touch rugby section offering both competitive and social touch rugby (that recently won the Teddington Touch Rugby Tournament 2018). We also have an affiliated Crossfit box. These have been great additions to the club in terms of recruiting new members and retaining existing members who feel they can no longer play contact rugby (for example, the introduction of Crossfit ‘Masters’ over 65s classes). All members have access to our bar and enjoy mixing together. The bar is the social hub not just for having a drink but also for relaxing and hosting events.

·         In addition, Old Emanuel RFC runs an annual 7’s tournament (the Graham Robinson Memorial 7s) which was started about 14 years ago following the tragic death of a young club member in a traffic accident. Over recent years, it has been adopted into the RFU 7s programme as a qualification tournament for South West London to the RFU National ‘24/7s’ Competition.

·         We are also expanding our adult offering to a women’s team and over 60s walking rugby in the near future.