Clifton Rugby

Clifton Rugby Football Club is an English rugby union club founded in Clifton, Bristol. Over the years the club's home games have been played in a variety of locations in northern Bristol, though never in Clifton itself; since 1976 they have been based at the southern end of Cribbs Causeway. Clifton RFC play in the fourth tier of the English rugby union league system; National League 2 West.

Clifton RFC

Full name	Clifton Rugby Football Club
Union	Gloucestershire RFU
Nickname(s)	Lavender And Blacks
Founded	1872; 153 years ago (1872)
Location	Cribbs Causeway, Bristol,BS10 7TB England
Ground(s)	Station Road (Capacity: 2,500 (400 seats)[1])
Chairman	Aftab Hamid
President	John Raine
Director of Rugby	Matt Salter
Coach(es)	Luke Cozens
Captain(s)	Mitchell Spencer
League(s)	National League 2 West
2023–24	3rd
Team kit
Official website
www.cliftonrugby.co.uk

History

The first ever photograph of a Clifton RFC team (1873)

Clifton RFC is Bristol's oldest club, and one of the oldest in the world.^[2] Clifton Rugby Club was formed on 27 September 1872 at the Kings Arms on Blackboy Hill in Clifton, Bristol. The pub still stands, although it was rebuilt in 1902, and refurbished in the late 1990s. Clifton is the 32nd oldest club in the United Kingdom, the 21st oldest in England, the 2nd oldest in the South West (Bath Rugby older by seven years) and the oldest in Bristol.^[3] In 1909 a combined Bristol and Clifton RFC team, captained by Percy Down, lost to Australia 11–3.

Clifton's Cribbs Causeway ground also hosted the Bristol Packers American football team in the late 1980s and early 1990s.^[4]

Honours

• Bass South West Merit Table champions: 1979–80
• South West Division 1 champions: 1988–89
• Area League South runner-up: 1989–90 (promoted)
• Courage League Division 4 champions: 1993–94
• London 1 v South West 1 promotion play-off winner: 2005–06
• South West Division 1 champions: 2008–09
• Bristol Combination Cup winners (5): 2008–09, 2013–14, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18
• National League 2 West champions: 2024–25

^{[5][6][7][8][9][10]}

League table

2024–25 National League 2 West table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	TB	LB	Pts	Qualification
1	Clifton (C)	26	21	1	4	942	623	+319	23	3	112	Promotion place
2	Camborne	26	20	1	5	1037	672	+365	23	0	105
3	Taunton Titans	26	16	2	8	828	727	+101	18	3	89
4	Loughborough Students	26	13	1	12	926	817	+109	24	5	83
5	Luctonians	26	15	1	10	736	564	+172	13	4	79
6	Hornets	26	13	1	12	789	830	−41	20	5	79
7	Cinderford	26	14	1	11	779	708	+71	15	5	78
8	Redruth	26	14	1	11	709	666	+43	16	3	77
9	Hinckley	26	13	0	13	902	793	+109	15	5	72
10	Old Redcliffians	26	11	1	14	714	805	−91	17	6	69
11	Macclesfield	26	7	1	18	708	963	−255	17	7	54
12	Exeter University	26	9	1	16	770	873	−103	13	2	53
13	Bournville (R)	26	6	0	20	615	937	−322	11	6	41	Relegation place
14	Devonport Services (R)	26	4	0	22	569	1046	−477	14	4	34

Updated to match(es) played on 26 April 2025. Source: National League Rugby ^[11]
Rules for classification: If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:

1. Number of matches won
2. Number of matches drawn
3. Difference between points for and against
4. Total number of points for
5. Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams
6. Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled

Current squad

Note: Flags indicate national union under World Rugby eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-World Rugby nationality.

Player Position Union Jake Buckley Prop England Ricardo Cano Prop England Bertran Cole-Fontayn Prop England Oliver Seagrove Prop England Louis White Prop England Thomas Anderson Hooker England George Davey Hooker England Thomas Hatch Hooker England Henry Harper Second row England Daniel Hodge Second row England Toby Hutchinson Second row England Daniel Owen Second row England Shay Sainsbury Second row England Jay Evans Back row England Niall Gibbons Back row England Jake Holcombe Back row England Christopher McCann Back row England Freddie Myatt Back row England Bradley Talbot Back row England

Player Position Union Mitchell Spencer (c) Scrum-half England Luke Cozens Fly-half England Ollie Milner Fly-half England Thomas Quinlan Fly-half England Marcus Nel Centre Zimbabwe William Owen Centre England Matthew Smith Centre England Zakaria Hamid Wing England Alexander Kilbane Wing Ireland Luke Daniels Fullback South Africa Alexander Howman Fullback England

Notable former players

Internationals

The Clifton RFC team for the 1874–75 season

• Billy Meakes (Australia)
• Ellis Genge (England)
• Callum Braley (Italy)
• Olly Kohn
• Henry Arthur Broomfield
• Rhys Oakley both (Wales)

British & Irish Lions

• Mako Vunipola (England)
• Mark Regan (England)
• Frederick Belson (England)