Welwyn RFC

Welwyn RFC was originally born as Welwyn (East), and formed in 1931.

The first rugby club in Welwyn Garden City (WGC) was Mid Herts, formed in the mid-1920s and composed mainly of players from the more affluent West side of town. They had a pitch at Handside Lane but no clubhouse, only a small changing hut with a crude bath.

During the depression years in the 30's, numbers of Welsh from the valleys and Scots from the border woolen mills arrived in town to work in the local hosiery factory or in factories such as Murphy Radio and they formed a rugby club which played on various pitches on the east side of town. The first President was a retired Irish army officer, Major C D Ross. In 1938 the club moved to share pitches with Mid Herts at Handside Lane.

During World War II, both clubs closed down and afterwards only Welwyn (East) restarted now known as Welwyn RFC. There was still no clubhouse at Handside Lane and all entertaining was carried out at local pubs. In 1952 a hut was purchased from a local chicken hatchery for £300 and dismantled, moved across town and re-erected by a team of players during the summer.

A further wooden building was presented by ICI in 1959 and again fitted out by players and committee. The club continued to grow until the present premises were built in 1973. For the first time, changing and social facilities were under the same roof. The current building cost £30,000 compared with £300 for the first hut. The clubhouse was extended in 1996 with the aid of a National Lottery grant.

In the first 30 years of the club's life there were several changes in the source of players. For the first 10 years the Welsh and Scots were predominant, but the Irish, mainly due to ICI, provided the main source of players for the next 20 years. Over the period 1931-1960, out of 20 captains, 17 were Welsh, Scots or Irish and between 1950-1970 out of 15, 10 were from ICI.

In Hertfordshire the Herts Presidents Cup (County Cup) was introduced in 1971. Welwyn have reached the last 8 on several occasions but the best performance was in 1988 when they lost narrowly to Cheshunt in injury time In the semifinal.

In the Herts Merit Table, introduced in 1980, Welwyn were runners up in 1997. The leagues started in 1987 and Welwyn were placed in Herts 1. In 1989 Welwyn were promoted into London NW3 as Champions of Herts I having beaten Barnet in a title decider.

Season 1995-96 saw the Club finish fourth in London League 3 NW. 1996-97 saw the Club win London 3 NW, defeating Barnet in the last match of the season, when whichever club had won gained promotion. Promotion to London 2 North meant more travelling, e.g. to Diss, Great Yarmouth and Ipswich. At that time there were 17 teams playing each other in this league. Welwyn had three good seasons at this level, finishing in fourth position in our first season. After this period the RFU decided that all leagues should have a maximum of 12 teams playing home and away fixtures, so London 2 North had to be reorganised. Despite finishing in 9th position out of 17 teams at the end of the season Welwyn was placed back in London 3 North West. At this time certain key players retired from playing and a period of bad results began for the Club, resulting in relegation to London 4 North West in 2001.

The club regained promotion to London NW 3 in April 2003 and also reaching the quarter final of the National Vase Competition in the same season with a young team. In season 2004-2005 Welwyn finished in fourth position and the club regained its place in London 2 North by winning promotion at the end of the 2006-7 season, which has been retained in 2007-8.

The 2nd XV won the Hertford RFC Floodlit Cup on 3 successive occasions (92-93, 93-94 and 94-95). The Colts won the Herts Colts Cup In 1996. Welwyn won the Herts Sevens in 1971 and 1978 and the plate in 1989, 92, 94 and 97.

John Wackett of Welwyn RFC and Rosslyn Park played Hooker for England against Ireland and Wales in 1959. In more recent years, Steve Bates who played scrum-half for Welwyn in the late 70s went on to play for Wasps and was on the replacements' bench for England for several seasons before finally winning his cap against Romania in 1989 in Bucharest. Joe Worsley MBE is the most recent Welwyn RFC player to play professionally, playing full-time for London Wasps in the professional era, he has at time of writing had 20 full England caps as well as being a part of the 2003 World Cup winning side.

Welwyn celebrated its 75th Anniversary during the 2006-2007 season. The club runs five senior sides and with age group rugby from U7 to Colts, plus two girls teams which have won regional and national competitions. Key sponsors include Fullers London Pride, JCA of Letchhworth and The Pavillion Indian Restaurant.

The club has changing rooms and showers plus a clubhouse with gym located in a residential area. Following successful grant applications the club has additional flood lights for training.

In recent years we have had Steve Bates and Joe Worsley gain England caps and several players have gone on to Premiership clubs, back in the 1960s we had J.A.S. Wackett playing for his England cap.