London Irish
File:London Irish.svg | |
Full name | London Irish Rugby Football Club |
---|---|
Union | RFU, Middlesex RFU, Surrey RFU, Irish RFU |
Nickname(s) | The Exiles |
Founded | 1898 |
Location | Reading, Berkshire, England |
Ground(s) | Madejski Stadium (Capacity: 24,161[1]) |
Chairman | Kieran McCarthy |
CEO | Brian Facer |
President | Mick Crossan |
Director of Rugby | Declan Kidney |
Coach(es) | Les Kiss |
League(s) | RFU Championship |
2018–19 | Champions (promoted to Premiership) |
Official website | |
london-irish |
London Irish RFC is a professional English rugby union club, with an Irish Identity. It was originally based in Sunbury, Surrey, where the senior squad train, youth teams and senior academy play home games, and the club maintain their administrative offices, at Hazelwood Drive. It competed in the Premiership, the top division of English rugby union, every season since its inception in 1996-97, apart from the 2016–17 and 2018-19 seasons, in which they competed in the Greene King IPA Championship; winning the league in 2017 and 2019. The club also competed in the Anglo-Welsh Cup, until its demise in 2018, and has participated in both the European Champions Cup and European Challenge Cup. While playing in the Championship, in 2016-17 and 2018–19, Irish also played in the British and Irish Cup and its successor the RFU Championship Cup respectively. The club currently plays its home games at the Madejski Stadium in Reading, Berkshire; however, at the end of the 2019/2020 season they will move to Brentford Community Stadium.
London Irish won its first major trophy in 2002, claiming the Powergen Cup (the competition that later became the Anglo-Welsh Cup). Irish also reached the final of the 2009 English Premiership, narrowly losing 10–9 to Leicester Tigers at Twickenham Stadium.[2] In the 2007–08 season the team came close to a place in the Heineken Cup Final, losing out to Stade Toulousain 15–21 in a tense semi-final encounter at Twickenham Stadium.[3] The club's mascot is an Irish Wolfhound character called Digger.
History
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/06/London_irish_1899.jpg/200px-London_irish_1899.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fc/London_Irish_at_the_Madejski_Stadium.jpg/200px-London_Irish_at_the_Madejski_Stadium.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/de/London_Irish%2C_rugby_match.jpg/200px-London_Irish%2C_rugby_match.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d1/Leicester_Tigers_v_London_Irish_-_December_2007_%2837%29.jpg/200px-Leicester_Tigers_v_London_Irish_-_December_2007_%2837%29.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c6/London_Irish_fans_at_the_Madejski_stadium.jpg/200px-London_Irish_fans_at_the_Madejski_stadium.jpg)
London Irish was the last club to be formed in England by working and student exiles from the home countries, following London Scottish in 1878 and London Welsh in 1885. The first game took place on 1 October 1898 against the former Hammersmith club at Herne Hill Athletic Ground, with London Irish winning 8-3. The team that season benefitted from the early recruitment of vet and Irish international Louis Magee.[4]
Academy
London Irish manage their own academy, with players such as Nick Kennedy, Topsy Ojo, Delon Armitage and Jonathan Joseph having gone on to play for the senior side and be internationally capped. Ojo still plays for the club in the current season, though Kennedy, Armitage and Joseph moved on.
Stadium
London Irish play at the Madejski Stadium, in Reading. Madejski is the home of Reading FC and was opened in August 1998. The ground is a 24,161 all-seater capacity stadium, and was the largest used as a regular home ground in the Premiership before Wasps moved to the Ricoh Arena in 2014.
With the exception of the annual London Double Header at Twickenham, all London Irish home matches are generally played at the Madejski. The largest crowd for a London Irish match was for a game against London Wasps on 15 March 2008 during the 2007–08 Guinness Premiership. The crowd of 23,790 was also the highest attendance for a regular season Guinness Premiership match[5] until December 2008.
On 12 March 2016 London Irish played their first home Premiership match away from Madejski (and Twickenham), and also the first-ever Premiership match outside England, when they travelled to the USA to face Saracens at the New York Red Bulls' Red Bull Arena in the New York metropolitan area.[6]
On 15 August 2016, the club announced its intention to return to London and that it was in formal discussions with Hounslow London Borough Council to play at Brentford FC's new stadium.[7] On 10 February 2017, the club confirmed that the Council had approved its application to use the stadium for rugby, effectively allowing them to move into the new stadium from its opening season.[8] This was later confirmed.[9]
Current standings
Template:2018–19 RFU Championship Table
Coaching staff
- Director of Rugby: Declan Kidney
- Head Coach: Les Kiss
- Defence Coach: Declan Danaher
- Forwards Coach: George Skivington
- Head of Strength & Conditioning: Robert Palmer
Current squad
The London Irish squad for the 2018–19 season is:[10]
Note: Flags indicate national union under World Rugby eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-World Rugby nationality.
Senior Academy squad
The London Irish senior academy squad is:[11]
Note: Flags indicate national union under World Rugby eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-World Rugby nationality.
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Notable former players
Juan Manuel Leguizamón
Gonzalo Tiesi
Alfredo Lalanne
James O'Connor
Scott Staniforth
Tom Wardle
Chris Malone
Jebb Sinclair
Phil Murphy
Delon Armitage
Steffon Armitage
James Cantion
Mike Catt
Alex Corbisiero
Declan Danaher
Riki Flutey
Shane Geraghty
Jamie Gibson
Paul Hodgson
Jonathan Joseph
Nick Kennedy
David Paice
Peter Richards
Paul Sackey
Chris Sheasby
George Skivington
Dominic Waldouck
Anthony Watson
Marland Yarde
Jerry Yanuyanutawa
Olivier Magne
Lasha Lomidze
Justin Bishop
Barry Bresnihan
Niall Brophy
Paul Burke
Kieran Campbell
Bob Casey
Paul Collins
Victor Costello
David Curtis
Jeremy Davidson
Jamie Hagan
Kieron Dawson
Barry Everitt
Justin Fitzpatrick
Neil Francis
Gabriel Fulcher
Simon Geoghegan
Mike Gibson
Gary Halpin
Rob Henderson
Niall Hogan
Kenneth Houston
Tyrone Howe
David Humphreys
Ken Kennedy
Larry L'Estrange
Mark McCall
Aidan McCullen
Mick Molloy
Brendan Mullin
John O'Driscoll
Kevin O'Flanagan
Malcolm O'Kelly
Tomas O'Leary
Tony O'Reilly
Conor O'Shea
Patrick Parfrey
Brian Robinson
Robin Roe
Rob Saunders
Dick Spring
Jim Staples
Jeremy Staunton
Robin Thompson
Niall Woods
Jarrod Cunningham
Clarke Dermody
Chad Eagle
Bryn Evans
Ben Franks
Daniel Leo
Seilala Mapusua
Setaimata Sa
Elvis Seveali'i
George Stowers
Sailosi Tagicakibau
Joe Ansbro
Sean Maitland
Geoff Cross
Robbie Russell
Scott Lawson
Kieran Low
Danie Coetzee
Brendan Venter
Faan Rautenbach
Chris Hala'ufia
Halani Aulika
Tonga Lea'aetoa
Brent Cockbain
Warren Fury
Ian Gough
Richie Rees
Current kit
The kit is currently supplied by XBlades. The 2018-19 kits celebrates 120 years of Exiles by continuing the traditional dark green colour and retro collar design reintroduced last year. "Exiles from 1898" is also inscribed on the inside back collar and the London Irish emblem is on the left chest. The jersey also features an orange narrow striped design across the jersey.
The club's principle sponsor Powerday appears on the front centre, below XBlades' logo, with Thames Materials on the right chest. Other club sponsors Pump Technology and Keltbray appear on the back with Redrow Homes and Turmec Teoranta on the right sleeve. The playing shorts feature the logo of sponsors VGC Group and Cherwell Software in addition to the continued orange striped design.
The away kit is white with a two broad green striped design across the jersey.
Honours
- European Challenge Cup:
- Runners-up: 2005–06
- English Premiership:
- Runners-up: 2008–09
- RFU Championship
- Anglo-Welsh Cup:
- Champions: 2002
- Runners-up: 1980
- Surrey Cup:
- Winners (4): 1981, 1982, 1986, 1987
- Middlesex Sevens:
- Champions: 2009
- Premiership Rugby Sevens Series
- Champions: 2012
- Cunningham Duncombe Series
- Champions: 2016
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/e/ef/London_Irish_Amateur.jpg/120px-London_Irish_Amateur.jpg)
London Irish Amateur
The club also hosts London Irish Amateur RFC (a separate legal entity) for non-professionals to allow them to improve in Rugby. The team plays at the location of London Irish's training ground and offices, Hazelwood in Sunbury. Some players such as Justin Bishop and Kieran Campbell have gone through the ranks to play for London Irish professional team.[12]
Digger
Digger is an Irish Wolfhound and official mascot of London Irish. He has an important job in providing support to the Club.
On 30 May 2003 Digger won the "Best Mascot" award in Premiership Rugby at the Premier Rugby Marketing Awards.[13]
On 23 April 2006, Digger ran the London Marathon raising money for Spinal Research. He finished the marathon in a time of 6 hours 39 minutes 31 seconds.[14]
Colleagues
Digger was joined by his cousin, Duggie, from the 2006–07 season. Much taller and much slower, Duggie has proved popular with younger children attending matchdays. As well as the mascot characters, there is also a real Irish Wolfhound, Mr Doyle, who also attends the home games. Before Mr Doyle, his Great Uncle, Jumbo, attended home games before Jumbo retired and eventually died.
Trivia
- The Exiles once took part in an episode of Jackass. They were given the job of teaching Johnny Knoxville and Chris Pontius how to play rugby, no matter how rough it got.[citation needed]
- A main character in the book, The Lost World by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Edward D Malone, a journalist, was also a player on the London Irish and scored a try.[citation needed]
- YouTube phenomenon KSI (entertainer) made videos with London Irish at Hazelwood with Rule'm Sports.[citation needed]
See also
- Rugby union in London
- London Cornish
- London Scottish
- London Welsh
- Richmond
- Rugby union in the United States
- Hazelwood
References
- ^ "Madejski Stadium information". readingfc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 7 May 2011. Retrieved 14 April 2011.
{{cite web}}
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suggested) (help) - ^ Palmer, Bryn (16 May 2009). "Leicester 10–9 London Irish". BBC News.
- ^ "London Irish 15–21 Toulouse". BBC News. 26 April 2008.
- ^ Club history –beginnings london-irish.com Retrieved 20 September 2015
- ^ "No Luck on Paddy's Day for Irish". Guinness Premiership.com. Retrieved 16 March 2008.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "London Irish Aviva Premiership Rugby match in USA". London Irish. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
- ^ Hyde, Nathan. "London Irish could soon leave Madejski Stadium". Get Reading. Trinity Mirror Southern. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
- ^ "Approval for rugby". Brentford Community Stadium. Retrieved 10 February 2017.
- ^ "Back in Town — The Irish are Returning to London!". London Irish. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
- ^ "First Team". London Irish. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
- ^ "Academy Players". London Irish. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
- ^ [1] Archived 15 April 2010 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Digger Wins 'Best Mascot' Award". London Irish. Archived from the original on 14 June 2011. Retrieved 26 February 2010.
{{cite web}}
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ignored (|url-status=
suggested) (help) - ^ "Steven Orton is fundraising for Spinal Research – JustGiving". JustGiving. Retrieved 26 February 2010.
External links
- Official site
- Sunbury Centre
- Order Of The Odd-Shaped Ball
- The Craic
- London Irish Amateur RFC
- London Irish on Rugby15
- London Irish ERCrugby.com
- London Irish Supporters Club