Ealing Trailfinders Rugby Club

Ealing Trailfinders

Full name	Ealing Trailfinders Rugby Club
Union	Middlesex RFU, Surrey RFU
Founded	1871 (1871)
Location	West Ealing, Ealing, London, England
Ground(s)	Trailfinders Sports Ground (Capacity: 3,020 (1,000 seats))
President	Dick Craig
Coach(es)	Ben Ward Kieran Power
Captain(s)	Danny Kenny
League(s)	RFU Championship
2016–17	3rd (semi-finalist)
Team kit
Official website
www.ealingrugby.co.uk

Ealing Trailfinders Rugby Club is an English rugby union club, located in West London. The club's first team play in the Greene King IPA Championship RFU Championship after they won National League 1 in 2014–15, the third tier of the English domestic rugby union league system.

Structure of the club

The club's registered playing name with the RFU is Ealing Trailfinders. The club is a Mutual Society registered with the FSA, and run on behalf of its members and the game. The club is located in West London at Trailfinders Sports Ground, just south of the A40 at the upper end of West Ealing.

The Club has a first team squad, Men's Section, Academy Section, Youth Section, Minis Section and Referees Section. The Ealing Trailfinders first team finished as champions in National League 1 for season 2012–13 and won promotion, for the first time, to the second tier of the English rugby union leagues, the RFU Championship. After one season they finished in twelfth place and were relegated back to National League 1.

The Men’s Section runs four teams, competing in The Shield and the Middlesex Merit Leagues, and Middlesex Veterans League. The Academy and Youth Sections are for players aged 13 to 23 and the new Academy feeds players directly into senior rugby. The youth teams cater for boys and girls at all levels of ability and currently have players representing the county at all age group levels, as well as players just being introduced to the game. The youth play in the Hertfordshire and Middlesex leagues and, in season 2011–12, were league winners at U14 level as well as winning Division Three at U16 level. The club is active at all levels. The mini and youth sections have teams in several age groups with over 750 registered players, making it the biggest club in Middlesex and one of the largest in the country. The club's junior teams are regular winners of County Festivals, and champions of the Herts and Middlesex Leagues for Youth Rugby.

The club has developed a pathway for female players starting at 10 and running through to U18. Known as the Emeralds, this section has provided players to the England Elite Programme. The club has also seen players develop through the new structures to play for England and U.S.

History

1869 – 1995

The team played its first match in 1869 on Ealing Common, prior to the founding of the Rugby Football Union in 1871. The early years saw regular fixtures against the likes of Wasps, London Irish, Harlequins, Richmond and Blackheath with 75% win rate for a long period.

Between 1894 and 1958 the club moved location numerous times – Hanger Lane – West Middlesex Polo Club – Gunnersbury Park – Drayton Green – Syon Lane, Horsenden Hill.

Ealing Rugby Club's centenary match was played against Harlequins in 1970. In the 1970s and ’80s Ealing supplied many county level players for Middlesex. In 1987 the club finished top of London Division 1 and during the next six years was never lower than 2nd in London 1 nor higher than 10th in National 5. Ealing won the Middlesex cup three times in this period.

1995 – present

In 1996 Ealing were relegated from London 1. In response, the club formed youth and minis sections, and moved to a new ground at Trailfinders Sports Club in 1999. The Club has been awarded two RFU Presidents Awards, the first in 2007 for its work on referee development that has extended into a national programme, and the second in 2008 for coaching excellence. In 2009, the club fielded two first team players who had been developed through the Juniors.

In the 2009–10, season the Club was the only team in the National Leagues to score more than 1,000 points, averaging more than 36 in each game. The club narrowly missed out on promotion to National One by losing to Barking RFC by 2 points and Rosslyn Park by 1.

In 2010–11, the club started its Community Rugby programme providing coaching support and access to the game to schools and other groups throughout Ealing and West London. During this season, Ealing's winger Phil Chesters scored 70 tries which is the record for the most tries in an English Rugby season.

2007–08: National Division 3 South, 3rd place Mounts Bay 1st; Cinderford 2nd
2008–09: National Division 3 South, 3rd place London Scottish 1st; Rosslyn Park 2nd
2009–10: National League 2 South, 3rd place Barking 1st; Rosslyn Park 2nd
2010–11: National League 2 South, 1st place Jersey 2nd
2011–12: National League 1, 2nd place Jersey 1st
2012–13: National League 1, 1st place Esher 2nd
2013–14: IPA Greene King Championship, 12th
Midway through the season long-serving director of rugby Mike Cudmore announced that he would be stepping down at the season's end. Head coach and fly-half Ben Ward was appointed director of coaching from the start of the 2014–15 season. After fighting against relegation for the majority of the season, Ealing Trailfinders were eventually relegated on the final day of the season by one point after they lost at home to Rotherham Titans, while Jersey won away to Bedford Blues
2014–15: National League 1, 1st
Ealing Trailfinders quickly established themselves in first place in National 1 and they won the title with a haul of 136 points, nine ahead of their nearest rivals Rosslyn Park.

Club honours

• London Division 1 champions: 1987–88
• Middlesex Senior Cup winners (7): 1989, 1990, 1994, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007
• London 2 (north-east v north-west) promotion playoff winners: 2002-03
• London Division 2 North champions: 2004–05
• London 1 v South West 1 promotion playoff winners: 2006–07
• National League 2 South champions: 2010–11
• National League 1 champions (twice): 2012–13, 2014–15

Current squad

For player movements leading up to the 2017–18 season, see List of 2017–18 RFU Championship transfers § Ealing Trailfinders.

• Internationally capped players in bold. Their nationality is fixed to international team (World Rugby regulations).
• Players qualified to play for England on residency or dual nationality. *
• Nationality now fixed under World Rugby regulations by virtue of an 'A' cap or Sevens cap ⚓
• In all cases nationality shown is the country that the player represents in international rugby union.

2017-18 Note: Flags indicate national union under World Rugby eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-World Rugby nationality.

Player Position Union Matt Cornish Hooker England Rhys Lawrence Hooker England Alun Walker Hooker Scotland Ziana Alexis Prop England Will Davis Prop England James Gibbons Prop England James Hallam Prop England Sam Rodman Prop England Mark Tampin Prop England Lewis Thiede Prop England Harry Casson Lock England Ollie Curry Lock England Llewelyn Jones Lock Wales Barney Maddison Lock England Glen Townson Lock England Andrew Durutalo Flanker United States Arthur Ellis Flanker England Willie Ryan Flanker Ireland Rayn Smid Flanker South Africa Daniel Temm Flanker New Zealand Mark Bright Number 8 England Kieran Murphy Number 8 Wales

Player Position Union Luke Carter Scrum-half England Grayson Hart Scrum-half Scotland Rory Clegg Fly-half England Aaron Penberthy Fly-half England Aled Jenkins Centre Wales Lewis Jones Centre England Joe Munro Centre England Piers O'Conor Centre England Lewis Robling Centre Wales James Cordy-Redden Wing England Will Harries Wing Wales Miles Mantella Wing England Seb Stegmann Wing England Luke Daniels Fullback England Pete Lydon Fullback Ireland

External links

• Official site