Long Eaton RFC
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| Full name | Long Eaton Rugby Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Union | Notts, Lincs & Derbyshire RFU | ||
| Nickname(s) | LE | ||
| Founded | 1969 | ||
| Location | Long Eaton, Derbyshire | ||
| Region | NLD | ||
| Ground(s) | West Park (Capacity: 1,000) | ||
| Chairman | Chris Brookes | ||
| CEO | Chris Brookes | ||
| President | Duncan Gooch | ||
| Director of Rugby | Murray McConnell | ||
| Coach(es) | Murray McConnell | ||
| Captain(s) | Jack Collister | ||
| League(s) | Regional 1 Midlands | ||
| 2024–25 | 8th | ||
| |||
Long Eaton RFC is a rugby union club based in Long Eaton, Derbyshire, UK.[1] They currently play in Regional 1 Midlands following their promotion from Regional 2 North Midlands in 2024. The club went on an impressive run of promotions having been the 2017–18 champions of RFU Midlands Division 3 East (North) and 2016–17 champions of RFU Midlands Division 4 East (North) having remained unbeaten in both seasons.[2] They are also won 2016–17 RFU Midlands Junior Vase, narrowly missing out on the national final. The clubs current director of rugby and head coach is former Nottingham RFC player Murray McConnell
The club play their home games on West Park.
The club was formed in 1969 by a group of local people, mainly businessman and school teachers. In the first season only 3 games were played before becoming full members of Derbyshire RFU in 1969. The club soon progressed to running two sides in 1971, and then by 1974 was running four senior sides.
In 1982 the club ran a colts section which lasted three years, and then returned to running four senior sides through until the late nineties when gradually over a number of years the club was resigned to running one side in 2008.. Along with the decrease in playing numbers the club in parallel lost its level of rugby resulting in them languishing in the bottom league of the Notts, Lincs and Derbyshire rugby hierarchy.
The club has always played its fixtures on West Park, Long Eaton, and from its early days using local pubs and Parkland's Adult Education Centre for a number of years, it is now based in its own leased Clubhouse on West Park. The club has two council owned pitches, one of which is fully floodlit.
The club has peaked and troughed like many local clubs. The two peaks arguably, the mid 70s before league rugby when Long Eaton were one of the top sides in Derbyshire and then mid to late 90s when rising up the leagues and getting to the semi-final of the Three Counties Cup.
