And so we start off on a long ( but possibly short) road to promotion to L5 with a trip to Consett. Consett RUFC celebrated its centenary in 2023. There had been a rugby club in the area prior to this but it had fallen by the wayside – some think as a result of the First World War. For years Consett was not a regular on Sunderland’s 1 st  XV fixture list but all this changed with the introduction of leagues in the 1980s and there have been regular meetings ever since. The ear

The result of today's match may decide whether the season ends here or continues into a maze of play off games. Morpeth is a highly respected and successful club so it comes as something of a surprise to discover that it is a relatively young club. It was founded just after the Second World War seemingly as an old boys club for the local grammar school. In those days clubs were designated as junior and senior and it wasn't until 1954 that Morpeth gained senior status. It has

This Saturday sees the restoration of an old rivalry. Stockton RFC is as old as SRFC and our paths have crossed on many occasions. One of the earliest surviving newspaper records dates back to 1889 and the 2nd round of the county cup. It was described as a rough encounter with two of the Stockton men having to retire through injury and Sunderland turning round early scores to win comfortably as a result. In the Sunderland team that day were the Crow brothers - ( it has often

Aspatria are our guests this weekend. A club with a pedigree as long as our own, the Cumbrian club has just celebrated its 150 th anniversary. Across the years, it has been one of the most successful clubs in the far north-west of England and has won their county cup on numerous occasions. During the late twentieth century Aspatria was a force to be reckoned with and was considered one of the top clubs in the north. This success is reflected in the number of players who gain

As I was brought up in the old counties of Cumberland and Westmorland, I am aware of Wigton as a sporting force in the past. When I was a youngster in the 1960s i Wigton had a good reputation for rugby and green bowling so it is pleasure to welcome the rugby sides ( walking and walking a little faster) to Ashbrooke. It also gives me to opportunity to have a look at old newspapers for anything of historical interest. According to the local 'Wigton News' Wigton Rugby Football

As noted in my last blog - (please take a look if you haven't seen it) - fixtures between Sunderland and Northern go back a long way - in fact almost 150 years. Even dull games have interesting stories behind them -games such as the one which was played at Newcastle in October 1902. Although the RFU did not approve of it, the North East had decided to set up a league system for the 1902/3 season and this was one of the first games played in it. The league was called the Int

Sunderland faces Northern at Ashbrooke next weekend and two matches between the sides from the early 1880s provide food for thought - especially about the method of scoring used. In November 1880 the sides played a draw on our old ground (which stood, partly, on the site of today's Chester's pub). The weather was 'dull and threatening' - which strikes a bell in February 2026 - and the match played over three 'halves' of 20 minutes. Sunderland scored a try but the opposition

Percy Park is one of very few local clubs that can claim rightfully to be older than us - by a single year. Percy Park has been around since 1872 and has clashed with SRFC on numerous occasions since the late Victorian period. The 1898/9 season opened with a match between the clubs two first teams - at Ashbrooke on 23 September 1898. Our fixture list for that season included West Hartlepool, Hartlepool Rovers, Westoe, Durham City, Rockcliffe and Northern! Matches with Percy

We are due a league match against City on January 10. A recent copy of the weekly Rugby Paper had an article bemoaning the disappearance of historic Boxing Day games. The author provided a short list of the most special of these and amongst them was the annual fixture between Sunderland RFC and Durham City RFC. As those 73ers long in the tooth will recall, some of the good and great of rugby football took part in these games. ( Please name some in our WhatsApp if you can reca

SRFC’S 1877 RIVALS   Just recently while carrying out some research in the Sunderland Echo I came across the fixtures list for SRFC for the 1877 – 8 season and it makes for interesting reading. During the season we faced seven opponents home and away. Three of the seven are still in existence – Darlington, Westoe and Durham University. Darlington is one of our oldest rivals and the first ‘club’ club founded in Durham County (though not continuous due to a dabble in associati

James Harry Edwards is standing back left with arms folded - mistakenly noted as John in handwritten club records There are two versions of the song online Come on the Durhams or Jamie's Song Come on, the Durhams Below are the two case studies that inspired the song. I did over 250 case studies 2014-18 - Get in touch if you want a free online copy of the book. I have hi-lited the reference that led to the song keith.gregson@talk21.com SCFC/FWW/54 EDWARDS JOHN H/K.I.A –WO 339/

Below is a list of the rugby lads who died in or because of war – in brackets is an identifiable year in which they played for the club – the date thus 05/05/1917 is the date of death.   1914-18 War James Adamson jnr. (1913) – RFA/RHA – 05/05/1917 fly half Robert W Adamson (1907) – 7th DLI – 25/05/1917 centre Charles W T Barker (1914) – 15th DLI – 24/03/1918–fly half Harold T F Barker (1911) – RGA/RFA – 29/03/1918   scrum half George H Carter (1906) – RFA - 18/11/1915 –winger

During the centenary of the First World War I produced an online book about the Ashbrooke members - past and present - who took part in the conflict. There were some 250 case studies with over 60 losing their lives as a result of the war. ( Anybody interested in an online copy can still get in touch with me for one). One of the interesting case studies involved a Cecil Boyns Ellis and runs as follows; SCFC/FWW/55 ELLIS CECIL B – SAPPER ROYAL ENGINEERS This is a difficult case

In April we set off on our course to digitize the club's archives and to let the rest of Sunderland know what we ( Marcus and self) have...

Red Bull and 'Newcastle Falcons' have just announced the takeover and re-naming of the club and, in so doing, has also referenced the...

According to the list Alan Ayre Smith is in the middle of the second row up with the plain low necked top Alan Ayre Smith's Sunderland...

Sunderland RFC's early Lions Founded in 1873, Sunderland (Rugby) Football Club has long been recognised by the Rugby Football Union as...

This week, of all weeks [containing V E Day 80], has led me to a couple of our members who gave their lives in World War II. Researcher...

As noted elsewhere there is now a great deal of interest in Howard Marshall as the club has been given a plaque in his memory by the...

Welcome to our new co-archivist - County Rugby under 20 and Newcastle University history student Marcus Harris. Thanks to a grant from...