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| Full name | West Hartlepool Rugby Football Club | |
|---|---|---|
| Union | Durham County RFU | |
| Founded | 1881; 144 years ago (1881) | |
| Location | Hartlepool,County Durham,England | |
| Ground | Brinkburn (Capacity: 2,000 (76 seats)) | |
| Coach(es) | Chris Webb (Webby) Peter Youll Andrew Rollins (Rollo) Andrew Turner | |
| League | Regional 2 North | |
| 2024–25 | 4th | |
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| Official website | ||
| official | ||
54°40′35″N1°14′5″W / 54.67639°N 1.23472°W /54.67639; -1.23472
West Hartlepool Rugby Football Club (nicknamed West) is anEnglish rugby union club who play inRegional 2 North in thesixth tier of the English rugby union system.
West Hartlepool Rugby Football Club was formed in 1881.
Before the game turned professional, the club enjoyed several seasons in theCourage League and Allied Dunbar premiership during the 1990s[1] before finally being relegated in the 1998–99 season. There followed a drop through the divisions over the next three years that took them out of the national leagues and into the regional leagues.[2]
In the 1990s, when the club was at its peak positions they played atBrierton Lane. When the ground was sold they entered into one year ground share agreements, first withHartlepool United Football Club atVictoria Park and then withHartlepool Rovers RFC.
The club's Junior Section then went on to play at West Hartlepool Technical Day School Old Boys RUFC (Tech) for a few years and in the early 2000s there was an agreement with the Hartlepool Sixth Form College for the whole club to play at Brinkburn which is located on Catcote Road.
West have two Senior Teams within the club.
| Nationality | Player | Honours |
|---|---|---|
| Carl Aarvold | England | |
| Sammy Morfitt | England | |
| Tim Stimpson | England (andBritish & Irish Lions) | |
| Jack Taylor | England (captain) | |
| Rob Wainwright | Scotland (captain) (andBritish & Irish Lions) | |
| Leonard West | Scotland | |
| Mike Mullins | Ireland | |
| Alan Whetton (AJ) | New Zealand | |
| Gary Whetton | New Zealand (Captain) | |
| Mike Brewer | New Zealand | |
| Troy Jaques | Australia | |
| Jim Williams | Australia |
| Nationality | Player | Honours |
|---|---|---|
| Sean Dougall | Ireland U18s, U19s & U20s | |
| Micky Young | England U-16 & U-18, EnglandSevens andEngland Saxons | |
| Chris Murphy | England Colts, England Students, U-21 (Captain) & England A | |
| Simon Mitchell | England A |
West have a very successful mini & junior set up with teams from Little Deers to under-18 with a large percentage going on to represent Durham County & The North.
West Little Deers we’re introduced in 2017 and are for children aged 2–6 – introducing them to Rugby.
In the 1990s when West Hartlepool were in the top leagues there was a rivalry with Newcastle Gosforth (now theNewcastle Falcons). However the real derby matches were withHartlepool Rovers. Even though Rovers have always been in lower league, the historical Boxing Day match between the sides has continued and Rovers have always given West Hartlepool good competitive matches, beating West in the 2008 Boxing Day derby but West have won all the other years. In recent years the games have come down to the last few seconds or injury time before the eventual winners were known, with side line conversions winning or losing matches.
