Coventry R.F.C.
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| Coventry | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Coventry Rugby Football Club | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Founded | 1874 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ground | Butts Park Arena | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Capacity | 4,000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coach | David Addleton (acting) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Captain | Will Johnson | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| League | National Division One | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2005-06 | 10th | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Coventry Rugby Football Club is a rugby union club based in the city of Coventry, England. In 2005/06 the team finished 10th in National Division One, and will be playing in the same division in 2006/07.
Their home ground is the Butts Park Arena, which was opened in Coventry in 2004. Their previous ground from 1921 to 2004 was the Coundon Road Stadium, Coventry.
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[edit] History
The club was founded in 1874. It was one of the premier rugby clubs in the UK in the 1960s and 1970s and many of its players were capped during that time for England. These included Phil Judd, George Cole, Bill Gittings, Peter Rossborough, John Barton, Barry Ninnes, Keith Fairbrother, Geoff Evans, Peter Preece, Alan Cowman, Graham Robbins and David Duckham. Other top players of that era were John Gray, Brian Holt and Steve Thomas. The club was renowned for exciting attacking rugby. Playing at Coundon Road, their major local rivals were Moseley, with whom they had a regular and popular Boxing Day fixture. This was in the days when Leicester were a second order force in Midlands rugby. Cardiff and London Welsh were regular visitors. David Duckham scored the most impressive try of his career against London Welsh in a match in 1973.
[edit] Recent Events
On 23 August 2006, Andrew Green became the new owner and chairman of the club when he bought the club's controlling company (Butts Park Ventures (Coventry) Ltd) from Keith Fairbrother. Andrew Green is a former player and chief executive of Reading R.F.C.
Keith Fairbrother, a former player for the club, had been chairman for eight years. He took over the club after it had gone into receivership in 1998.
The current captain is Will Johnson, younger brother of Martin, who joined the side in July 2006.
On 2006-11-01, Apoua Stewart, the Coventry and Samoan international full-back, was suspended for two years after testing positive for the banned stimulant ephedrine. In doing so, he has become the first Coventry player to fail a drug test. Stewart gave a positive sample after the game against Earth Titans at the Butts Park Arena on September 9. He admitted the offence when he appeared before a Rugby Football Union disciplinary panel at the Filton Holiday Inn Hotel in Bristol.[1]
A fortnight later, on 2006-11-15 the coach Mike Umaga, older brother of Tana Umaga, was suspended following unspecified allegations.[2] Umaga had been at the club since July 2004, initially as the backs coach, becoming the assistant coach in September 2004, and the head coach in April 2005.
[edit] Former Players
[edit] Club honours
- John Player Cup 1973, 1974
[edit] International Players
The following players have played for their country while playing for Coventry. Unless otherwise noted, all played for Englnd.
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This information was taken from display boards inside the clubhouse on 2006-10-15.
[edit] References
- ^ "Coventry player suspended for two years", Rugby Football Union, 2006-11-01. Retrieved on [[2006-11-13]].
- ^ "Coventry RFC Statement Regarding Mike Umaga", Coventry R.F.C., 2006-11-14. Retrieved on [[2006-11-16]].
[edit] External links
| Federation: | Rugby Football Union |
| National teams: | England • England Saxons • England Sevens • British and Irish Lions |
| International Competitions: | Rugby World Cup • Six Nations Championship • Heineken Cup • European Challenge Cup • European Shield • Churchill Cup • Rugby World Cup Sevens |
| Domestic Competitions: | Guinness Premiership • EDF Energy Cup |
| Guinness Premiership teams: | Bath • Bristol • Gloucester • Harlequins • Leicester Tigers • London Irish • Newcastle Falcons • Northampton Saints • Sale Sharks • Saracens • London Wasps • Worcester Warriors |
| National Division One teams: | Bedford • Cornish Pirates • Coventry • Doncaster • Exeter Chiefs • Leeds Tykes • London Welsh • Moseley • Newbury • Nottingham • Otley • Pertemps Bees • Plymouth Albion • Rotherham • Sedgley Park • Waterloo |
