This year, Stafford RUFC is celebrating its 150th anniversary, with the first game having been played at the club in 1876. 

Last month, a dinner, attended by 160 guests, was held to mark the occasion. 

Food was prepared by Michelin-star chef Tom Shepherd in collaboration with students and staff from Stafford College. 

The club offers people of all ages the opportunity to take part in sport, with the oldest player recently turning 86.  

Chef Tom Shepherd and Martin Lennon CEO of Stafford RUFC at the dinner (image via Stafford RUFC)

Over the years, Stafford RUFC has called multiple locations home. 

In the early days, matches took place near the old Royal Brine Baths (Greengate Street) and players got changed in nearby pubs.  

In 2019, the club moved to Blackberry Lane.

advertisement

CEO of and Organiser of Stafford RUFC, Martin Lennon, believes it is important to honour how far the club has come in the past century and a half, during which time Stafford has experienced both victory and tragedy. 

Team photo from 1912 (image via Stafford RUFC)

Martin said: "We have a picture on the wall [at the club] of the 1912 team, who then went off to war. 

"Only two of those players actually returned to Stafford, the rest died in the war." 

In 1989, Stafford was victorious in the Staffordshire Senior Cup beating competition favourites Lichfield 6-3.  

Today, Stafford RUFC is one of the largest sports clubs in Staffordshire and has 23 teams, 650 players and over 1000 members.

The club offers Senior Men's, Senior Women's, mixed ability, touch, walking rugby as well as Junior and Mini sections which give children aged six and above the chance to play rugby.

Speaking about the positive impact of the club on the local area, Martin said: "I think when we developed the new site, we really wanted to build a community facility based in the heart of the town.  

"One of the unique things about the club is that there's a great social facility which allows us to be part of the community and then we use the money, from that to grow and invest in sport."