Birmingham Moseley Rugby
Birmingham Moseley Rugby Club is an English rugby union club, based in Birmingham, that compete in the third tier of English rugby. They were historically the premier rugby club in Birmingham, reaching the final of the John Player Cup three times in the late 1970s and early 1980s. They originally played at the Reddings, but after attempting to keep up with the transition to professional rugby, the club ran into financial difficulties and were forced to sell their 125-year home to property developers. An unsuccessful five-year spell based at the University of Birmingham followed, during which time they were relegated to National Division Two. In 2005 the club moved to its new home at Billesley Common, and were promoted to National Division One in 2006. In 2009 they won their first cup in 27 years beating Leeds 23–18 in the final of the National Trophy at Twickenham. On the weekend starting 15 April 2016; defeat to Bristol, combined with results elsewhere during the same weekend, confirmed Moseley's relegation to National League 1 for the 2016–17 season.
Prior to the 2016–17 season, the club changed its name to Birmingham Moseley Rugby Club.
History
Origins
Early days
Moseley was founded in 1873 by members of Havelock Cricket Club who wanted a winter sport when the cricket season had finished. The club debuted its signature red and black colours one year later. The Reddings was leased by the club in 1880 and the club was traditionally called, like many rugby football clubs from either code, simply "Moseley Football Club"There were major successes for Moseley in the early days of rugby, including a three-year undefeated run from 1879 to 1882, which included winning the first Midland Counties Challenge Cup. In total they won the cup nine times and finished runner-up eleven times.
In 1882 Moseley became the first team to defeat the travelling New Zealand Native football team. In front of 5000 supporters they beat the tourists 6-4 much to the surprise of the New Zealanders. In 1890 John Rogers was the first Moseley player to win an international cap while at the club.
1900 Paris Olympics
Moseley formed the backbone of the team which represented Great Britain at the 1900 Paris Olympics winning a Silver medal. The team, known as Moseley Wanderers, played one game, a 27–8 defeat to France at the Velodrome Municipal at Vincennes. A report in The Times suggested that fatigue was largely to blame, and at least five of the players are believed to have played for their respective clubs, in England, the day before the game.The golden years
The club acquired the freehold of The Reddings in 1925 and in 1935 the ground even staged an England trial game. Floodlights were installed in 1965 which allowed for an expanded fixture list and began Moseley's so-called 'The Golden Years'. From this time onwards Moseley's fixture list routinely included the top sides in England and Wales, and Moseley players were regularly included in international teams. The most successful years were the late 1960s and 1970s, this included reaching the RFU Knock-out cup final on three occasions – losing 17–6 to Gloucester and then 15–12 to Leicester before emerging joint winners drawing 12–12 with Gloucester after extra time in 1982. The team also defeated Fiji and the Barbarians.When league rugby commenced in 1987, the team was placed in the Courage National Division 1, the top division at the time. They ended Bath's astonishing run of 22 unbeaten cup matches in 1988, winning 4–3.
Professional era
Building for the future
The team's relegation from the top division at the end of the 1990–1991 season marked a consolidation period for the club after their fantastic times of the 1970s. In August 1995, when the door to full-scale professionalism opened, the board executives came together to work on plans to move with the idea and find possible financial resources so that the team could play with the best team and best facilities. As part of the move to professionalism the club undertook a soft re-brand as the 'Moseley Bears' complete with a bear mascot.Administration – leaving the Reddings
On 30 January 1998, the club went into administration, after overstretching its financial resources in the early years of professional rugby union. The Reddings had been sold on a 'delayed sale' basis to Bryant Homes and the future of the club was in jeopardy. However, the club's playing commitments were still fulfilled except in the North Midlands Cup in which the 2nd XV was entered. On 12 June 1998, the club was given another chance to fashion its own destiny when a group of Moseley Rugby Club members, assembled by Simon Cooper, a former club player and official, formed Moseley Ventures Ltd and bought the club out of administration. In the last 1st XV match at The Reddings on 6 May 2000, Moseley defeated Worcester 34–17 in a National Division One game.The Bournbrook Era – crisis and final rescue
On 7 October Moseley defeated Exeter 27–18 in the first match at its new home at the University of Birmingham in Bournbrook. However long-term permissions for a clubhouse and hospitality boxes were not granted and in consequence Moseley Ventures found it more difficult than expected to raise the necessary finance. Merger plans were discussed and an offer was made by Firoz Kassam, the chairman of Oxford United Football Club with a proposal to buy out the club and take it to his new stadium in Oxford. Supporters organized a major media and political campaign and this became the catalyst for a consortium of Moseley stalwarts to come forward to raise finance to defeat the Kassam offer. At a predictably traumatic meeting at the Grand Hotel on 26 July 2002, the consortium gained the support of the creditors by a narrow 1.7% majority regarded by some as a Pyrrhic victory. However, the consortium's business plan was approved by the RFU and with additional backing by the politicians of the City of Birmingham and the North Midlands RFU, the club survived in Birmingham. So a new Moseley Rugby Club was born and appointed David Warren as Chief Executive and former players John Beale and Derek Nutt as Director of Rugby and Head Coach respectively. Negotiations for planning permission for a new stadium at Billesley Common, in the same postal district as The Reddings, began and permission was obtained.However, despite the success of the consortium in keeping the club in Birmingham a large number of first-team regulars had left the club at the end of the 2001–02 season. The team hastily assembled from more junior ranks after the rescue was inevitably relegated from National Division One. After a difficult first few months in National Division Two the team began to gel, and a decent run of results in the new year saw mid-table respectability achieved for the 2003–04 season.
Further improvement during the 2004–05 season saw Moseley finishing third in the table, narrowly missing promotion behind Doncaster and Newbury. Nonetheless, the season saw many club records broken, and the era of lodging at Birmingham University ended with much optimism for the future.
The records broken were:
- Most team points: 665 points
- Most Consecutive Victories: 6
- Most individual points in a season: 328
- Most conversions in a season: 48
- Most penalties in a season: 62
- Most drop goals in a season: 7
- Most consecutive scoring matches : 15
- Most league appearances: 161
- Most penalties in a career: 62
- Most consecutive matches: 70
Recent seasons