Nuneaton Rugby Football Club was founded on the 5 th of November 1879 at a meeting held at a local hotel, the Newdegate Arms. This hotel was to play a significant part in the evolution of the club for the first quarter of its life, as it provided the ground to play on, the Newdegate Arms Field, together with the dressing rooms and bath facilities, until the outbreak of war in 1914. The population of Nuneaton town was approximately 14,000 and has risen to 78,000 today.

In Nuneaton at that time, the game was being played regularly by small clubs named "Albion", " St Mary's", and "Hartshill". The first recorded Nuneaton game was against Tamworth on the 7 th February 1880, Nuneaton wearing their chosen colours of a "Jersey of Navy Blue with the clubs initials" decided at a meeting held on 25 th Jan 1880. It changed again on 11 th Sept 1881 to a "Black Jersey with a Red sash". It again changed to "Black and Red Hoops "in 1900.

In Feb 21 st 1881 a Mr. T Power , son of a local tradesman was selected to play for Midlands Counties against Middlesex at the Oval London, thus becoming the first Nuneaton player to achieve County Honours.

Fixtures were arranged only weeks in advance and appear very unbalanced, Leicester, Bedworth and Allesley (Coventry) were being played. In the late 1880's and early 1890's there was a struggle for survival through lack of player's. In 1890 Nuneaton Town Football Club disbanded and amalgamated with  the strong St Mary's team, and renamed both clubs as "Nuneaton St Mary's" and played under that name until the  1892 - 1893 season. A Second XV team was formed during this time. In this season Rugby, Nottingham, and Northampton appear on the fixture list.

In 1900, one Harry Cleaver became a player with the club; this was the start of an association to last until his death in 1968.

During his active service with the club, first as a player, club captain, Secretary, then President from 1950, Harry did much to develop both the facilities and the playing staff and, to his credit, was instrumental in the foundation of the Warwickshire RFU becoming President in 1938/9. In 1951 the English Rugby Football Union honoured him when he became their President.

By the outbreak of the First World War, Nuneaton RFC had established a very creditable reputation within rugby circles, by their fixtures and also performances in the Midland Counties Cup competition. It was at the outbreak of war that the Newdegate Arms Field became earmarked as building land and, as a consequence, the club was and also due to the war, bereft of a ground.

In 1919 once again under the leadership and direction of Harry Cleaver a ground sharing arrangement was agreed with Lichfield Brewery Co Ltd., and Nuneaton Cricket club for the ground behind the New Inn at Attleborough. It was also this year that Nuneaton paraded its new colours adding a white hoop giving rise to the "Red Black & White jersey" which still continues today.

In 1920 the Cricket Club moved to another site leaving Nuneaton RFC as the sole tenant. In the early years many improvements took place to make the ground one of the best in the region. These improvements became the basis of negotiations for the purchase of the freehold from the brewery, which was achieved in 1930. In recognition of his sterling work for the club, the ground became known as The Harry Cleaver Ground, the name it carried until the final game was played there on 30th November 1995.

Nuneaton continued its playing success in the 20s and 30s notably the achievement of winning the Midland Counties Cup in 1921/22 and 1923/24 . Players who were prominent at that time were J Farndon, F Warren, J Bates, W Merry, A Andrews, A Horton and G Randle. Developments of players and playing continued with the revision the second XV in 1923, (originally formed in 1893) and in 1929 the "Old Boys XV" became the Saracens XV.

Ground improvements continued up to the outbreak of the Second World War when normal playing arrangements were curtailed. However the club continued to operate throughout, in providing games for HM Forces, Universities, and Hospital sides.

In the years since its formation, the club has achieved many notable successes and produced players at all representative levels including County and International. The clubs first International was the legendary W. S. (Wally) Holmes * who joined the club in 1944 as a wing forward, played 2 nd row for Warwickshire, and front row for England. He won his first England cap in 1950 (Jan 21st) and went on to represent his country 16 successive times.

During his career he also appeared 8 times for the Barbarians, various Midland honours and represented Warwickshire on no fewer than 32 occasions .
*Changed his name from Walter Stanley to Walter Alan to prevent confusion with his brothers initials.

The team improved and the record from 1947  - 54 was as good if not better than any period in the history of the club. Notably season 1949 - 50 when ground attendance records were shattered when the scalps of Coventry, London Irish and Saracens were taken followed by the historic eight days towards the end of the season when Leicester  Northampton and Coventry were beaten.

During the whole of this period Don Sproul , an outside half and outstanding kicker, captained the team. His ability was recognised by 35 selections for Warwickshire, Midlands and two Scottish trials.

The club celebrated its 75 th anniversary in 1955 where all living players of the Midland Counties Cup winning team attended along with the trophy.

Following this period dubbed as" The Golden Years" other outstanding players continued the run well into the sixties and seventies, namely J Davies (400 games) R Jenkins, R Eburne, team members who did the double over Coventry 1959/60, M Ford, T Temple (400 Plus games) and D Maltby some of the regular Warwickshire players for that period.

That period culminated in a match against Cardiff on 19th December 1969, with future Welsh stars of the seventies in the side, celebrating Nuneatons 90th anniversary and official opening of new floodlights.

Although various players have been mentioned, it is necessary to mention other honours players achieved, Colin Duncan, son of "Ted" a Cambridge Blue. The "fathers & sons" 1950' S Gale & 1960's Masser, and the "brothers " who all played a major part in Nuneatons success that continues today. From 1879 the following sets of "brothers" conjure up legends within the local sporting scene, 1880's Rowbottom, Parson's, 1890's Drakeley, Jebbetts, Brownson, Merry's  Warren's  Paling , Cox, West, Atkins  1900's Bacon, Clarke, Orton, Turnbull, Hutt, 1920's Venn, Streather, Wood, Cramphorn, 1940/50's Holmes, 1970's Hudson's, Lord , 1980's Savage, Masser , 1990's Sharp, Mitchell, Pearman, 2000's Gibson, Marshall, Southwell, Vunipola (Tongans).

Nuneaton has always found players and administrators following the Harry Cleaver tradition, from 1945 until 1987 a further politician/ administrator emerged, and one can say that he continued to rebuild Nuneaton RFC, the local rugby scene, Warwickshire, and the Midlands, his name was Aeron "Taffy" Thomas.

Taffy's" aim in life was to sell Nuneaton RFC to any one whom would listen, and over his years many listened. For the club most of the improvements made over that period came from Taffy, holding positions as Secretary 1964 - 76, Chairman 1971 - 84, President 1980 - 86. For the local scene, founder member and President of the Nuneaton District Union, instigator and first Chairman, of the formation of Mini & Junior Rugby in Nuneaton. Fought the battle with the RFU, so that Nuneaton would be included in the First Class clubs association. President of Warwickshire RU 1980 - 82. His death in April 1987 was a major shock to the Rugby world in general and as most club members were aware there would have been more to come.

Nuneatons tradition of "setting the pace" was further enhanced by the demise of school rugby in the early 70`s. The club was one of the first to recognize this problem for up and coming rugby players. Under the guidance of " Taff "Thomas, Doug Hulme and other officials and players of the club they embarked upon a program to introduce and encourage Mini and junior rugby. This early initiative has been well rewarded with this section of the club growing in depth and strength and establishing an enviable reputation and honours of its own to the benefit of Nuneaton RFC.

Since its inception in 1973/74 National honours achieved are, Gareth Mitchell England COLTS 1988/89, Graham Rowntree U16 1986/87, Boulstridge , Goode & Grindle U16 1996/97, M Leedham Great Britain Colleges 1998, and P Littlehales RFSU"A" 1998.

Graham Rowntree continued to represent England at all age groups obtaining his full England cap 1995/6 against Scotland, he currently is selected for the England squad and play's on a regular basis. Many of the above-mentioned players all play for premier league clubs.

Steve Carter achieved a first when he played for England Students Rugby League side, winning the Students World Cup in 1989.

Nuneaton Flyhalfs dominated the county teams and in 88/89 season when all county age groups at Flyhalf position were Nuneaton players, R Massey County Captain, W Masse r U21's, S Burns U18's L Thomas U16's and G Mitchell COLTS, all products of Nuneatons  Mini and Junior System. The Mini & Junior production line continues into its 30 th year, and in addition the Ladies XV was formed in 2002/3, with a squad strength of 20 players and a full fixture list.

A Past Captain's dinner was held at the club in April 1978, to unveil the Captains honours board. Twelve past Captains including the Captain of 1929/32 seasons J Cramphorn, as guest of honor, attended.

The Centenary year of 1979 produced various events throughout the season and two worthy of note were, A" Black Tie" club dinner held at the Co-Op Club in Nuneaton with over 300 members and guests attending. Alec Ramsay the President of the RFU, was guest of honour, a replica in cake of the ground was on display, and a telegram from the Queen read out*.

The fixture list contained 46 matches including 6 Welsh games 1 Irish, 10 senior clubs, the R.A.F.and Minneapolis from the U.S.A., other fixtures as normal club fixtures. Unfortunately Nuneatons record for the season was, Played 46, Won 18 Lost 26, Drawn 2 Terry McCarthy Club Captain playing every match.

Additional special fixtures held at the ground were, Warwicks v Glamorgan, Warwicks v Staffordshire, and in an exciting 19 Group, England lost to Scotland 11 - 13. 
*Have only been able to find one member that remembers this, but there are two reports in the local paper of the time regarding this telegram.

1980's saw many changes within the structure of Rugby football in general, and for Nuneaton, not to its best advantage. Professionalism started its roll forward and payment for players its most dominant feature. In 1987 the formation of league football was established, giving rise to the term for Nuneaton "The Houdini Years".

Nuneaton on its Merit table performances was placed in Division 3 of the Courage Club Championships and automatic fixtures put into place, 12 in all, additional "friendly" fixtures then made up the rest of the season. Throughout the next sixteen years the league changed its name and format i.e. Courage, Jewson, and National, increasing to 13 fixtures home and away (26 in all). Nuneaton remained in the lower leagues, relegated from Division 3 to National league 4 North then down to National league 5 North. Further restructuring of the leagues i.e. the introduction of the Premier League put Nuneaton into National 3 North.

Promotion under another batch of coaches became a dream, until 2002/2003 when having found a proper coach, new blood, stabilization of the squad, Nuneaton won the their league and promotion to National Division Two.

The introduction of Cup competitions again under many names, John Player, Pilkington, and Tetley saw Nuneaton obtain an average performance most years, except for two good runs in 1989/90, beaten at home by Saracens (6-3) third round, and in 1999/2000 reaching the 4 th round against Northampton away lost (118 - 3).

Nuneatons Colts team of 1987/88 was one of the best sides in the Midlands and possibly the country, an excellent season culminated, by G Mitchell winning an England Colts Cap , and the team becoming Warwickshire County Champions for the first time in the clubs history. They again competed and won the County Championship for the second time in 1991/92 season.

Darren Garforth joined the club in 1988 from Coventry Saracens and played for Nuneaton from 1988 to 1991. Although he had England trials during his stay at Nuneaton, before joining Leicester, he eventually was selected for England, playing 25 times, and winning 6 Barbarian caps. Darren retired from premier rugby in March 2003. Appreciating his time at Nuneaton Darren came back, filling the position of player/coach, assisting Nuns in their further push for promotion. 

The development of the senior sides and the continued expansion of the Mini & Junior section the Attleborough Road, facilities became stretched to the limit. A decision was taken to look for a new home for Nuneaton RFC, where they could accommodate their playing membership on one site without having to play on various grounds around the town. Attleborough Road would be sold off and with grants from the Sports Council; the proceeds would finance a new site identified as Liberty Way.

This site 1.5 miles from the old ground, covers an area of 50 acres as opposed to the 5 acres at the old ground.

The salvage and planned removal of the old club, including the setting up of the new ground, was achieved by a small committee of club members, D Crawford, L Stevens, R Kirkland and C McKeown under the leadership of Eric Ballard.

Occupation of the new premises took place on 2 nd December 1995 and the first match played was against Cheltenham on Dec 9 th 1995. Graham Rowntree along with representatives of the Sports Council, with J Richardson Warwickshire President in attendance, officially opened Liberty Way on August 11 th 1996.

Professionalism and the new league system also brought in the need for professional coaches with grand sounding names. Nuneatons share of these was numerous, no great advantage to the club, but an expensive burden on the club; promotion hopes became only a dream.

Until in 2000/01 one Chris Tarbuck was appointed Player Coach to the club, his pedigree was Saracens, Leicester, Coventry, and Nuneaton. Adopting the squad system, obtaining players, and first stabilizing the team within the league, he made a push for promotion in 2002/3 season, winning Division Three North, and promotion to Division Two for 2003/4 season.

As we approached the start of the 2003/4 season Nuneaton was shocked to find themselves in the High court defending the clubs reputation from a charge of playing an illegal player brought by New Brighton RFC (runners up in the league). The Club and the RFU refuted this charge and happily the case was won with costs and our reputation in the clear.

Life in National Division Two lasted only two seasons. The 2003/2004 season saw the Nuns lose five of their first eight league games. However, they suffered only three more reversals in their remaining matches and ultimately finished third, narrowly missing out on promotion. Nuns then came back down to earth when they were relegated back into National Division Three North at the end of the 2004/2005 season. Early season form was very much to blame picking up only one win and a draw from 13 fixtures, leaving them firmly rooted at the bottom of the league at the turn of the year. Things did start going Nuns way in the second half of the season finishing third bottom, but still one point from safety. The Club retained many of its players for the 2005/2006 season and recruited well, which was reflected in the season's results, when the team remained unbeaten in the league until mid February. Four losses in the remaining part of the season, two to the eventual league winners Bradford & Bingley, saw the Nuns finish as runners up. Promotion back to National Division Two was achieved following a 15-6 play off victory over North Walsham in mid May.

During the summer of 2006, the Club appointed Paul Westgate as Director of Rugby. The previously announced ambitious ground sharing scheme with Nuneaton Borough F.C. failed to materialise at the anticipated rate. However, progress is now being made which should see the completion of the stadium during this season. This will be constructed around the excellent playing surface which was laid during the summer of 2005.

The Club throughout its long history has built a reputation on hard play, commitment, and a progressive attitude for the advancement of Rugby Football in general, coupled with a generous appreciation for hospitality to its friends in the rugby world. Its history has not always been all smiles and there is no doubt that the 12 Presidents and 20 Chairmen along with the many dedicated committee persons, and players over the years, who, taking the rough with the smooth, have built the character of Nuneaton RFC that should endure for generations to come

This brief updated history of Nuneaton RFC "The Nuns" is dedicated to all Officers, committee's and those magnificent players, past and present who wore with pride that Red Black and White Hooped jersey.

Eric Ballard September 2003. Amended October 2006