Not many clubs can claim a 150-year heritage but on Saturday Bolton Rugby Club joined an elite and very small list of clubs that have hit the prestigious milestone.
Formed in 1872 Bolton Rugby Club are one of only fifteen clubs that are still in existence and the line up includes Exeter Chiefs, Wigan Warriors (who back then played union) and Cambridge University. Also on the list was Southport and back in 1872 both clubs played their first ever fixture against each other to kick off a remarkable and enduring lineage of rugby in the town.
Fast forward 150 years and Bolton and Southport once again took to the field at the Avenue Street ground in a rerun of that first game. This time Southport and Bolton fielded 3 teams on a Super Saturday that heralded the start of the sesquicentennial celebrations. The 1st XV result went the way of Bolton with the 2nd & 3rd outcome going the other way but everyone agreed that the real winner on the day was rugby.
Club Chair, Mark Brocklehurst said, “To be able to kick off our celebrations against the team where it all began was absolutely incredible and marked a double celebration for both clubs. We spend most of our time focusing on looking to the future but it was right and proper to indulge ourselves in this special anniversary and remember how we got here. We were fortunate to have the mayor and consort come down to the club both of whom are big rugby fans so it really added to the event”.
The club mobilised an army of volunteers to start the celebrations, Bolton Director of Rugby, Dave Crouch commented “We wanted to make sure we started the celebrations in style and everyone played their part. We had a special birthday cake which the mayor and all the six captains on the day helped to cut, we also reproduced the original kit that we played in back in 1872, blue top, white shorts and blue knickerbockers, after the game the players were allowed to keep the kit as a memento of the special day”.
There are a number of events planned for the year culminating in a festival on August 20th at Avenue Street. The club will be joined by our twin club in Sicily, Briganti Di Librino who will be bringing around 50 young people from a deprived area of Catania.
Bolton Rugby Club operate three senior male teams plus a team at each age group from under 7’s all the way up to under 18’s and colts. We are looking to start women’s and girls’ rugby in 2022 and welcome players, volunteers and supporters every Saturday and Sunday mornings.

more pictures at: https://www.boltonrugby.co.uk/photos/150yr-misc-1004565.html