Tiverton RFC

{{Infobox rugby team

| teamname = Tiverton

| image = Tiverton_rfc_logo.png

| imagesize = 120px

| union = Devon RFU

| fullname = Tiverton Rugby Club

| nickname = Tivvy

| founded = {{Start date and age|1868}}

| ground = Coronation Field

| region =

| location = Tiverton, Devon, South West England

| capacity = 750

| chairman = Charles Burt

| president = Des Glanville

| captain = Jack Sampson

| coach = Jon Hill

| url = www.tivertonrugbyclub.rfu.club

| league = Regional 2 South West

| season = 2024–25

| position = 3rd

}}

Tiverton Rugby Club is a rugby union club based in the town of Tiverton, Devon, England. The club plays at Coronation Field, and as of the 2024–25 season competes in the level six Regional 2 South West league and the Devon Intermediate Cup. It is considered to be the oldest rugby club in Devon.{{cite web|last=Veacock|first=Sarah|title=Oldest Club wins new accreditation|url=http://www.devonrfu.com/news/oldest-club-wins-new-accreditation-3048/|publisher=Devon Rugby Football Club Ltd.|accessdate=2 January 2014}}

History

Tiverton Rugby Club was the opposing team in the first recorded rugger match played by the boys of Blundell's School in 1868.{{cite web|last=Klinkenburg|first=P. G.|title=A History of Rugby at Blundell's |url=http://www.blundells.org/archive/sports/rugby/history.htm|publisher=Blundell's School|accessdate=2 January 2014}} According to the club's website, the game was played under the school's own rules: with twenty players in each team, no flags, a referee and two umpires and it was known as the "carrying game".{{cite web|url=http://www.tivertonrugbyclub.co.uk/history|title=History|publisher=Tiverton Rugby Club|accessdate=2 January 2014}}

The team adopted the standard rugby rules in 1870, following which it played not only against the school but against teams from nearby towns such as Crediton, Exeter and Wellington. During the 1880s the club was considered to be one of the top clubs in the South West, and won the inaugural Devon Rugby Football Union annual competition in 1888.{{cite news|last=Wevill|first=Richard|title=Rugby club reflecting on two glorious moments|url=http://www.middevongazette.co.uk/Rugby-club-reflecting-glorious-moments/story-18779068-detail/story.html|newspaper=Mid Devon Gazette|date=23 April 2013|accessdate=2 January 2014}}

Since then, the club's website reports, the sport has at one time almost been forgotten in the town while at other times there have been as many as four town clubs competing against each other. In the 1980s the club was three times champions of the pre-league Devon Merit Table and four times winners of the Devon Colts Cup. In 1998 the club won the Devon Cup again after 110 years, following victory over Torquay Athletic on their own ground.

Honours

;Devon Senior Cup

:Winners (3): 1887, 1888, 1998{{cite web|title=Devon Cup Competitions Previous Winners|url=http://files.pitchero.com/counties/6/1365614529.pdf|pages=63–65|work=Devon Rugby Football Union Ltd. Official Handbook 2012–2013|accessdate=2 January 2014}}

;Devon Senior Vase

:Winners: 2010

;Devon Colts Cup

:Winners (3): 1971, 1972, 1981

;Havill Plate

:Winners: 1980

;Counties 1 Western West

:Winners: 2023–24

;Tribute Cornwall/Devon League

:Champions: 2005–06

:Runner-up: 2013–14{{cite web|title=Tiverton Rugby Club sign former Chiefs lock Tom Skelding|url=http://www.middevongazette.co.uk/Tiverton-Rugby-Club-sign-Chiefs-lock-Tom-Skelding/story-22039069-detail/story.html/|publisher= Mid Devon Gazette|accessdate=18 August 2014}}

;Devon Merit Table 1

:Champions (4): 1993–94, 1998–99, 1999–00, 2004–05

;Devon Merit Table 2

:Champions: 2010–11