Chester RUFC were formed in October 1932 and in their formative years they played on grounds at both The Racecourse and Bumpers Lane. In 1932 the club moved to rented facilities at Broughton Hall as tenants of Chester Cricket Club where they remained until 1961. In that year they purchased a former American Army camp, along with some adjoining fields, at Hare Lane, Vicar’s Cross, where they remain at the present time and it is a wonderful place to visit.
The club progressed during the 1960s and 70s with fixtures against some of the then top clubs in the north of England, with many players achieving County honours. The introduction of league rugby saw Chester placed in North West One which became the Courage League North West One the following season.
A new clubhouse was built and in 1988 Chester were promoted into the old Division North Two, and this was followed two years later by promotion into Division North One. Since then the club has gone from strength to strength before gaining promotion to National Two North in 2012-13. Last season they finished second in the table to Hull Ionians, but they were defeated in the subsequent away play-off game with National Two South runners-up Canterbury by 19-10.
Chester won the Cheshire Cup in 2004 and in 2008 they won the final of the EDF Intermediate Cup at Twickenham with a narrow 21-18 win over Birkenhead Park. They were champions of National Three North in 2012-13 and in the current season Chester are seventh in the league table on eleven points having won two and lost two of their games.
Hull RUFC and Chester RUFC have met on just nine occasions with Hull winning six and Chester three. The first occasion was on November 13, 2004 in the old North One when Hull posted a 36-10 home win, with Chester winning the return fixture on Mar 3rd 2005 by 20-16. Since then the results are as follows:
2005-06: North One – Hull 20:15 Chester & Chester 39:5 Hull
2006-07: North One – Chester 11:19 Hull & Hull 43:19 Chester
2006-07: North One – Chester 11:19 Hull & Hull 43:19 Chester
Chester were then relocated into Midlands Division One
2008-09: North One/Midlands One play-off game – Hull 40:12 Chester
2013-14: National Two North – Chester 23:14 Hull & Hull 32:19 Chester
2014-15: National Two North – Chester 32:0 Hull & Hull 27:22 Chester
This will be the first fixture between the two clubs for four seasons and it is a great pleasure to be able to play against Chester RUFC once again. The return fixture will be at the Ferens Ground on January 18th 2020.
Norman Angell
HULL RUGBY UNION FOOTBALL CLUB 