CLUB INFO - history
The History of Birmingham & Solihull Rugby Club
Birmingham & Solihull Rugby Club Limited was formed on the 30th October 2009 following the liquidation of Birmingham & Solihull RFC.
Prior to that, Birmingham & Solihull RFC was founded in 1989 upon the merger of two clubs, Birmingham and Solihull RFCs. The merger ended for Birmingham 80 years as an independent club.
Prior to the merger in 1989, Birmingham RFC was seeded in Courage National Division Three with Exeter, Fylde, Maidstone, Met Police, Morley, Nuneaton, Plymouth Albion, Sheffield, Vale of Lune, Wakefield and West Hartlepool, when league rugby started in 1987/88. At the end of the first season it was relegated, together with Morley. A second successive relegation followed in 1988/89 after all ten games in Area League North were lost.
Founded in 1933, Solihull, also an independent also found difficulty in adjusting to the demands of league rugby. Seeded in Area League North the club lost all ten games in 1987/88 and having been relegated to Midlands Division One, finished ninth from twelve the following season.
In the first season after the merger Birmingham & Solihull gained promotion from Midlands Division One to the National Leagues only to go straight back down. They returned to the National Leagues for the 1993/94 season in 1997/98 won the Jewson National League Two North title and promotion.
“The Bees” as the Club was known took time to adjust to demands of rugby in Jewson National Division One, suffering six defeats in their last seven games they sat just above relegation by the end of the 1998/99 season.
Paul Williams and Dave Spencer formed a new coaching team in 1999/2000 and following a 0-18 home defeat by Harrogate on the opening Saturday of that season the Bees registered nine consecutive league victories. After a mid-term stutter during which three games out of four were lost, including two to Otley, the Bees finished with eleven wins and a draw from the last twelve fixtures to secure the Jewson National League One runners-up spot and second promotion place, two points behind winners, Otley.
Again the step up proved difficult and the Bees needed to win one of their last two games of the 200/01 season to be sure of staying in the renamed National Division One. This they did and then consolidated their position by finishing mid-table in 2001/02.
In 2002/03 Phil Maynard was appointed Director of Rugby and the club was guided to another mid-table position and then improved on that when the club finished fourth in 2003/04 despite only winning one and drawing one of the last eight league games, no doubt having been distracted by reaching the semi-finals of the Powergen Cup, knocking out London Wasps along the way.
2004/05 followed a similar pattern to the previous season with the Bees the early pace-setters after taking maximum points from the first five league games, but, not helped by nine successive defeats before a victory came on the final day of the season, they eventually finished ninth, disappointingly.
Only the decision to increase the size of National Division One from fourteen to sixteen clubs (and to suspend relegation) saved the Bees in 2005/06 after they finished bottom of the league having accrued just six wins. The following year the Bees bounced back again however, this time finishing mid-table and ahead of Midland rivals, Coventry, Moseley and Nottingham - a forged relationship with Gloucester paying dividends: the likes of John Goodridge, Mark Cornwell and Will Matthews all contributing. Bees' top try scorer Akapusi Quera [with a fantastic 16 tries from the flank] exited stage left after a wonderful World Cup peaked the interest of Gloucester's Cherry and Whites.
2007/08 was the 'nearly year' in many respects, difficult to believe as Bees finished last but one, however it's commonly quipped that had the game been just sixty as opposed to eighty minutes long Bees would have been half way up the leader board by the end of the season. A number of changes to the coaching staff - notably resignations form Ben Harvey and then Steve Williams - saw the eventual arrival of Russell Earnshaw, initially as a forwards coach.
His leadership skills became quickly evident when he almost performed the miracle of miracles in keeping Bees in National Division One (but for results elsewhere, on the final day of the season.) Controversy ensued following "Sub-Gate" (after Cornish Pirates failed to field appropriate front row players and were docked points whilst Bees were awarded none). With the RFU and First Division Rugby involved and with Coventry's financial affairs in disarray Bees held out hope for a relegation appeal, but four months on hope was extinguished and Bees were confirmed as a National Division Two side.
Knowing where they stood ahead of 2008/09 Earnshaw, now promoted to Head Coach, went about assembling the right group of people for the task ahead. With an exciting brand of rugby adopted, Bees, despite early knocks from Redruth and Wharfedale, notched up the wins and club and division records along the way to fulfill the single promotion spot with a game to spare. That they scored 150 points more than any other team, taking twenty-one four-try bonus points from twenty-six league games, and ran National One's Leeds Carnegie close to a semi-final birth in the EDF Energy National Trophy made it a vintage rugby year for Birmingham & Solihull.
The 2009/10 Championship challenge season brought about tough challenges on and off the Rugby field. Ground planning refusal, liquidation, two separate points deductions, the loss of 20 players combined to make it a particularly dark period for the Club.
The regular season proved to be a write off after the refusal of planning and subsequent liquidation of the club. Several heavy defeats were sprinkled with some notable performances including the 31-31 draw down at Pirates and the 40-36 defeat to Bristol. During this period, some 20 of the original 34 man squad left the club for pastures new. Mark Woodrow (Viadana), Ben Phillips (Gloucester), Dan Seal (Bedford), Ricky Davies (Dax), Shaun Pammenter (Pirates) and Reece Spee (Moseley) were notable departures to Championship rivals and beyond. Pressed into action were several new players such as Ben Patston (Rugby Lions), Mauro Sperandio (Sheffield) and Tom Foden (Chester). In addition to these additions, Earnshaw himself was forced to play with a repeatedly dislocating shoulder and 43 year-old Backs Coach Eugene Martin and rugby novice and conditioning coach Chris Kemp also featured.
The biggest surprise was the successful overnight conversion of Leo Halavatau from back row to tight had prop. With a more stable platform, the likes of right wing Simon Hunt and full back Tom Foden could wreak havoc on opposition backlines. Indeed, in the play offs, the Bees scored over 20 tries in 6 games to finish above Midland neighbours Coventry and book their place in the Championship for the 2010/11 season.
A new ground move to share with Solihull Moors Football Club was announced by the new management team in June 2010.