Galwegians RFC

""'Rugby team
teamname = Galwegians

|
fullname = Galwegians Rugby Football Club |
union = IRFU, Connacht Branch
nickname = |Wegians
founded = 1922 | country

countryflagvar = rugby
ground = Crowley Park, Galway
capacity = ~4000
coach = flagicon|ireland Eamonn Molloy
chairman = |MacDara Hosty
competitions = All-Ireland League
pattern_la1=_blackshoulders|pattern_b1=_blackshoulders|pattern_ra1=_blackshoulders
leftarm1=87ceeb|body1=87ceeb|rightarm1=87ceeb|shorts1=FFFFFF|socks2=87ceeb

Galwegians Rugby Football Club is a rugby union club in Galway, Ireland. The club was founded in 1922 and plays in the top division of the Irish domestic club competition the Allied Irish Banks All Ireland League (AIB League).

Founded in 1922, Galwegians has a long and distinguished history at the forefront of Connacht Rugby. Of current Connacht "Senior Clubs" Galwegians have the record of winning the Connacht Senior Cup, with 29 wins to date, they are the current champions (season 2007-08) beating Buccaneers 22-7 in the Final. In more recent times, Galwegians recorded three back-to-back Connacht Cup and League doubles between 2000-2002. Galwegians Junior team broke their 34 year wait for Connacht Cup glory this year by beating Monivea R.F.C. 16-10 in the final and becoming the Heineken Connacht Junior Cup Champions 2008.

Jimmy Joyce was the club's first international in wartime 1943. The tradition continued into the 1950’s with Dicky Roche, Brendan Guerin, Charlie Lydon, Tony O’Sullivan and Johnny Dooley each gaining caps. The golden age of Galwegians rugby was the five-in-a-row Connacht League and Cup double in 1955-1960, an unprecedented feat in Irish rugby, when Wegians were arguably the best team in the country, regularly beating the other senior clubs in Ireland.

Galwegians former head coach was Paul Young (appointed in 2005), former hooker of Newport Gwent Dragons & Wales. He left the club in June 2008.

Galwegians field 16 teams - Senior, Development XV, Thirds XV, Women's XV and underage from U-7s up to U-20s. The Connacht Ladies representative side is constituted predominantly from the Galwegians Ladies side.

Crowley Park

06/06/2007The sale of Galwegians’ Rugby Club for €28 million to Rhattigan Construction is to go ahead after the clubs members gave 100 per cent backing at a meeting last Thursday night.

Members of the Galwegians club unanimously voted in favour of selling its grounds at Crowley Park in Glenina on the Dublin Road, Galway to Rhattigans Construction and to develop a state of the art clubhouse, pitches and other facilities at their new 30 acre site at Brownsgrove on the Moycullen Road in Galway.

The project will now proceed to the planning permission stage and, according to reports, Rhattigans are expected to apply to build 65 residential units at Crowley Park which is convert|9.25|acre|m2 in size. At the club’s new home on the Moycullen Road it is expected that seven flood-lit and astro turf pitches will be built.

Honours

*Connacht Senior Cup - 29 Wins
*Connacht Senior League - 21 Wins
*Connacht Junior Cup - 2 Wins
Last Updated: 21-09-2008

Notable Players

=Ireland=

("Player capped while playing with Galwegians RFC")

MEN
* 1944 - Jimmy Joyce
* 1955 - Dick Roche
* 1956 - Brendan Guerin
* 1956 - Charlie Lydon
* 1957 - Tony O’Sullivan
* 1959 - Johnny Dooley
* 1997 - Eric Elwood
* 1999 - Matt Mostyn

WOMEN

* 1997 - Stephanie Dowling Folan
* 1997 - Sue Ramsbottom
* 2003 - Nuala Ni Chadhain

=Barbarians=

Several Galwegians players, including Eric Elwood have represented the famous Barbarians, the most recent to play while in Galwegans colours were Jimmy Duffy and Wilie Ruane who played against the Combined Service (British) at Burnaby Road, Portsmouth on [http://www.barbarianfc.co.uk/new_search/matchdetails.asp?matchid=689#match 10/11/1998] in a game won 51-20 by the Baa-Baa's.

IRFU Presidents

Galwegians surely hold the distinction of having provided more IRFU Presidents than any other club. The incumbents were:

* 1945-46 - Henry Anderson L.D.S.I.,
* 1958-59 - Johnny Glynn
* 1968-69 - Chris P Crowley
* 1981-82 - John Moore - B.Sc.
* 1996-97 - Bobby Deacy - F.C.A.
* 2002-03 - Don Crowley - B.E.,Eur. Ing., C.Eng., M.I.E.I.

External links

* [http://www.galwegians.ie Official website]
* [http://www.aib.ie/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=AIB_Sports/SP_Homepage&Section=RG&SubSection=rgLT AIB League tables]
* [http://www.connachtrugby.ie/domestic/ Connacht Rugby - Domestic Site]