The oval ball in the second city.
Rugby in Birmingham has a depth that often goes unnoticed in a city more readily associated with football. From a National League flagship club with a 150-year history to inclusive grassroots outfits welcoming first-time players, the sport is a bigger part of the city than it gets credit for.
A Club at the Heart of the City
Founded in 1873, Birmingham Moseley is among the oldest in England and is the standard-bearer for rugby in the region. Today, the club competes in the third tier of the English game, National One, from its home at Billesley Common.
The 2024–25 season was a season of contrasts: occasionally making rugby news with impressive victories, including a 69–14 shutout of Darlington Mowden Park, sitting alongside frustrating defeats such as a 51–26 loss away at Blackheath.
With a women’s side in the Moseley Griffins, a colts programme, minis and juniors, and even a walking rugby offering, the club caters for players at every stage of life.
Grassroots and Growing
Below the headline act, Birmingham’s rugby ecosystem is diverse and active, with Birmingham & Solihull RFC fielding multiple senior and junior sides, while Harborne RFC covers the south of the city.
The University of Birmingham runs four competitive men’s teams through BUCS leagues alongside a women’s programme, ensuring a steady pipeline of players through the university years.
Perhaps most striking is Birmingham Bulls RFC, an inclusive club based in the city’s Gay Village. They have built a reputation for welcoming players of any background, experience level, or orientation, challenging rugby’s outdated reputation as an elitist and exclusive sport.
Beyond the Final Whistle
Where Birmingham’s rugby community makes its most compelling case is in the work it does off the field. The Moseley Rugby Community Foundation runs literacy and numeracy programmes across 20+ local schools, blending classroom skills with rugby coaching in a way that uses the sport as a vehicle for broader education.
Meanwhile, Birmingham Bulls RFC hosted Europe’s largest inclusive rugby tournament in 2023, the Union Cup, welcoming 46 teams and 1,400 players from 18 countries, an event estimated to have generated £3.2 million for the Birmingham economy.
Looking Ahead
With a historic club holding its own in the third tier, a network of grassroots outfits keeping the game accessible, and community programmes using rugby as a tool for education and inclusion. Birmingham’s rugby scene is doing more than most give it credit for. The sport may never rival football for headlines in the city, but that has never stopped it from mattering.
