🍽️ MIXED MEMBERS LUNCH 🥂🏉With the start of the season pushed back by two weeks, what better way to celebrate the 2026/27 season than with a proper Newport Salop RUFC get together! 🍾Join us for a 2-course meal, alongside some cracking drinks, including:🍷 Great Wines🥂 Prosecco🍺 Real Ales🍸 Cocktails🍹 MocktailsAnd we’re very excited to announce that Charlie from Get Gourmet Catering will be providing the food, bringing the same high-quality dishes you’ll know from Ellerton Hall Estate! 👌📅 Date: Saturday 26th September ⏰ Sit down: 1:00pm💷 £35 per personWhether you’re new to the club, a long-standing member or somewhere in between, come along, raise a glass and celebrate the new season with us! 🏉🎟️ BOOK YOUR TICKETS HERE:www.ticketebo.co.uk/newport-rufc/newport-rufc-members-lunch#NewportSalopRUFC #MixedMembersLunch #NewSeason #202627Season #RugbyFamily ... See MoreSee Less
🏉 THE WAIT IS OVER. THE HOOPS ARE BACK.From the very beginning of Newport (Salop) RUFC, our colours have told a story.For nearly 80 years, those hoops have been worn with pride by everyone who has represented Newport and they have become part of our identity. They have been carried through triumphs and challenges, across generations, by thousands of players who have called The Old Showground home.And while our kit has evolved over the years, one thing has remained constant:❤️ Maroon and White is more than a colour. It is who we are.The response to the hoops returning was overwhelming.So today, we are incredibly proud to unveil the new Newport (Salop) RUFC home and away kits for our Men’s and Women’s sections.A kit inspired by our heritage.A kit shaped by our identity.A kit for the next generation of Newport players.From the earliest team photographs of the late 1940s to the players who will pull on the shirt this season, this is a reminder that while rugby changes, some things are timeless.The hoops are back.And they’re ready to be worn once more at The Old Showground. 📅 26.09.2026The new season begins at the home of Newport rugby.📣 Shropshire Stainless and Aluminium📣 Hatfields Land Rover📣 Sempar Accountancy & Tax 📣 Win Financial📣 ResourceBank Recruitment📣 Andrew Dixon & Company 📣 Telford Towbars📣 TAFS Timber Fencing Supplier#NewportSalopRUFC #OneClub #rugby #NewSeason #RugbyFamily ... See MoreSee Less
🔥 SATURDAY SCORES 🔥📣 Senior men finish of the final block of pre season with 2 wins out of 3 ❌ Anselmians Rugby 1st XV [45-36] Newport 1st XV ✅ Anselmians Rugby 2nd XV [19-40] Newport 2nd XV✅ Anselmians Rugby 3rd XV [12-34] Newport 3rd XV A great day of rugby from all, that sets us up well for the start of the season next week! Huge thanks to the hosts for the hospitality and best of luck in your respective league campaigns 🙏🙌 ONE Club. ONE Community.#newportsaloprufc#Rugby#preseason... See MoreSee Less
🏉 THE HOOPS. THE HISTORY. THE HERITAGE.There are few things more synonymous with Newport (Salop) RUFC than maroon and white hoops.For generations, those colours have represented our club, our town and the teams that have pulled on the Newport shirt.But the story of how we came to wear them is rather more complicated than you might think… 👀And with something new on the horizon for our Men’s and Women’s sections, we thought it was time to look back at where it all began.📖 1946 — THE BEGINNINGWhen Newport (Salop) RUFC was formed in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War, the club’s original intention was actually to play in red and white.The earliest matches were played in jerseys borrowed from the RNAS at Hinstock, which was closing after the war. These were apparently faded red, while some players even turned out in their old Adams Grammar School jerseys.The club’s early AGM minutes make it clear that obtaining a proper kit was a priority for the newly formed club.At the club’s first AGM, reported in the Newport Advertiser on 25 May 1947, the rules stated that players were:“required to wear the club colours of red and white with a badge of Newport’s coat of arms…”The decision to use the town’s three fishes as the badge was deliberate. The club wanted to strengthen its connection with Newport, and permission was sought and granted by the Lord of the Manor to use the town badge.So, at this point, everything pointed towards red and white.Except… the reality of post-war Britain had other ideas.🧵 RATIONING CHANGED EVERYTHINGIn 1946, Britain was still under strict clothing rationing.A standard adult had only 24 clothing coupons for an eight-month period, while a new rugby shirt could cost around 8 coupons.For a newly formed rugby club, getting enough shirts for a whole team was therefore far from straightforward.Clubs across the country had to beg, borrow and pool coupons from friends and family just to obtain the kit they needed.There were some special provisions for rugby clubs. The English Rugby Union was allocated additional clothing coupons to help acquire stocks of jerseys made before the war, with Parliament discussing the arrangements in Hansard in February 1946.These were existing pre-war shirts that had been taken off sale when rationing began.It appears likely, although there is no definitive surviving evidence that Newport may have obtained its first proper kit from these frozen stocks.What the records do tell us is that the club was able to secure a full kit at a good price, but with very little choice over the colour.And the colour that Newport ended up with?👕MAROON AND WHITE HOOPS.Whatever the exact circumstances, something rather significant happened next.The players started wearing them, The town saw them, And people liked them.📸 1947/48 — THE HOOPS ARRIVEAlthough the club’s 1947 rules still referred to red and white, photographs from the 1947/48 season show Newport teams wearing the now-famous maroon and white hoops, complete with the three-fishes town badge.The colours had clearly begun to take hold.And just a couple of years later, they became official.On 23 June 1949, Newport held its third AGM at the Vine Vaults.Among the rule changes was one concerning the club colours.The explanation was simple: the club had originally intended to play in red and white, but because of wartime rationing they had taken the colours that were available, and had subsequently played in maroon and white.By then, however, the maroon and white had become so closely associated with Newport throughout the Midlands that the club decided to make them its official colours.A decision made because of necessity had become part of the identity of the club.And, remarkably, those colours have remained part of Newport’s story ever since.⚪ THE HOOPS HAVE HAD THEIR CHALLENGES!There have been a few attempts over the years to move away from the traditional colours.In 1971, it was proposed at the AGM that Newport should play in white shirts, partly because they were cheaper and easier to obtain.The proposal was passed, and Newport played in white during the 1971/72 and 1972/73 seasons.But the traditionalists weren’t finished.At the 1973 AGM, Derek Watson-Jones proposed that the club return to its traditional maroon and white hoops.The proposal was passed.And from the beginning of the 1973/74 season, the hoops were back.There was also another attempt, around 20 years ago, to move towards a predominantly white kit, although that change appears to have been relatively short-lived.Because sometimes…You can change the shirt, but you can’t change the identity. ❤️📸 LOOKING BACKTo accompany this post, we’ll be sharing two very special pieces of Newport history.The first is a photograph of the very first Newport team from 1946, right at the beginning of our story.The second is one of the earliest photographs we have of a Newport team wearing the maroon and white hoops, from the early days of the club.They provide a fascinating glimpse into where we came from, and how the kit, the badge and the colours began to establish an identity that has lasted for generations.And while the hoops have remained part of our history, those of you who have been around Newport over the last decade or so will know that they haven’t always been quite so obvious on our shirts…And who could forget that ‘eye catching’ yellow kit?! 💛😂👀 SO… WHAT DO YOU THINK?As we prepare to launch the new home and away kits for our Men’s and Women’s sections, we want to know what you think.Should the famous maroon and white hoops have a more prominent place in the Newport shirt once again?Would you like to see a return to a design that has been synonymous with the club for generations?Or do you think it’s time to keep looking forward?👇 LET US KNOW IN THE COMMENTS.Because there’s something rather exciting coming…And we’re not quite ready to show you everything just yet.WATCH THIS SPACE. 👀And it goes without saying, none of this post would have been possible without the history provided by John Honick and also much information taken from the club book written by the late Gavin Goulson ❤️#NewportSalopRUFC #OneClub #MaroonAndWhite #TheHoops #NewportRugby #ClubHistory #ClubHeritage #NewportSalop #Rugby #GrassrootsRugby #OurClubOurHistory #OneClubOneIdentity ... See MoreSee Less
🔥 PRE-SEASON TEAMS ARE IN 🔥The final Pre-Season games are in full swing this weekend with all teams on the road as they look to fine tune things before the season starts next week! 👊🐟 1st XV🆚 Anselmians Rugby 1st XV📅 Saturday 19th September🕐 K.O. 15:30 📍 Eastham Village Rd, Eastham, Birkenhead, Wirral CH62 0AN🐟 2nd XV🆚 Anselmians Rugby 2nd XV📅 Saturday 19th September🕐 K.O. 14:00 📍 Eastham Village Rd, Eastham, Birkenhead, Wirral CH62 0AN🐟 3rd XV🆚 Anselmians Rugby 3rd XV📅 Saturday 19th September🕐 K.O. 12:30 📍 Eastham Village Rd, Eastham, Birkenhead, Wirral CH62 0AN🐟 COLTS XV🆚 Stoke-on-Trent Rugby Club Colts XV📅 Sunday 20th September🕐 K.O. 12:30📍 Hartwell La, Stone ST15 8TLTravelling support welcome to both games (don't forget your DOUBLE DENIM if you're going with the Senior Men's squads)📣🙌 ONE Club. O#newportsaloprufce#oneclubo#Rugby##preseasonugby #PreSeason ... See MoreSee Less
