Rugby Union: Promotion... a century in the making.

Byline: By Roger Clarke 

VICTORY at Halifax earned Moseley their first promotion in the 133 years since the club was founded as a winter pursuit for the members of Havelock Cricket Club.

Not that promotions were quite the done thing in a sport which prided itself upon eccentricity and fixture lists that relied on friendships, old school chums, history and tradition.

Moseley were one of the leading clubs of the land, on the A list of teams in the invitation-only fixture calendar and by the mid-1960s were the Sale, Bath, Leicester Tigers of their day with a team littered with internationals.

In 1971-72 they reached the final of the first RFU knock-out competition, losing 6-17 to Gloucester in a season which saw Sam Doble score 581 points, then a world record, out of 1128 from 47 games.

The ad hoc, traditional structure of friendlies was doomed in a commercially-minded age, though, and in 1987 Moseley found themselves in Courage National Division One. Four years later, in 1990-91, they were relegated to Division Two.

In 1995,

'shamateurism' owned up and got a receipt for its boot money to become legitimate. Professionalism had arrived and Moseley was caught up in the rush to compete.

Backers were found, eight internationals signed and the club poured in the cash to stoke up the train to glory. Resources were stretched and in 1998 they finally gave way and the glory train ran out of track. The club tumbled into administration.

Club members bought out the club and former player John White, now forwards coach at Pertemps Bees, took over as director of rugby at a club which had already sold its ground, The Reddings, to Bryant Homes.

Moseley moved to a borrowed pitch at Birmingham University in 2000 but the traumas were far from over. The club needed a clubhouse and hospitality boxes but could not obtain permission and an offer by Firoz Kassam to buy out the club and decamp it to his Oxford United football club was only just defeated by a rival offer from a consortium of members which swayed the creditors by the merest 1.7 per cent margin.

For the second time in four years Moseley was reborn, this time with Dave Warren as chief executive and John Beale as DoR.

Division Two had become National One with the Premiership above but after 12 seasons in the second tier of English rugby, 2003 saw Moseley relegated yet again, this time to National Two.

There was some good news, though - permission was given for a new ground at Billesley Common, a mile from The Reddings.

This year Moseley once more had their own ground and like a Phoenix shaking off the ashes the club has reversed the steady decline with a return to National One. It is still light years from a return to the Moseley's golden era of the 60s and 70s - but it is a start.

CAPTION(S):

JOHN BEALE