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45-462: Bedford Blues are a semi-professional rugby union club in the town of Bedford , England, currently playing in the RFU Championship . Bedford RUFC was founded in 1886 after an amalgamation between Bedford Rovers (1876) and Bedford Swifts (1882). Both parent clubs had close connections with Bedford School and Bedford Modern School , and both had fixtures with the leading teams of

90-492: A composite London XV). The early successes, however, paled before the achievements of 1893–94, when the club's reputation persuaded opponents of the stature of Stade Francais, from Paris , and the Barbarians to make the journey over. These two distinguished teams suffered the fate of all other visitors to the club's ground in that marvelous season, defeated by scores of 22–0 and 7–3 respectively in front of huge crowds. Indeed,

135-492: A development plan to help further grow female participation in the game of rugby in the town of Bedford and the surrounding area. The plan initially included the development of school aged rugby, providing rugby for girls aged 11 to 17. Over the following three seasons the Bedford Blues successfully set up and run three separate age group teams; U13s, U15s & U18s. With numbers across all three age groups rapidly growing,

180-414: A full-time basis, but still receive some payment. Semi-professionals are not amateur because they receive regular payment from their team, but generally at a considerably lower rate than a full-time professional athlete . As a result, semi-professional players frequently have (or seek) full-time employment elsewhere. A semi-pro player or team could also be one that represents a place of employment that only

225-666: A great spell in the mid sixties. There were three Bedford players regularly in the England team with David Perry and Budge Rogers captaining their county. In 1969–70 season Bedford won the Sunday Telegraph English-Welsh rugby union table. Probably, the Blues finest hour was in 1975 when Bedford, captained by Budge Rogers beat Rosslyn Park in the final of the Knock Out Cup at Twickenham 28–12. There

270-467: A period. At the start of the 1996–97 season when 'The Blues' were in Division 2 the club turned professional. Frank Warren (the boxing promoter) and Sports Network putting in a big investment to secure quality players, many of whom were internationally famous, while others were young but promising. The best example is probably Scott Murray who until June 2008 was Scotland's most capped international. At

315-584: A realisation that there was no clear pathway for the girls to follow locally in Women's rugby was recognised. The development plan was updated to include the goal of creating a Women's rugby team under the Bedford rugby umbrella. The idea then became a reality in January 2020 when the first training session was held with 12 players attending on a cold Saturday morning. The team continued to increase its numbers over

360-590: A season. While the success on the playing field had been good there was often a problem of where to play at home. There were two main sites where pitches could be made available. One was known as 'The House of Industry' ground in Goldington Road. This was the field in front of the House of Industry -now known as the North Wing Hospital. This is approximately where Bedford play now. The other site

405-434: Is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and to support the charity Breast Cancer Care the Blues hold a yearly 'Ladies Day' home match at Goldington Road. The team wear a unique Kooga pink strip for the game with the playing shirts auctioned giving proceeds to Breast Cancer Care. https://web.archive.org/web/20111003121344/https://www.medocmall.co.uk/images/theclubshop_bedford_tickets/products/large/KSSHIRT.gif The Mobbs Memorial Match

450-616: Is held annually in memory of Edgar Mobbs , an England international who was killed in the First World War . Mobbs played for Northampton and was educated at Bedford Modern School . Between 2008 and 2011 the match was played at Goldington Road between Bedford Blues and the Barbarians . From 2012 to April 2023 it was played alternately at Goldington Road and the Northampton Saints ground at Franklin's Gardens , with

495-447: Is prohibitive, semi-pro football is common at the adult levels, in the outdoor or indoor variety , providing an outlet for players who have used up their NCAA eligibility and have no further use for maintaining amateur status. As a sport that normally plays only one game per week, American football is especially suited for semi-pro play and commonly known as "working man's" football; meaning the players have regular jobs and play football on

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540-429: Is the home ground of the Bedford Blues, with a capacity of 5,000, usually drawing 2000+ people with each home game. Towards the end of the 05–06 season, two new temporary stands were built for the big home tie against Harlequins, at one point these stands were made a long term part of the stadium, along with the grounds public house and original stand. As of the 06–07 season the extra stands have been removed. The club kit

585-516: The Scottish Premiership , with most teams below the second-level Scottish Championship being semi-professional. Historically, English rugby league and rugby union have had one full-time professional division, with semi-professional divisions at the next level down. The second tier of union, the RFU Championship , became fully professional beginning with the 2009–10 season. Budge Rogers His club Bedford recovered after

630-457: The Goldington Road area before an agreement in 1895 was reached with Bedford Cricket Club who actually held the lease. The pitch was laid out in virtually the same spot as it is now. The club's record prior to 1905 was good enough to bring the all Blacks to the town for the first time. The match itself was a great attraction with the town's schools and factories closing for the half day to enable people to attend. The result (0–41 to New Zealand )

675-727: The Olympic Club was accused by a rival club of enticing athletes to jump to its ranks with offers of jobs. An investigation by the Amateur Athletic Union ruled that the Olympics' practice was not actually professionalism but only a "semi" form of it, inventing the term "semi-pro". Although the Amateur Athletic Union did not like the idea very much, it decided that clubs could indeed offer employment without losing their amateur status or compromising

720-582: The Second World War and continued to play all the leading teams and had a great spell in the mid-1960s. There were three Bedford players regularly in the England team with David Perry and Rogers captaining their country. In the 1969–1970 season Bedford won the Sunday Telegraph English-Welsh Rugby Table. The Blues finest hour was probably in 1975 when Bedford, captained by Budge Rogers, beat Rosslyn Park in

765-464: The United States, where college ice hockey dominates at that age group; the junior leagues in the United States generally operate as fully amateur teams to maintain the players' eligibility to play in college. Lower-end minor leagues and more obscure sports often operate at a semi-professional level due to cost concerns. Because the cost of running a fully professional American football team

810-404: The athlete. In North America, semi-professional athletes and teams were far more common in the early and mid-20th century than they are today. Large blue-collar employers such as factories and shipyards often fielded baseball and basketball teams, with players receiving full-time salaries comparable to other employees. In theory, such players split their work week between athletic training and

855-603: The attendant scholarships , in maintaining amateur status (unlike the Amateur Athletic Union, the NCAA forbade any sort of compensation outside of scholarships, including job offers tied to their playing, until 2020). Eligibility for participation in the Olympics in some sports is still dependent upon maintaining a purely amateur status (although far less so than was previously the case), and such athletes may be supported by government money, business sponsorships, and other systems. At

900-482: The best rugby club pavilions in the country. The fact that it is still standing (now known as the 'Scrumhall' bar) is proof of the quality of workmanship and materials. The First World War threatened the club's existence when the ground was taken over by the Military Authorities for use as an Army Camp. Things did improve very quickly and by the late twenties and early thirties Bedford once again were at

945-687: The club at the time of being honoured. Mike Rayer , an ex-player of the club and Cardiff RFC , has introduced a free-flowing style which saw Bedford rise to 2nd in the league in 2006, only held back by the dominance of Harlequins , who had been demoted from the Premiership the year before. The 2006 season had seen the commencement of a relationship with Leicester Tigers , the prominent Premiership side, which allowed some of Leicester's most promising young players to gain experience by playing for Bedford in National Division One. Within

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990-415: The club would complete its normal programme unbeaten, only to lose when somewhat understrength, in an extra match arranged as an Easter Monday attraction at Coventry (0–12). The season's final record was 29 played, 27 won, one drawn and one lost, with 521 points and only 49 against. Records created that season stood for many years and winger H.M Morris still holds the highest try-scoring tally with 38 scores in

1035-435: The employees are allowed to play on. In this case, it is considered semi-pro because their employer pays them, but for their regular job, not for playing on the company's team. The semi-professional status is not universal throughout the world and depends on each country's labour code and each sports organization's specific regulations. The San Francisco Olympic Club fielded an American football team in 1890. That year,

1080-626: The final of the Knock Out Cup (now EDF Energy Cup ) at Twickenham 28–12. There was a gate of nearly 18,000 which at the time was a record attendance. He later played for the Barbarians . He managed the England under 23s to Canada 1977. The RFU organised an England tour to the Far East and England, led by Budge Rogers, played two tests in Japan and two tests in Colombo. In the mid-1980s he

1125-704: The first player to score points for the Bedford Blues Women Rugby Union Team during their first match against Shelford Nomads, played at Goldington Rd (with the Blues Women winning 31–0) The 2022–23 season saw the Bedford Blues Women competing in NC2 Midlands (Central), coached by Peter Frost and Daryl Veenendaal and captained by Emma Graham, they played 4 games at Goldington Road, and ended their first season in

1170-508: The host club facing the British Army team. From 2024 the match will be played as a preseason game between Bedford and Northampton. The Bedford Blues squad for the 2023–24 season . Note: Flags indicate national union under World Rugby eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-World Rugby nationality. Semi-professional sports Semi-professional sports are sports in which athletes are not participating on

1215-453: The new league in 4th place. The 2023–24 season saw the women's side playing all their home matches at Goldington Road, and competing in NC2 Midlands (South). There was also a coaching team change with Mark “Eddie” Rennell, former Bedford Rugby player, taking over from Veenendaal. Lucy Middleton lead the team to finish the season with 12 victories making them undefeated during the season and winning promotion to NC1 next season. Goldington Road

1260-546: The next five years it was hoped that 50% of the club's players would have been brought into the squad through the academy and youth teams. The 2006–07 Academy Colts became champions of the English Colts Club Knockout Cup after beating Redruth at Franklin's Gardens . 2007–08 season saw the Colts win the cup again. Being the first Colts team to retain the cup. Back in 2017 the Bedford Blues produced

1305-590: The normal duties of the company's employees, though highly competitive teams often evolved into "sponsored" squads which trained for sports full-time and only nominally worked in the factory. The National Industrial Basketball League evolved out of these company-branded basketball teams. By the 1940s, baseball split off into separate truly amateur softball teams, sometimes sponsored by employers, and an expanded system of fully professionalized minor leagues whose lower ranks included many former industrial players. There are many benefits, such as collegiate eligibility and

1350-430: The period. The Bedford colours of dark and light blue are believed to be a reflection of the schoolmasters association with Oxbridge and the full badge colours are based on the strip of Swifts (black) and Rovers (cerise). Under the captaincy of Alfred Parrott, a Bedford Modern School master, the new club made an auspicious start, losing only once in its first season (to Leicester ) and again only once in its second (to

1395-540: The preceding year, even during the COVID-19 situation, building up a healthy roster of over 30 players. The following season (2021–22) the Bedford Blues Women became a league team, playing in the NC3 Midlands (Central) League, led by head coach Mark Stapley. The Bedford Blues Women play their home matches at Goldington Rd and at Bedford Athletic RFC ground. On Sunday 10 October 2021, Emma Graham made history by being

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1440-407: The same time, professional sports have become such a massive and remunerative business that even many low-level feeder teams can afford to have fully professional athletes. In Canada, semi-professionalism is prevalent in junior ice hockey , in which the top level players (most of whom are teenagers still in, or just out of, high school) are paid at a semi-professional level. This is not the case in

1485-576: The second attempt Bedford easily won the Allied Dunbar Division 2 Championship in 1998 and were promoted to Division 1 and were runners up in the Cheltenham & Gloucester Cup. Financial problems with the club's owners resulted in the club losing many players but there was a nucleus that remained loyal. The Club Coach and Director of Rugby also left. In April 1999 Sports Network sold the club to Jefferson Lloyd International but this

1530-594: The short summer seasons and low salaries require players to hold jobs in the offseason to make ends meet. There are several hundred semi-professional football teams at non-League level. The bottom division of the English Football League (the fourth tier of the English football league system ) has traditionally been the cut-off point between professional ("full-time") and semi-professional ("part-time") in English football . However, many teams in

1575-422: The top levels, as finances depend on promotion and relegation both of parent male teams and of the female teams themselves. Full professionalism for women is still in the planning stages; top female players often depend on other sources of income (such as coaching and physical training), and many attend university or college while playing. In Scottish football , semi-professional teams compete at all levels below

1620-483: The top non-League competition, the National League , have become "full-time" professional clubs in an effort to achieve League status. Many former League clubs also remain as fully professional teams following relegation to the lower leagues at least for as long as they retain a large enough average attendance to generate the income needed to pay the players. Women's football in England is semi-professional at

1665-402: The top. Even today some older supporters consider this the club's best ever period - practically every member of the team in 1938–39 was very close to international honours. Further improvements had been made at the ground, the biggest being the stand opened in 1933 which is still in use today. The club recovered again after the Second World War and continued to play all the leading clubs and had

1710-400: The transfer of the club to Bedford Blues Ltd. was organised. Several thousand supporters and businesses in the town bought shares and the club is now viable. The club is now sponsored by Charles Wells Brewery and many other local companies. Bedford have been playing on virtually the same pitch for over 100 years and 32 players have gained International honours while they were actually playing for

1755-538: The weekends. In the 20th century the term "semi-pro football league" refer to higher level amateur leagues, though the players do not get paid, the leagues and the games are run in a somewhat professional manner. The National Lacrosse League , whose teams also typically play only one game per week, pays a salary that is enough to be considered fully professional, but players also are able to pursue outside employment to supplement their income. The lowest levels of organized baseball are also effectively semi-professional, as

1800-562: Was a financial disaster resulting in Bedford losing further staff. The club was about to be sold and moved from the town, which would have meant the end of first class rugby in Bedford. Following intervention by the RFU in October 1999 a consortium of Bedford businessmen headed by David Ledsom (SDC), Mike Kavanagh, Geoff Irvine (Irvine-Whitlock), David Gunner and David Rawlinson with assistance from Bedford Borough Council and other professional people,

1845-553: Was a gate of nearly 18,000 which at the time was a record attendance. Unfortunately this achievement did not continue with the club having little success resulting in many players with great potential leaving the club. There were bright moments such as John Orwin captaining the England touring party to Australia and Fiji in 1988. When the leagues were introduced in 1987-88 Bedford were in Division 2, promoted to Division 1 in 1989 but relegated immediately to finish in Division 3 for

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1890-614: Was chairman of the England selectors. In 2000 he was managing the England team. In 2001 he was the RFU President. In 2000 he was elected to the board of Trustees of the Lord's Taverners . He was also the holder of the England record of 34 caps, subsequently beaten, British Lion and Barbarian many times over, captain of England on seven occasions and the first English player to be honoured by the Queen for his services to football. He owned

1935-571: Was known as Midland Road Ground, an area near the Queen's Park railway bridge. The first matches in 1886–87 were in Goldington Road — where the Bedford Swifts had played — but during the next few seasons several pitches near the railway station were used. It was recorded in local papers at the time that at least one game was played in the field where Queens Works now stands. The railway and industry required this land and Bedford Rugby returned to

1980-412: Was similar to the fate that most club sides suffered in their successful tour. Only Wales beat them. In the seasons immediately preceding World War I the fixture list grew stronger, and the club lost only one game in 1913–14. The facilities had also improved. With a better playing arena, the first stand had been erected in 1905 and in 1910 a new pavilion was built. At that time it was considered one of

2025-425: Was supplied by Kooga from at least 2004 up until the 2011–2012 season and then supplied by Zoo Sport Ltd before changing back to Gilbert on 1 September 2020. The kit is sponsored by three companies; The front of the team shirt by Blue Chip, the sleeves by Wells Bombardier and the back by Lifesure insurance . sdc ac plc dovecote park carter sullivan trust insurance stonbury SDG Budgens Berwick Homes October

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