The Berkshire Rugby Football Union is the governing body for the sport of rugby union in the county. The union is the constituent body of the Rugby Football Union (RFU) for Berkshire, and administers and organises rugby union clubs and competitions in the county. It also administers the Berkshire county rugby representative teams.
Brief History
Although club sides had been in existence in the county from as early as the 1890s, the Berkshire RFU did not form until 1931. A Berkshire representative side played the county’s first competitive game in 1932 against Sussex but had to wait until January 1947 for the RFU to admit them to the County Championship, making their debut in the 1948 competition, where they reached the quarter-finals.
With the introduction of rugby union leagues in 1987, despite their closeness to London, the majority of Berkshire clubs were placed in the south-west regional leagues, and up until the end of the century were grouped with Dorset and Wiltshire sides in a 3 tier Berks, Dorset & Wilts league.
For the 2000-01 season, the RFU restructured the leagues and Berkshire clubs in the south-west regional leagues were instead grouped with clubs from Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire.
Affiliated Clubs
There are currently 13 voting clubs and 3 non voting clubs affiliated with the Berkshire RFU. The teams play in various competitive levels, from National 1 (Level 3) through to Counties 4 (Level 10) as well as teams in the International Gay Rugby (IGR) leagues and social teams with many clubs running between 1 and 4 teams.
Voting Clubs
- Aldermaston RFC
- Berkshire Shire Hall RFC
- Bracknell RFC
- Crowthorne RFC
- Hungerford RFC
- Maidenhead RFC
- Newbury Blues RFC
- Rams RFC
- Reading RFC
- Reading Abbey RFC
- Thatcham RFC
- Tadley RFC
- Windsor RFC
Non Voting Clubs
- Berkshire Unicorns
- Reading Renegades
- Thames Valley Police
Updated: 22 December 2025
