Ironsides Rugby is an ambitious, friendly rugby club, renowned for its hard rugby and social side. Located in Earlsfield, just 7 miles from the centre of London, we now have one of the largest combined (mini, youth and senior) club memberships in London. Everyone is guaranteed a warm welcome, irrespective of age or playing ability.

We are located at Openview, off Burntwood Lane, Earlsfield. The clubhouse is situated on the junction with Openview.

We have 5 Senior XV's, Vets, Ladies, Girls U18s, Girls U15s, Minis & Youth sections ranging from under 5 to under 18 age groups.  

Seniors
Ironsides train every Tuesday evening from 7:00pm till about 9:15pm. Sessions begin with a light warm-up and then coaching begins at 7:30pm prompt. Please make sure you are on-time and warmed up before 7:30pm as it is a well known fact that entering a training session without warming up usually results in a early shower.

The seniors pitches are situated at Garratt Green, a few hundred yards away.

Pre-season
Pre-season training takes place on Garratt from 7:00pm till dark.
Please note during pre-season, bring your own water, trainers and the all important bug spray.

In-season
After September, all training sessions take place at the club house under flood lights from 7:00pm till about 9:00pm.
During the season, the clubhouse shower facilities are open and available as well as the club house bar.

 

Juniors

Our view is that children come to the Club to play rugby, but more importantly to have fun. We do not have fixed A and B teams, but maintain a fluid squad: everyone in the squad gets to play in matches. We aim to create an inclusive friendly environment that is welcoming to children, parents and visitors. Our policy seemed to have work as having started with 27 players we now have around 1,200 members playing in age groups from Under 5's to Under 18's. Each season we attend matches, festivals and organise tours in the UK and Europe for some age groups.  The highlight of the tour season is the Mini's tour that takes place in May each year.  In May 2018 we took over 300 players to Butlins in Minehead for an amazing bank holiday weekend of fantastic rugby and fun.

See New Members page for details.

We meet for training and home games at the clubhouse on Openview on Sunday mornings for a 10.00am start see Pitch Locations . The session finishes between 12 noon and 12.30pm.  See Individual Team pages for details and check Fixtures to see where we are this week.

An dedicated and enthusiastic group of volunteers form the Junior Management Committee and run the Junior section on a day-to-day basis. The normal contact point for parents is their child's Year Group Head Coach and Team Manager, details of which are shown on the relevant Team pages and also on the main Contact page for the club. This is a volunteer run club and we would love to hear from you if you would like to help and give back to this wonderful club.  Contact the Youth or Mini Secretaries or speak to your Head Coach or Year Group Manager about how you can help.

Our History - Battersea Ironsides Junior Section was formed in 1995 by a group of parents with the aim of providing facilities for boys and girls between the ages of 4 and 18 to learn to play the game and develop their skills. We are now a section of Battersea Ironsides RFC Ltd, and are affiliated to the Rugby Football Union. Incidentally, the club was founded in 1943 by Colonel E H St Maur Toope from members of the 42nd Royal Tank Regiment Cadet Battalion, located in the Borough of Battersea. In 1948, the title was changed to "Battersea Ironsides" and the club was opened up to players other than ex-Royal Tank Regiment Cadets.