London Irish

History of London Irish 

Although they're based in Brentford, the London Irish Rugby team has a distinctly Irish identity.The London Irish Rugby team was established in 1898 and it was the last club to be formed in England by working and student exiles from the home countries, following London Scottish in 1878 and London Welsh in 1885.Read on to see the latest London Irish news. On this page, you can see all upcoming London Irish fixtures and view the most recent London Irish results.

Fast-forward over 100 years and the London Irish Rugby team won their first ever major trophy in 2002 when the side clinched the Powergen Cup (now known as the Premiership). Since then, the side has been highly competitive. They came close to reaching the final of the Heineken Cup (now known as the European Rugby Champions Cup) in the 2007-08 season and they reached the final of the English Premiership in 2009.Since rugby union became professional, the London Irish Rugby team has played in the Premiership for every season except for two. However, both times the team was relegated to the RFU Championship, they won the division in their first season and were promoted as champions.

Due to the success of the London Irish Rugby team over the past couple of decades, several notable international players have played for the London Irish. For example, England internationals such as Mike Catt, Jonathan Joseph and Anthony Watson have all represented the London Irish. Plus, Joseph and Watson even came through the London Irish academy.Traditionally, the team fulfils all London Irish fixtures within London. However, this hasn't always been the case. For example, between 2000 and 2019, most London Irish fixtures were played at the Madejski Stadium in Reading. Similarly, in 2016, London Irish played in the first ever Premiership game to be played outside England when they played against Saracens in New York.In 2016, the team announced that they intended to move back to London and, as of the 2020-21 season, London Irish fixtures are played at the Brentford Community Stadium.