Rugby Heritage – Milton Keynes
Rugby Heritage – Milton Keynes
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  • Exhibition
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  • Home
  • Early History
  • RWC 2015 in MK
    • Web Ellis Cup Tours
    • RWC 2015 MK matches
    • Fanzone
  • Clubs
    • Olney RUFC >
      • Olney under 13's
    • Bletchley RUFC >
      • Presidents, chairmen & captains
    • Milton Keynes RUFC >
      • MKRUFC Collection
    • Buckingham RUFC
    • Open University RFC
  • Memories
    • More Memories... >
      • Duncan MacFarlane
      • Ed Slater
      • Iain Talbot
      • James Coffill
      • John Silk
      • Kevin O'Brien
      • Mobasher 'Bash' Mahmood
      • Sharon Johnson
      • Sinclair Holm
      • Steve Browne
    • Peter Lousada
    • Edgar Mobbs
    • Dix Family
    • Norman Walker
    • Weston Family
    • Ray Longland
    • Jeff Butterfield
    • Marlon Jeavons
    • Arthur Bull
    • Major B I Swannell
    • Keith McLean
    • David Eales
    • Brenda Price
    • Bev Humphries
    • Aaron Crosbie
    • Dr Parkins
  • Honours
    • Lewis Shield
    • Muddiman Cup
    • North Bucks Shield
  • Ladies Rugby
    • History of Ladies Rugby
    • MK Citizen Newspaper - 2015
    • Bletchley Ladies at Twickenham
    • Verity Robinson
  • Schools
    • St Pauls U-15
    • Shenley Brook End
  • Films
  • Gallery
    • Exhibition Images
    • Citizen newspaper clips
    • MK Host City Magazine
    • Youth Rugby
    • Edgar Mobbs collection
  • Exhibition
  • Credits

open university Rfc

The Open University Rugby Team was founded on 6th October 1974 by Peter Price, Senior Assistant Secretary of the University. Its first match was against Milton Keynes RFC. Milton Keynes had just moved to their new ground which was not fully operational. The Open University recruited its players from staff and students spread all over the country who had never met before. In fact most of the side met for the first time in the dressing room, hence skipper Brian Blackwell’s tactical instructions to his team: ‘Don’t try to get the ball back lads. If the hooker binds, he’s too short to reach it and if he doesn’t, he falls flat on his face.’ Despite this unfortunate handicap, however, and six inches of water on parts of the new pitch, the OU managed to win 21-6 having had a strong team containing a dozen players with first-class experience at club or county level.
 
Thanks to Milton Keynes and the backing of their President, Jeff Butterfield, this match got the OU going firmly, and in the nine years following, 13 games were played, a further nine against Milton Keynes, three against the Public School Wanderers, and one against Budge Rogers International XV,
the latter at Bedford, the only game not at Greenleys.
 Michael Green, Author of The Art of Coarse Rugby and Open University Graduate 
 
 “When I was working at the Open University, I helped to organise a 25th anniversary celebration (in 1994), and one of the highlights was a men's and women's rugby match between an England selection and an OU team, which was played at Greenleys rugby club”.
Dominic Newbold
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