Chinnor Rugby Football Club is an English rugby union club based in Thame, Oxfordshire. They currently play in the second tier of the English league system, Champ Rugby, following their promotion from National League 1 having won promotion in the 2023–24 season. The club regularly runs five senior teams as well as a full youth setup from age 5 upwards. Chinnor's youth setup is widely thought of as one of the best in the country having produced top Premiership players such as Tom Varndell (Leicester Tigers), Tom Johnson (Exeter Chiefs), Dave Seymour (Saracens), Paul Volley (Wasps), and Sam Jones (Wasps). Chinnor became the first club in Oxfordshire or Buckinghamshire to establish an under-19 academy.
History Chinnor RFC was formed in 1962, by Frank Angel, Cyril Perry and Marcus Cann at the Bird in Hand pub in Chinnor, playing its first game the following year. Norman Baldwin (the sponge) was one of the first to play for Chinnor and wrote the club's first “song book”. The 1970s saw the club expand to include junior and youth teams and in 1976 the club won the Oxfordshire Cup. When the English league system started the club was placed in Bucks and Oxon Division 1 and progressed through the Southern Counties section to gain promotion to the National Leagues in 2006; the youngest club to do so."Club History" by former player John Gardner, at official website The club gained a further promotion from National League 3 South West in 2012.
During the 2016–17 National League 2 South season, the club achieved a (then) record attendance at Kingsey Road of 1,580 during a top of the table clash against Bishop's Stortford, a game Chinnor won 27–25.
On 13 April 2024, Chinnor beat Birmingham Moseley to take the National League 1 title with a game to go. During this season, the club also smashed the previous Kingsey Road attendance with 2,270 spectators attending the top of the league clash with rivals Rams on 15 December 2023, which would also be the best attended game in National League 1 that season.
Ground Chinnor originally played at the Towersey Playing Fields in the village of Towersey being granted a 25 year lease in 1971 and building a club house in 1972, before moving to their current ground, Kingsey Road, 1.5 miles away in Thame in 1986.
Kingsey Road is situated on the eastern outskirts of Thame. The ground has been upgraded throughout its history with a 350 seated temporary stand added ahead of the 2024–25 season, later upgraded to a permanent 560 seater stand ahead of the 2025–26 season. Capacity is currently around 3,000, which includes 560 seated in the covered grandstand. On 21 March 2026 Chinnor's Chief Executive Simon Vickers announced plans to build a new 5,000 seater stadium to replace its existing ground.
A record crowd of 3,000 was achieved on 14 March 2026 when Kingsey Road hosted England U18 against France U18.
Honours 1st team: Oxfordshire RFU County Cup winners (5): 1977, 1999, 2002, 2010, 2011 Bucks/Oxon 1 champions: 1994–95 South West 2 East champions: 2000–01 South West 1 champions (2): 2005–06, 2007–08 Oxfordshire Cup winners (3): 2010, 2011, 2012 National League 3 (south-east v south-west) promotion play-off winner: 2011–12 National League 2 (north v south) promotion play-off winner: 2017–18 National League 1 champions: 2023–24
2nd team: Berks/Bucks & Oxon Premier A champions: 2005–06 Oxfordshire RFU County Cup winners (2): 2012, 2013
3rd team: Berks/Bucks & Oxon 1 champions (2): 2005–06, 2016–17
Current standings
Current squad
The Chinnor squad for the 2025–26 season is:
Props
Hookers
Locks
Back row
Scrum-halves
Fly-halves
Centres
Wings
Fullbacks
References
External links