Gladstone Rugby Union Football Club

History in the Making

 

Welcome to the Gladstone Rugby Union Football Club or GRUFC for short.

 

The GRUFC is the only Rugby Club in the Gladstone region, and we participate in the Central Queensland Rugby Union competition which involves teams from; Rockhampton (Brothers, Colts, Frenchville, University), Yeppoon (Capricorn Coast) , Biloela (Biloela), Mount Morgan (Mount Morgan), and Moura (Dawson Valley).  Our home field is located at Marley Brown Oval on Harvey Road.

 

The original GRUFC is believed to have first formed in 1975, after John Pincock placed an advertisement in the Observer to find people interested in playing rugby in Gladstone.  People interested gathered at the Rocky Glenn Hotel, and from that the original GRUFC was formed, playing in a yellow jersey in the Rocky competition. However due to a misreading of the letter C on the GRUFC application form, the first jersey had GRUFU embodied on it.  The following season this was corrected to the GRUFC, and the Hibiscus flower was also introduced as the clubs original emblem. During the 1980’s Gladstone went through a boom period, and the GRUFC had grown from its humble beginnings to having enough members to sustain a four team competition based in Gladstone. Rugby in Gladstone during the 80’s saw four teams based in Gladstone competing in Gladstone, under the four colours, yellow, white, blue, and red. In 1988 the four clubs remerged into one, and the GRUFC we know today was formed, playing in the yellow, blue, red and white, under the emblem of the Goat.

 

The GRUFC offer the opportunity to anyone in the Gladstone region to participate in the sport of Rugby. Over the years this has extended to A Grade, Reserve Grade, Sub Districts, Golden Oldies, Women’s, School Boys and Juniors. Our club has a proud history and has seen players reach representative levels for Australia, Queensland, Queensland Country, and Rockhampton Brahmans. We have proven to be competitive in all the levels of competitions with the Club making several Grand Finals, regular appearances in the finals series, and regular preseason competition winners. 2006 saw the GRUFC attain its first premiership, adding to it in 2015 with our A Grade side and we are always endeavouring to add to this achievement.

 

Our club is open to all genders, races, families and peoples alike, and we actively encourage any family and friends to become involved. We do not tolerate inappropriate behaviour, and affiliates of the GRUFC are expected to adhere to the clubs code of conduct when representing the club. Failure to do so will result in people being asked to longer participate or associate with the club. Above all we welcome all those who have an interest in Rugby to join us, and to you the reader welcome.