The Rugby Football Union (RFU) was founded in 1871 as the governing body for the sport of rugby union, and performed as the international governing body prior to the formation of the International Rugby Board (IRB) in 1886. It has since functioned within England as a society to promote and run the sport, including organising international matches for the England national team, educating and training players and officials and acting as the governing body for England.
The RFU is structured as an industrial and provident society, owned by over 2,000 member clubs, representing over 2.5 million registered players, and forms the largest rugby union society in the world, and one of the largest sports organisations in England. It is based at Twickenham Stadium, London.
In September 2010 the women's rugby body the Rugby Football Union for Women (RFUW) was integrated into the RFU as a "constituent body", and whilst it retains some independence within the organisation, its adoption of RFU structures and management effectively unify the men's and women's sport under a single governing body.
Read more about Rugby Football Union: International Connections, Director of Elite Rugby, Streamlining of RFU Structure
Famous quotes containing the words football and/or union:
“In football they measure forty-yard sprints. Nobody runs forty yards in basketball. Maybe you run the ninety-four feet of the court; then you stop, not on a dime, but on Miss Liberty’s torch. In football you run over somebody’s face.”
—Donald Hall (b. 1928)
“We are constantly thinking of the great war ... which saved the Union ... but it was a war that did a great deal more than that. It created in this country what had never existed before—a national consciousness. It was not the salvation of the Union, it was the rebirth of the Union.”
—Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924)