Tottonians RFC.

1961 -

Currently Hampshire Cup Champions with 4 Internationals ( 2 current- David Sisi & Dylan Baptista and Huw Thomas & Steve Cooke historically) having played for or come through our ranks but our history started here:

The club originated out of the 2nd staging of a Totton Grammar School XV v Ex-Pupils XV in 1961/62 after the players decided to form their own club, hence OLD TOTTONIANS RFC were formed playing their matches at the Grammar School.

Competition heightened for the small pool of local players in 1965/66 with the formation of Totton Youth Club RFC, based at Testwood School. To counter this and in the hope of attracting more players and members, the ‘Old’ was dropped and TOTTONIANS RFC became an open club in 1966/67. Totton Youth Club in turn changed their name to TOTTON RFC in 1967/68.

Although both clubs enjoyed periods where they’d field a 2nd XV, with such a limited area to draw upon, plus the more established Trojans always on the prowl for the more ambitious players, both local Clubs struggled to honour fixtures so resorted to fielding a combined 2nd XV. This led to talks and, ultimately, merger in 1969/70 which resulted, essentially, in the club we have today. While continuing to play at the, now renamed, Totton College, clubhouse facilities had been procured the previous season at Calmore Recreation Ground, ‘The Shed’ as it was affectionately known would continue to be our home for a further 26 years. An immediate benefit was the ability to turn out a 3rd XV for the remainder of the season.

Tapping into the college rugby team brought about the introduction of the Colts Team in 1975/76;
in 1980 the Mini Section was formed under the tutelage of Club President, Ken Johnston and senior players Tony Thomas, Graham Kemp & Chris Matthews. Those little acorns have grown into the burgeoning Youth Section we have today with around 300 players being guided by 30 RFU qualified coaches.

As part of our 21st anniversary celebrations at the end of the 1982/83 season, a match was organised between a current representative XV and a team of former players, from which the Veterans Team was formed.

With the introduction of league rugby in 1987/88, we were initially placed in Hampshire 1 but were to struggle in the early years before being relegated in 1992/93. Thankfully we were to bounce back as Hampshire 2 Champions the following season.

Having long since outgrown our quaint little ‘Shed’, we were finally to build a fantastic new Clubhouse for the start of the 1996/97 season, ironically in the College grounds where we’d always played.

In 1998/99 we were promoted to London 3SW however restructuring meant, in spite of finishing mid-table we were, effectively, relegated to newly introduced London 4SW at the end of 1999/2000.

The Ladies Team was formed in 2000/01. Colloquially known as ‘The Totties’, they won the RFUW NC Sth-East West 3 in 2007/8 and subsequently teamed up with Ellingham & Ringwood Ladies to compete in RFUW NC Sth-East South 2 before operating solely under their banner since the end of 2015/16.

In 2002/2003 we were League Champions, earning promotion to London 3SW (National Level 7).
In 2003/04 we won the Hampshire Worthington Bowl, beating Guernsey 22-17 at our Water Lane home in the final.
2006/07 season produced a successful league campaign, finishing in 3rd place (played 22, won 17, lost 5) just one point behind the runners-up while enjoying an excellent run in the EDF National Senior Vase, going out in the quarter-finals at Stroud, our best performance in a national cup competition to date.

A further re-structuring prior to the 2009/10 season saw our league renamed, though still Level 7, London 2SW. After twelve consecutive seasons competing at this level, always finishing in the top half of the league, we finally won the league in 2014/15 after winning all but one match (away to Old Alleynians).

In June 2012, the Club celebrated our 50th Anniversary with a Golden Jubilee Ball, held at the Lyndhurst Park Hotel.

Our first season in London 1S saw us finish 7th and, by finishing above Havant, the highest ranked Hampshire club. Subsequent finishes of 4th and 7th bring us to the 2018/19 season which, thus far, has seen us win the Hampshire Cup for the first time, achieved with a first win at Havant on their new 4G pitch. Newspaper Article:http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/17218176.tottonians-win-the-hampshire-challenge-trophy/

A restructure of the league system now sees the 2nd XV competing in Hampshire 1 alongside many clubs we used to play at first team level. They’ve recently won Solent 1 in 2015/16 and 2017/18

The 3rd XV are currently in Hampshire 4
The Vets XV are currently in Hampshire 2. From winning Hampshire South-West League in 2015/16 they won Solent 4 in 2016/17 and Solent Waterfall 2 last season after topping Solent 3 in the first half of the season.

The 2019/2020 Seasons sees our teams in the following leagues:

Totts 1st XV London 2 South-West

Totts 2nd XV Hampshire Division 1

Totts 3rd XV Hampshire Division 4

Totts Veterans XV Hampshire Division 2