Written by Max
Ground #72
Saturday 13th September 2025
RFU Regional 2 Midlands North (Tier 6)
Newark 8-27 Dronfield
Attendance: 200 (est.)
Entry: FREE
Rugby Union has been played in the Town of Newark since 1891, with the official formation of Newark Rugby Club coming after the First World War in 1919 when the games took place at the local grammar school.
In 1947 the club bought a patch of land on Kelham Road at auction for £520. 2 years later the first game was played there. In the 1960’s a clubhouse was built and floodlights installed making Newark the first Rugby Club in the whole of Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Lincolnshire to be able to host night games.
The club have produced 2 England internationals, The latest being Joe Heyes who made his International debut in 2021.
The club currently find themselves playing in the 6th tier of the English Rugby pyramid at regional level after winning promotion from the tier below after a restructure in 2022
Today’s game saw Newark face a tough test against Dronfield who unfortunately missed out on promotion by 1 place last season. Winning 20 of their 22 games, the club finished just 4 points short of the title and promotion to the next tier.
From the off the visitors were seemingly continuing where they left off last season with an early try and conversion putting them into an 0-7 lead. Dronfield continued to be on top but on a rare foray forward Newark won a penalty which was converted.
20 minutes in and Dronfield confirmed their dominance with a second try. A fantastic conversion from right on the touchline made it 3-14 as the rain began to pour down.
Yet another Dronfield attack looked dangerous but the ball was intercepted and the Newark player ran alone for 3/4 of the pitch before finding his teammate with a crossfield kick who touched down for an very much against the run of play try. A large roar from the Newark supporters as their team were back in the game. Unfortunately the conversion was missed making the score 8-14.
Just before the half time whistle Dronfield converted a penalty to extend their lead as they went into the break 8-17 up.
Into the 2nd half we went and the sun came out! Dronfield’s number 9 who had stood out for his conversions in the first period, ran onto his own kick for another try with the first attack of the half.
After this Newark finally began to get a foot hold into the game but a large spell of possession came to nothing which really summed up their day. To rub salt into the wounds the visitors sealed an impressive performance with a 4th try.
A 27-8 hammering and on early showing you wouldn’t bet against this Dronfield side winning that promotion that they just missed out on last season.
Now to rate my day at Kelham Road, and my first experience of a day at the Rugby:
Location: 3/10
Newark Rugby Club is located just outside of the Town around a 5 minute drive from the centre towards the small village of Kelham. It is about a half an hour walk from the centre but isn’t the most attractive of walks alongside a busy national speed limit road and involves crossing the A46.
The car park at the ground seems a good size, although with 3 games going on simultaneously during my visit this was very full. I arrived around 20 minutes before the start and managed to squeeze into a small space behind a floodlight!
Kit: 6/10
Newark play in a dark blue shirt with white hoops, with blue shorts and hooped socks. It is a smart looking traditional rugby kit. It is interesting that they chose to go with red numbers rather than white as these don’t stand out from afar and don’t really fit with the rest of the kit.
Facilities: 10/10
The clubhouse at Kelham Road is a huge building directly in the middle of the land. The bar and changing facilities are raised above ground level due to the fact the land the ground sits on regularly floods.
Once up the steps and into the clubhouse you are greeted with a smart reception area with 2 sofas and walls filled with signed rugby memorabilia. The wall is painted smartly in the clubs dark blue colour.
Once inside you turn immediately left and enter into the huge main bar. This is filled with high tables on one side and large round tables in the other which were filled with club officials and supporters enjoying some pre match hospitality. Many of these club officials were incredibly smartly dressed in pinstriped blazers and shirts and ties which is very different to your local non league football club!
A bonus of the clubhouse being above ground level is that you can watch the game from inside the bar with 3 huge windows allowing you for a brilliant heightened view of the pitch.
Look: 9/10
The clubhouse at Kelham Road is surrounded by a number of pitches on all sides. As you enter the ground the main pitch is on the right hand side.
Coming out of the side of the clubhouse is the cleverly designed stand which allows supporters to get a good view of the action from above. This stand is covered by a large roof and contains a small amount of seating as well as plenty of space from standing.
The other 3 sides of the pitch are surrounded by trees which make for a lovely scenic backdrop to the game. At certain angles you can also see the large church in the town centre peeking through the branches. There is also a large electronic scoreboard in the far corner which comes very much in handy when keeping track of high scoring games!
The only negative I can really think of is the fact that it is only a 1 sided ground, but then when comparing to other grounds at this level there really is no competition. For context, when researching for this blog it appears the majority of clubs at this level consist of just a clubhouse and a railed pitch showing just how impressive the set up is at Newark.
Food and Drink: 6/10
At half time I headed back up into the clubhouse and to the small food hatch in the corner to see what was on offer. I was amazed to see a large cottage or shepherds pie under the lights. You don’t get that at the football!
Unfortunately I wasn’t massively hungry so went for one of the other 2 options which was a choice of bacon or sausage cob. I went for a sausage one and was handed a large roll filled with 3 butchers quality sausages. I really enjoyed it although (unless I missed it) I didn’t see the option to add sauce which would have finished it off nicely.
The bar had a good selection on draught and I opted for a pint of pravha. No dark fruits on offer here so no bonus point!
TOTAL SCORE: 34/50
Now I must confess, I have never really been a fan of Rugby, and that’s probably the main reason we have never ventured out to a game here before now. But I must admit I have been missing out!
Newark really do have a fantastic set up and the crowd for the game was much larger than I had anticipated which was really good to see. This menat for a really good atmosphere throughout the game, even with the home side getting outplayed throughout.
I really enjoyed my afternoon and can confidently say I will definitely return in the future and I would recommend any sports fan in the Newark area head over for a game.
We hope you have enjoyed this one, as we continue to diversify the sports and clubs we cover. As well as the usual football we have now reviewed cricket, rugby and GAA! I find it really interesting visiting these different sporting events and comparing them to each other! Keep your eyes peeled for more sports coming soon!
Emma’s Ground Guide 