Blackheath FC have reached the Championship, but is there more success?
“Whatever you do, don’t relegate us.” Words of encouragement offered to Tom Stradwick when he was appointed as Blackheath FC’s new head coach at the start of the 2025-26 season.
The oldest open club in the world was looking for stability in a period of transition. Director of Rugby James Shanahan has left while club stalwart Marcus Burcham has hung up his boots after 283 games. Stradwick, himself a two-time centurion of the club, also bid time to play for the next 14 years at the club, moving into a coaching role.
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The south-east London side spent a short time in the fourth tier during Covid and so the goal from above was simple: keep us in National League One.
Blackheath FC: How did the fairy tale happen?
This season, for the first time in 27 years, Blackheath will be playing in England’s second tier, Elior Champ Rugby, following a most incredible promotion. So how did this fairy tale happen?
“Plymouth were away in February. We haven’t won down there for ages,” explains club chairman James Fleming. “We were aiming for a bonus point loss there, but we were up 19-0 after 20 minutes. They came back and we held it 34-26, which was a huge moment of the season.
“That was a statement and a test the players passed. Two weeks later, we faced Rotherham at home, beating them with some comfort. It was a huge message to our trajectory.”
“At the time we were told by others in the league that we were in form,” added general manager Russell Ticehurst. “People played us expecting to lose, which we haven’t had in many, many years at this club. But I won’t say we knew what was coming.”
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Blackheath Attack (Nicholas King)
In reality, before those two crucial games, the club had already begun the grueling application process for a place in the Champ Rugby at Christmas. With Blackheath fifth in the league, the RFU came up with whether they would want to bid for a league place if they achieved promotion at the end of the season, with the newly introduced play-off system between second and third making that a viable reality.
Long discussions took place and the decision was made to do it right on and off the field. “The Champ application process, writing the business case, three years of financial, historical work was four, five weeks of work, at least two hours a day,” adds Fleming. “It took me two nights to put it on the RFU portal myself.”
Since making that decision to aim for promotion over Christmas, things have taken off at The Club. Stradwick’s team went on a ten-game run to end the season, including wins against Plymouth and Rotherham. There was also an away win at Leeds Tykes in April despite a delayed start and shortened warm-up due to train cancellations at King’s Cross.
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Billy Harding, the scoring machine
This good fortune coincided with the exploits of club captain Billy Harding. The hooker has returned to captain Blackheath after years spent chasing the professional dream with the likes of Wasps, Coventry and Ampthill.
As a child, his parents owned the Princess of Wales pub on the moor, while he and his brother were members of the club’s junior section. During the regular season, Harding scored a career-high 48 tries in 26 games, scoring in every match and including six hat-tricks. A great record that even got him recognized at a local bakery over the summer.
By the end of the season, Blackheath had risen through the ranks and finished in second place, earning themselves a place in the new play-off system. A tight 22-10 win at home to Plymouth then saw a final draw away to arch-rivals London Scottish for the right to promotion. A day that has since become one of the greatest in the history of the club without equal.
“We talk a lot about that day,” explains Harding. “After the warm-up and the crowd going ballistic for the away game, we got goosebumps. But the nerves turned into confidence. They were there for us. If you could shut that feeling down, you’d never lose the game.”
Stradwick added: “Blackheath, as a whole club, wanted to be in that game. London Scottish, as a club, didn’t want to be in that game. Momentum is a huge thing and the reaction from the crowd allowed us to have that dominant start and never look back. The desire and effort for 80 minutes showed that every moment counted for the team.”
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Blackheath Celebrates (Nicholas King)
In reality, Blackheath probably outnumbered the Scots two to one in the stands on the day and from the first five minutes it was clear who would win. The club immediately took over the game, going into half time 21-0, Harding of course scoring one. The game finished 27-7, with the Scots scoring their only points in the 77th minute, a dominant display of unity and conviction from the underdogs.
After three decades, Blackheath have returned to the second tier of domestic rugby. “It took me all summer to process that game,” Harding recalls. “Seeing fans who have followed that club for 40, 50 years in tears. Going to the pub with 300 friends, family and fans around Richmond that night. It was special.”
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Blackheath: How will it fare in the Championship?
And now what? Championship rugby is a funny old league. Professional by name, it boasts permanent operations such as Worcester Warriors and Ealing Trailfinders, clubs that have both been open in their pursuit of PREM (or even URC) rugby. But it also boasts the likes of Richmond, Caldy and Ampthill working part-time. It tends to be a battle of the haves and the have-nots, with the less fortunate focusing on survival.
Blackheath Squad (Nicholas King)
How will Blackheath approach things? “At the first board meeting after promotion we said we would remain a semi-professional club,” explains Fleming. “We’ve gone on a recruitment drive trying to bring in quality players but who will fit into our culture. Every new lad needs to fit in with us. It’s really clear what’s ahead. You’ve got the likes of Ealing and Worcester. They’ll be learning experiences off the pitch, how they run and on the pitch. Just hope it’s not too big a lesson!
“Where we have to be is above the relegation zone. So eighth or ninth, but top six is a lovely dream. We didn’t think we’d be top three in Nat One, so strange things can happen when you get the right people.”
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“I’ve been working with Tom and I said nothing was missing this year because survival is the main goal,” added Ticehurst. “Is it loaning a PREM player if it is offered, of course, but we will repeatedly return to the culture and we will not do it if it is to its detriment. We have seen that with the clubs around us where it works and where it doesn’t. We have seen it in the clubs around us.
“There’s a lot of experience at the club, but that culture will be how we survive next year. We’re 12 games unbeaten, but we’ll have to get used to defeats. Look at how the boys deal with defeat at home or a real blow. It’s also exciting when you know you don’t have a national team at the club and we have a national team at the club.
Rugby Champions Cup lasts five years?
And what do the players and coaches think about this? Stradwick tells us he has an idea of success in his head, but he’s not comfortable sharing it with us. Harding notes that in five years he will be playing Champions Cup rugby. A joke, but one that comes with an element of truth.
If Blackheath are going to succeed at this level, it will be thanks to the spirit of the team. The desire to win more than the opposition instead of raw talent or resources. Lots of team bonding in Blackheath and beyond last season proved to the club faithful that this squad is tightly knit. And while you may have the odd stardust player like Sam Morley at fly-half, once at Exeter, it will be the link that will see them through.
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He Kicks, He Scores (Nicholas King)
“We’re not going to have the biggest budget this season and we’re not full-time. But we can have the best culture. Making sure the boys show up and feel like they belong,” confirms Stradwick. “If your club is doing that, then you’re headed in the right direction. Bill has done an incredible job of building that, ensuring that behavior with his leadership team.”
“The reality will sink in quickly but it’s an exciting place to be at the moment. The reality of the opportunity ahead this year is that it’s not a daunting prospect. Ask any player at the start of the year if they had a chance at Champ Rugby and they’d bite your hand off. The club is on the rise and going in the right direction.”
Exciting times indeed for rugby fans in this part of South East London, but could things get any better? As English domestic rugby enters the era of franchising, the PREM giants have made no secret of their desire to promote a new mega-bucks club from this corner of the country.
So if you were a billionaire looking for a club to invest in with your wealthy consortium and visions of breaking into the top flight of English rugby, how about a club that is the oldest in the world, steeped in history, with an active fan base and zero competition for fans or academy talent to be found for miles around? If you’re reading this and have a few beans to spare, James Fleming and Russell Ticehurst would love to take you out for coffee.
