Bristol Bears
Bristol Bears (officially Bristol Rugby Club or Bristol Rugby) are a professional rugby union club based in Bristol, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby.
| Full name | Bristol Rugby Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Union | Somerset Rugby Football Union | ||
| Nickname(s) | Bears, Bris | ||
| Founded | 1888 | ||
| Location | Bristol, England | ||
| Ground(s) | Ashton Gate Stadium (Capacity: 27,000) | ||
| Chairman | Chris Booy | ||
| Director of Rugby | Pat Lam | ||
| Captain(s) | Fitz Harding | ||
| Most caps | Darren Crompton (138) | ||
| Top scorer | Felipe Contepomi (573) | ||
| Most tries | Harry Thacker (35) | ||
| League(s) | Premiership Rugby | ||
| 2022–23 | 9th | ||
| |||
| Official website | |||
| www | |||
| Current season | |||
The club was founded as Bristol Football Club in 1888; between 1921 and 2014, home matches were played at the Memorial Ground, since when they have been played at Ashton Gate Stadium in the south-west of the city. The current head coach is Pat Lam who was appointed in 2017. In the 2022–23 season Bristol finished 9th entitling them to compete in the 2023-24 European Rugby Champions Cup due to a place becoming available with the demise of 5th placed London Irish.
In 2018, the club rebranded as Bristol Bears; between 2001 and 2005 the club were known as Bristol Shoguns due to a sponsorship deal with Mitsubishi.
Bristol won the 1983 John Player Cup and have also won England's second division four times, most recently in 2017–18. In 2019–2020, Bristol won The European Challenge Cup for the first time.