Chinnor Rugby Club to celebrate historic promotion with open top bus parade through Thame

Chinnor Rugby Club has announced a day of celebrations after achieving promotion to the second tier of English Rugby Union.

Among the parties planned to mark Chinnor’s National One Championship title is an open tour parade visiting key destinations in the club’s history.

Starting at 11am on Sunday (28 April), the bus is heading to the Bird in Hand site in Chinnor where the club was formed in December 1963. Next the team and staff will be visiting Towersey, as the club’s first premises were in the small village.

Then the bus will pass through Thame High Street, stopping off at the council’s headquarters, before returning to the clubhouse.

Prior to the two-hour tour, the club is hosting a meet-and-greet session at the rugby club’s home ground.

At 2pm the Chinnor Ruby Kites are in action against Birmingham Moseley Women, a game the Oxfordshire side need to win to avoid relegation from the Women’s NC Midlands 1 division.

Also confirmed for the club’s funday are a fun fair, an inflatable assault course and pitchside food. Music will also be played on a sound system on the day.

Chinnor has achieved promotion to the RFU Championship by winning the National One Championship. The Oxfordshire team achieved promotion in some style crushing Birmingham Moseley 52-0 to build an unassailable lead in the third tier table.

They won the title with one game to spare, having tasted defeat just four times during the first 25 games of the season.