Bideford RFC is an English Rugby union team formed in 1926. The club is based in Bideford, Devon and operates four senior men's teams, as well as multiple youth, ladies and mini teams. The first team, the Chiefs play in Tribute Western Counties West following their relegation from Tribute South West 1 West at the end of the 2017–18 season. The club has a longstanding rivalry with its neighbour, Barnstaple, and the traditional Boxing Day fixture between the two sides often attracts crowds in excess of a thousand supporters. Bideford plays home games at King George's Field. History Early days Bideford was founded in 1926 by local players who had, until then, played for its neighbour, Barnstaple RFC. It was the beginning of a long sporting rivalry between the clubs. Bideford played their first game at Victoria Park against a Barnstaple reserve side. Victoria Park remained Bideford's home ground until 1929 when they moved to the Sports Ground. This ground was shared with the local football side, Bideford AFC. During the 1930s, the club had a degree of success in the Devon Junior Cup (the secondary cup competition for men's rugby at the time), winning the competition in 1933 and 1935. In 1969, Bideford left the Sports Ground and moved to King George's Field, where they currently play. They won the Havill Plate in 1975. League rugby When leagues were introduced for the 1987–88 season, Bideford was placed in Courage Cornwall/Devon, a regional league for Cornish and Devon-based clubs ranked in tier 8 of the English league system. In 1992, after four seasons in this division, the club finished as champions and thus were promoted to Tribute Western Counties West. They remained part of Tribute Western Counties West for six years. In the 1997–98 season, they finished last and were relegated, returning to Cornwall/Devon. In 2001, Bideford achieved promotion as runners-up and returned to the Tribute Western Counties West league. This promotion was short-lived; they were relegated the following year after a poor league campaign which saw just 1 win in 22 games. Two years later, Bideford sunk to their lowest ever league ranking and were thus relegated at the end of the 2004–05 season to Devon 1. The 2006–07 season saw Bideford start to rebuild, and they finished second in the league behind champions Teignmouth, qualifying for a promotion play-off against the runners-up from Cornwall League 1, Liskeard-Looe. Due