“Whatever you do, don’t get us relegated.” The reassuring words offered to Tom Stradwick when he was made the new head coach of Blackheath FC at the start of the 2025-26 season.

The world’s oldest open club was looking for stability in a period of transition. Director of Rugby James Shanahan had left while club stalwart Markus Burcham had hung up his boots after 283 caps. Stradwick, himself a double centurion for the club, had also called time on playing following 14 years at the club, transitioning into the coaching role.

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The South-East London side had spent a brief spell in the fourth tier during Covid and so the objective from high up was simple: keep us in National League One.

Blackheath FC: How did the fairytale happen?

This season, for the first time in 27 years, Blackheath will be playing in England’s second tier, Elior Champ Rugby, after the most unlikely of promotions. So just how did this fairytale story happen?

“Plymouth away in February. We hadn’t won down there for donkey’s years,” explains club chairman James Fleming. “We were aiming at a losing bonus point there but found ourselves 19-0 up after 20 minutes. They came roaring back and we held on 34-26, which was a massive moment in the season.

“It was a statement and a test that the players passed. Two weeks later, we faced Rotherham at home, beating them with some comfort. It was a massive message to our trajectory.”

“At that time we were getting told by others in the league that we were the form side,” adds managing director Russell Ticehurst. “People were playing us expecting to lose, which we’ve not had for many, many years at this club. I won’t profess we knew what was going to come, however.”

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Blackheath on the attack (Nicholas King)

In reality, before those two pivotal games, the club had already started the arduous process of applying for a place in Champ Rugby at Christmas. With Blackheath fifth in the league, the RFU had reached out as to whether they would want to apply for a place in the league should they earn promotion at the end of the season, the newly introduced play-off system between second and third making it a feasible reality.

Long discussions were had and the decision was made to give it a proper crack on and off the pitch. “The application process for the Champ, writing the business case, the three-year financial, the historical work was four, five weeks of work, two hours a day minimum,” Fleming adds. “It took me two nights to upload it to the RFU portal alone.”

From making that decision to aim at promotion during Christmas, things clicked at The Club. Stradwick’s team went on a ten-game winning streak to the end of the season, inclusive of those wins against Plymouth and Rotherham. There was also the away bonus-point win at Leeds Tykes in April which came despite a delayed kick-off and shortened warm-up enforced by train cancellations at King’s Cross.

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Billy Harding, scoring machine

This good fortune was coinciding alongside the feats of club captain Billy Harding. The hooker had returned to captain Blackheath following years spent chasing the professional dream with the likes of Wasps, Coventry and Ampthill.

As a kid, his parents had been landlords of the Princess of Wales pub on the heath while he and his brother had been members of the club’s junior section. During the regular season, Harding scored a record-breaking 48 tries in 26 games, scoring in every match and including six hat-tricks. A bonkers record that even saw him recognised in a local bakery over the summer.

By the end of the season, Blackheath had climbed the ranks to finish second, earning themselves a spot in the new play-off system. A solid 22-10 win at home to Plymouth then set up a final away tie against age-old rivals London Scottish for the right to earn promotion. A day that has since become one of the greatest in the club’s unparalleled history.

“We speak about that day at length,” explains Harding. “Coming off from the warm-up and the crowd going ballistic for an away game, we got goosebumps. But the nerves turned to confidence. They were there for us. If you could bottle that feeling, you would never lose a game.”

Stradwick adds: “Blackheath, as a whole club, wanted to be in that game. London Scottish, as a club, didn’t want to be playing in that game. Momentum is a massive thing and the crowd’s response allowed us to have that dominant start and never look back. The desire and effort for 80 minutes showed that every moment mattered to that team.”

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Blackheath celebrate (Nicholas King)

In reality, Blackheath likely outnumbered Scottish two to one in the stands that day and from the first five minutes it was clear who was going to win. Club took hold of the game immediately, going in 21-0 at half-time, Harding, of course, dotting down for one. The game finished 27-7, Scottish registering their only points in the 77th minute in what was a dominant display of unity and belief from the lower-ranked side.

After three decades, Blackheath were back among the second tier of domestic rugby. “It took me all summer to process that game,” reminisces Harding. “Seeing fans who have followed that club for 40, 50 years in tears. Going for a pub crawl with 300 friends, family and fans around Richmond that night. It was special.”

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Blackheath: How will they do in the Championship?

So what now? Champ rugby is a funny old league. Professional by name, it boasts full-time operations like Worcester Warriors and Ealing Trailfinders, clubs who have both been open in their aspiration of PREM (or even URC) rugby. But it also boasts the likes of Richmond, Caldy and Ampthill who are part-time. It tends to be a battle of the haves and have-nots, with those less fortunate focusing on survival.

Blackheath squad (Nicholas King)

How will Blackheath approach things? “The first board meeting following promotion, we said we will remain a semi-professional club,” explains Fleming. “We’ve been on the recruitment path trying to attract players of the quality but who will fit our culture. Any new guy needs to blend in with us. It is really clear what is ahead. You have the likes of Ealing and Worcester. They will be learning experiences off the field, how they run, and on the field. You just hope it’s not too much of a lesson!

“Where we must 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 said nothing is off the table this year because survival is the main goal,” adds Ticehurst. “Whether that is borrowing PREM players if offered, sure, but we will repeatedly come back to the culture and not do it if it’s to its detriment. We’ve seen this with clubs around us where it works and where it does not.

“There is plenty of experience coming into the club, but that culture is going to be the way we survive next year. We are 12 games unbeaten but we’re going to have to start getting used to losses. See how the boys deal with a loss at home or a proper thrashing. It’s exciting and it’s when you learn about your team and your club. We have no intention of getting relegated.”

Champions Cup rugby is five years time?

And what do the players and coaches think of this? Stradwick tells us he has an idea of success in his head but isn’t comfortable sharing that with us. Harding chimes in that it’s playing Champions Cup rugby in five years’ time. 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 team’s spirit. A desire to win more than the opposition rather than raw talent or resources. Lots of team socials in Blackheath and beyond last season proved to the club faithful that this team is tightly knit. And while you can have the odd stardust player like Sam Morley at fly-half, once of Exeter, it will be the bond that gets them through.

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He shoots, he scores (Nicholas King)

“This season we won’t have the biggest budget and we’re not full-time. But we can have the best culture. Making sure boys turn up and feel like they belong,” Stradwick affirms. “If your club is doing that, then you will head in the right direction. Bill has done an amazing job at building that, ensuring those behaviours with his leadership team.

“Reality will sink in quickly but this is an exciting place to be at the moment. The reality of the opportunity ahead of us this year is that it’s not a daunting prospect. Ask any player at the beginning of this year that they’d have a chance at Champ Rugby and they would have bitten your hand off. The club is on the up and going in the right direction.”

Exciting times indeed for rugby lovers in this part of South-East London, but could things get even better? As English domestic rugby enters its franchising era, PREM bigwigs 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 into with your wealthy consortium, and with visions of entering English rugby’s top flight, how about a club that is the oldest in the world, steeped in history, with an active fanbase and zero competition for fans or academy talent for miles around? If you’re reading this and have a few bob to spare, James Fleming and Russell Ticehurst would love to take you for a coffee.