Good Luck to the England Tug of War Teams at the 2019 British and Irish Tug of War Championships
This weekend, the British and Irish Outdoor Tug of War Championships take place in Northern Ireland. The British and Irish Tug of War Championships first took place in 2016 and superseded what was previously the United Kingdom Tug of War Championships after the competition was expanded to include the Republic of Ireland.
The competition sees each nation enter A and B teams into each weight category which are as follows:
- Men 600kg and 680kg
- Ladies 520kg and 560kg
- Mixed 580kg
- Junior Men 560kg
- Junior Ladies 520kg
- Junior Mixed 560kg
In addition to A and B teams, the home nations are also allowed to enter “C” teams comprising solely of pullers aged under 23 in the ladies 520kg, Men 600kg and Mixed 580kg. It is always a tough competition, with all of the UK and Ireland nations having a strong presence in international tug of war over many years, wining numerous gold, silver and bronze medals in various weight categories over the years.
The international competitions will take place on Friday 9 August, with the open club competitions taking place on Saturday 10 August.
This year, the following clubs have qualified to represent England at the British and Irish Championships:
Men 600kg:
England A will be represented by Oxney Vines Cross who qualified after winning the gold medal in this weight category at the 2019 National Outdoor Tug of War Championships in June. Oxney also won the 560kg weight class and bronze in the 680kg weight class. Oxney have yet to win a gold medal in the British and Irish Championships, however the club has won numerous gold medals in the former UK Outdoor Championships at 600kg and 680kg.
You can follow the Oxney Vines Cross mens team on Facebook and Twitter
England B will be represented by Upper Eden Tug of War Club. This team formed in late 2016 and this will be the first time that the club will be representing England in their own right. Upper Eden qualified for the event after winning silver in the mens 600kg at the 2019 National Outdoor Tug of War Championships, where they also won silver in the mens 560kg weight class.
You can follow Upper Eden Tug of War Club on Facebook and Instagram
Men 680kg
England A will be represented by Lincoln who qualified after winning the gold medal in this weight category at the 2019 National Outdoor Tug of War Championships in June. Lincoln also won gold in the catchweight and silver at 720kg and 640kg. Lincoln have represented England A at the previous 3 British and Irish Championships, winning gold on each occasion. Lincoln also won the last UK Championship at 680kg in 2015.
You can follow Lincoln Tug of War Club on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
England B will be represented by Felton Eccles who won silver medal in this weight category at the 2019 National Outdoor Tug of War Championships in June. Felton Eccles last won gold in the British and Irish Championships in 2017, when the represented England A in the 600kg weight class. In 2018, Felton Eccles represented England B at the British and Irish Championships where they won the silver medal. Prior to the formation of the British and Irish Championships, Felton Eccles won gold medals at the UK Championships over the course of various seasons at both 600kg and 680kg.
You can follow Felton Eccles Tug of War Club on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
Ladies 520kg
England A will be represented by Bedford Ladies, who qualified for the event after winning all four ladies weight categories at the 2019 National Outdoor Tug of War Championships. Bedford Ladies have yet to win gold in the British and Irish Championships, however the team has won previous gold medals at the previous UK Outdoor Tug of War Championships, last winning gold in 2014.
You can follow Bedford Ladies Tug of War Club on Facebook, 
Twitter and Instagram
England B will this year be represented by a composite team made up of pullers from a variety of clubs after other teams that were eligible were either representing in other weight classes or were unable to participate.
Ladies 560kg
England A will be represented by Haldon Ladies who qualified for the event after winning the silver medal in this weight class at the 2019 National Outdoor Tug of War Championships in June and Bedford Ladies as gold medallists elected to represented England at 520kg. Haldon also won silver in the 540kg and 520kg competitions and were also eligible to represent England B in the 520kg competition if they wished to do so. Haldon Ladies have represented England in the ladies 560kg at the previous three British and Irish Championship events, finishing 4th in 2016, but winning gold in 2017 and 2018. Haldon Ladies first started regularly competing on the TOWA circuit in 2016 after making the step up from Young Farmers competition.
England B will be represented by Oxney Vines Cross Ladies. Oxney Ladies formed towards the end of 2018 and put in some brave performances at the National Championships to win bronze in the 560kg and silver in the 500kg. After Bedford Ladies had elected to represent at 520kg, this meant that the England A and B teams could be formed by the silver and bronze medal winning teams in the ladies 560kg and so Oxney Vines Cross Ladies qualified to represent England for the first time in their first season which is a fantastic achievement.
You can follow Oxney Vines Cross Ladies on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
Mixed 580kg (teams of 4 men and 4 ladies)
England A will be represented by Lincoln who won gold in this weight class at the 2019 National Outdoor Tug of War Championships in June with second claim ladies pullers from Bedford Ladies. Lincoln have represented England in this weight class for the past 4 seasons, however have missed out on gold on each occasion to the other England team representing in this weight category.
England B will be represented by Upper Eden who won silver in this weight class at the 2019 National Outdoor Tug of War Championships in June. This will be the first time that Upper Eden have represented England in this weight class in their own right, however the Upper Eden mixed team has medalled in the mixed weight class at the national championships over the past 3 seasons and also won silver in the mixed 580kg open competition at the 2018 British and Irish Championships.
The Tug of War Association would like to wish everyone travelling to the British and Irish Championships this weekend the very best of luck and we hope you can come back with some medals - and most importantly that you all enjoy and learn from the experience.
