Exeter Chiefs

Exeter Chiefs

Exeter Chiefs are an English professional rugby union club based in Exeter, Devon. They play in Premiership Rugby, England’s top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1871 and changed their name from Exeter Rugby Club to Exeter Chiefs in 1999. Exeter are the only club to win the top four tiers of English rugby, winning the Premiership in 2017 and 2020.

About Exeter Chiefs in brief

Summary Exeter ChiefsExeter Chiefs are an English professional rugby union club based in Exeter, Devon. They play in Premiership Rugby, England’s top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1871 and changed their name from Exeter Rugby Club to Exeter Chiefs in 1999. Exeter are the only club to win the top four tiers of English rugby, winning the Premiership in 2017 and 2020, RFU Championship in 2010, National League 1 in 1997 and National League 2 South in 1996. In October 2020, the Chiefs won the Champions Cup, the top prize in European club rugby union, for the first time, defeating French club Racing 92 in the final. In 1905, Exeter hosted the first match played by the New Zealand national rugby union team on English soil and in the Northern Hemisphere at the County Ground between New Zealand and the Devon County XV. In 2016, the club’s fans were called upon to change their behavior over concerns that it could be considered an offensive appropriation of Native American culture.

A petition gained more than 550 signatures in a week, with Exeter’s Labour MP, Ben Bradshaw, also publicly backing the move. By 29 July the petition had gained 3,700 signatures and the issue was considered by the Exeter Board of Directors, they decided their branding was ‘highly respectful’ but retired their mascot Big Chief which ‘could be regarded as disrespectful’ The current head coach is Rob Baxter who was appointed in March 2009. In their first season in the Heineken Cup, they were drawn against Clermont Auvergne, Leinster and Welsh Scarlets in the group stage. They also made their debut in the European Challenge Cup, making their way to the quarter finals where they lost to Stade Français. They have won the Anglo-Welsh Cup twice and the European Rugby Champions Cup once, in 2020.