Mounts Bay Rugby Football Club

Mounts Bay Rugby Football Club was a British rugby union club based in Penzance, Cornwall. Founded in December 1999, Mounts Bay RFC had a very successful career, winning eight promotions in nine seasons and climbing all the way to National Division Two, but was forced to fold in 2009 due to financial problems.

An earlier Mounts Bay RFC was founded in 1945 as an under-18s side associated with Cornwall's most successful rugby union club, the Penzance and Newlyn RFC, also known as the Cornish Pirates. This early Mounts Bay RFC was eventually renamed the Pirates Colts during the 1960s and is still in existence as the Pirates' youth team.

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The modern Mounts Bay RFC was originally established as an offshoot of the Cornish Pirates and shared both the Pirates name and the home ground of Mennaye Field in Penzance. Bay began play in the 2000-01 season in the Cornwall Two division. Their first game was a crushing 55-5 win over St. Agnes, and they went on to win the division and promotion to Cornwall One. They played the next two seasons in Cornwall One, narrowly missing another division win in 2001 and then winning promotion in 2002 after coming in second and winning a play-off. 2002 also saw them as runners-up to the Cornwall Rugby Football Union's Clubs Cup.

Bay started the 2003 season in the Devon and Cornwall division and continued their winning ways, coming in first in the division and earning another promotion, although they were only able to make it to the semifinals of the Powergen Junior Vase, losing a heartbreaker to North Ribbesdale in extra time. Undaunted, Bay went on to win three more divisions and three more promotions in a row: Western Counties West in 2004, South-West Two in 2005, and South-West One in 2006, earning a spot in the Nationals. Along the way, Mounts Bay also captured the EDF Energy Intermediate Cup in during the 2006-07 season and the Cornwall Super Cup in 2007-08.

Mounts Bay dominated National Division Three South in the 2007-08 season, losing only two games and earning yet another promotion. However, in 2008, National Division Two proved too much of a challenge for Bay. The side did poorly on the pitch, attendance dropped off, and their head coach resigned. Bay had also been funded through the generosity of its sponsors and its supporters club, the Boarding Party, rather than depending on its own assets. When the economy went sour, donations stopped coming in. Coupled with the shrinking attendance, this meant financial ruin, and the club ended up almost £26,000 in debt and facing relegation.

While a plan to save the club by sharing players with nearby Redruth was floated, the details could not be worked out in time to meet the deadline set by the Rugby Football Union. At the club's annual general meeting in July 2009, members voted to close the club rather than face administration.