The Chicago Lions Rugby Club (formerly known as the Chicago Rugby Football Club) was initially founded by William Walker in 1964 with the help of the Honorable Philip G.D. Adams and the Chicago Rugby Clubs first coach, Peter Wood. Some of the original players included Mike Bansley, Peter Boland, Sandy Campbell, Terry Ellis, Pat Halperin and George Kearney.

The Chicago Rugby Club played on the Northside of Chicago against multiple club and collegiate teams. In 1965 Dick Smith, a securities broker, was elected president of the Lions and immediately started working towards a better future for the club.

The club was renamed the Chicago Lions Rugby Club and a tradition of hard work and perseverance was born. By 1966 the Lions presented a formidable force going undefeated in nineteen straight matches. An intimidating black and white kit influenced by the All Blacks, paired with a determination to dominate, set the Lions apart from the competition quickly as the Lions walked away with the first and second Mid-American Cups (1968).

The Lions went back in 1970 to claim another title after returning from a successful English tour the season before. In 1972 the Lions claimed their fourth title with Mike King leading the team on the pitch and Dick Smith leading from the front.

The 1973 team competed with the Northhampton Saints and Cirencester RFC on their home pitch. Led by Lawrence Kinet, the club ventured on their third European tour to Scotland and England. First year President Bob Avery, along with the help of Captain Lawrence Kinet, overtook the Midwest competition again that year as the Lions earned their fifth Mid-American Cup.

The next year the Lions were back to stand again and hold their sixth Mid-American Cup, their third in a row (1972-1974). 1976 saw the club’s first victory over a foreign side when the Chicago Lions handed Bingley RFC from England a defeat of 19-9. From 1976-1983, a huge part of the Lions success came from their leader and president J. Tyke Nollman, whose administrative skills led the Lions to the forefront of USA Rugby. A fourth tour to England in 1977 saw the Lions facing off against English and Irish sides. During this time the first USA XV team was making a similar trek across the Atlantic to face England’s national side. At the end of the ‘78 season, the Lions traveled to the Cayman Islands.

In 1980, four international teams were invited to come to Chicago. Monkstown Ireland RFC, Streatham Croyden from England, the University College of Dublin from Ireland, and the historic South African team the Mbabalas, which was the first all-black team allowed to tour in the USA from South Africa. The summer tour schedule contained four tough regional sides along with an opening game where the Lions faced the Pretoria Harlequins in a Springbok vs British and Irish Lions pre-match.

During the fall of 1981, South Africa and Ireland clubs both visited the Lions, and the 81’ season closed out with a social tournament in Barbados. 1982 Captain Gary Larson led the Lions to Nationals where the club took 4th, losing to four-time national champions Old Blue of Berkeley, California. The same year the Lions old boys and alumni decided to start a branch of Lions to participate in social tournaments, and named the team The School Street Fat Cats. Qualification for a Fat Cats side required each player to be over 200 lbs, with one payer on each Fat Cats side allowed to be under 200 lbs. Another Fat Cats rule was that all players wore number 6, in honor of the late Mark Swinney.

The Spring of 1983 saw the Lions captaincy shift to Paul McNaughton, a former Ireland National team member. McNaughton brought the ‘83 season to an end with the Lions 10th Mid-American Cup, but then lost to Berkeley Old Blue in Nationals. In 1984 the club once again retained the Mid-American Cup under new Lions Head Coach, Australian Geoff Schweger. The Lions moved on to the National Championship but lost to the Dallas Harlequins, placing the club in 3rd in the nation for the second season in a row. A second tour to South Africa was planned and formalized for the 1985 season. The next couple of years would be a slow build for the Lions as the 80’s era was closed out. A group of Lions began playing in 7s tournaments in the mid to late 1980’s as 7s was slowly starting to gain traction in the USA.

The young core of the late 1980’s started to come into their own in the 1990’s. It started on the 7s pitch with the Lions led by Jeff Simon and Rich Hughes, winning their first Midwest 7s Championship and finishing 7th in the nation. This success carried over to 15s and in the fall of 1990 the Lions regained the Midwest Championship, which they won again in 1991.

At the 1991 and 1992 Nationals, the Lions came up short and finished 4th. The Lions lost a heartbreaker to Washington in overtime at the 1991 Nationals in San Diego. The spring of 1991 saw Melrose RFC tour the USA and play the Lions. The Lions went on tour for the 1991 World Cup to England and Scotland and played at the famous Melrose pitch. The Lions lost a tough Midwest Championship in 1993. The next season the 1994 Lions made it to the semis of the Mid-Western Championship, and in 1995 lost in the finals. The Lions squad went to Northampton, England in March of 1995.

1996 saw the beginning of the idea and the development of the USA Super League. This season, the Lions Club decided their goal should ultimately be the National Championship, not just the Mid-western Championship. In 1997, the USA Super League brought an entirely new competition to focus on. The normal Fall 15’s schedule fell to the background with the Lions concentrating on the USA Super League competition. The Fall 15’s still played the normal schedule, but the Lions could not advance further than the Midwest completion. Fall 15’s turned to friendly matches with the real bouts happening in the Spring Sup League schedule.

In 1997 the founding 14 premier clubs in the nation competed. The Lions new head coach Marty Wiggins and Captain Mark Santiago quickly realized what they were up against as they lost all of their scheduled games. This was the trend for the next two years as the Lions finished with losing records for the ‘98 and ‘99 seasons.

A key development of the 1990’s was Mark Kaufman starting Athletico Physical Therapy in 1991. Mark and Athletico are the Lions longest standing sponsor relationship.

The new century breathed fresh air into the Lions as they finished their spring season 4 – 3, their first winning record. And they had their first win on the road as they beat Philadelphia in Philadelphia. In 2001, the Lions reached the playoffs for the first time, before being defeated by OMBAC in the first round. In 2002 the Lions saw frustration again when they did not make it into the playoffs. Focus turned to the international match of USA vs. Canada, which would be held in Chicago. The Lions boasted not only three players on the USA side, but also a fellow Lion as the manager of the USA’s rugby team.

In 2003 the Lions made it to the semi-finals before OMBAC once again took the air out of the Lions roar. In 2004 the Lions had an unsuccessful season and did not make it to the playoffs. In 2005, the Lions traveled to Belmont Shore for the championship tournament. This year they defeated Golden Gate in the quarter finals before being knocked out by that year’s National Champions, Belmont Shore, in the semi-finals. The semi-finals seemed to be the Lions fateful road block as 2006 saw OMBAC once again defeat the Chicago Lions in the semi- finals of the playoff tournament.

The Lions 7’s side made it to the finals of the National Championship, but lost in the final. During 2007 RWC Head Coach Marty Wiggins took the Club to France to experience the spectacle in preparation for the season.

The next spring of 2007, the Chicago Lions could smell victory but lost in a close battle to Belmont Shore to become the national Super league runner up. This carried onto the 7s pitch where the Lions won their first ever National Championship led by Aaron Mannheimer.

From 2008 through 2010, the Lions would appear in the Super League Championship, but would not make it past the quarterfinal round.

The 2011 USA Super League Championship did not bear fruit for the Lions. That summer however, Aaron Manheimer led the team on and off the field as the Chicago Lions won the Midwest title. During this time, the 7’s season was becoming a more serious for many players.

In 2012 the undefeated 7’ won in the MW. The Lions made the National semi-finals, but lost to OPSB. In 2011, the Chicago Lions Charitable Association was created by Keith Brown with the help of Patrick O’Reilly. Jeff Simon became the President. The mission was to support the growth of youth and amateur rugby. Today, it continues its mission with countless other successes. 2013 Head Coach Jeremy Nash took over with an excellent MW season and went on to take 4th at the National tournament. 2014, MW Champions took bottom 8 at Nationals.

In 2015, Men barely qualified for Nationals as the 2nd MW seed, and ended up finishing 5th at Nationals. As 2016 MW Champions, they took 4th place in Nationals (2015-2019). The Men’s XVs program took a pre-season trip to Houston in February 2018. Coach Clancy took a select side comprised mostly of Lions to face the MLR Sabretooth squad. The Lions then went on to win the Midwest beating Kansas City, but lost to Life University in the National semi-finals. In 2019 Head Coach Dave Clancy started the season undefeated. The Men’s Team won the Midwest division beating Columbus, but the final championship never happened because of COVID. In 2019, the Lions won the Women’s and Men’s Midwest Championships in both 15s and 7s, an unprecedented accomplishment in American rugby.

The 2020’s were marked by the start of COVID, which wiped out a chance to compete in Nationals for both the Men and Women. The Men’s XV’s team struggled coming out of COVID and were unable to reclaim the Midwest Championship.

The team had a strong 2024 spring led by head Coach Luke Lewis and Director of Rugby, Matt Wagner, and look forward to taking the Midwest Crown back this fall. The Men’s 7s program continued their success and under Coach Matt Wagner, won the National Championship in 2021. The team returned to the Nationals in 2022 and 2023.