About the club

We are the rugby club in Didsbury, Manchester - one of the few clubs still located in the city of Manchester. 

Each week we put out 4 teams, our 1st team plays in North Lancashire & Cumbria while our 2nds 3rds and 4ths play in competitive "intermediate leagues". We also have an established junior section.

The club is located in the heart of Didsbury Village, South Manchester, close to neighbouring areas Withington, Fallowfield, Burnage, and Stockport.

Thanks to our great location we are minutes walk from the many bars of Didsbury, and one of the main arterial bus routes into the city. We are just a short distance from the motorway network (M56 and M60) and the University campuses in Fallowfield and Manchester city centre.

We are famous for our friendly atmosphere, our beautiful riverside location and our annual ten-a-side competition which takes place in May. Founded in 1924 as Toc H Manchester, the club celebrated its 80th anniversary in 2003/2004. 

Toc H has strong links with the local community in Didsbury and South Manchester. Many of our players were born and raised in the area and have come through our long established junior and colts teams or from our links into local schools such as Beaver Road, Elm Grove and Parrs Wood.
However we also have a large number of players that have moved to Manchester or Stockport for university or work and after searching for a welcoming rugby club have discovered Didsbury Toc H for themselves or through friends.  

The club also has a very cosmopolitan feel. Over the years we have welcomed many players from Scotland, Wales, Ireland, even Southerners. We also attract guys from Oz, New Zealand, the Pacific Islands, Canada and the US, and we have sent a few the other way too. Other nationalities that have made a lasting impression are the current French imports, plus Italians and the Japanese.  

Rugby is an great social sport, drinking with your team mates in the bar afterwards is almost as important as training and playing together, and Didsbury rugby club is one of the friendliest clubs around. Because we run so many teams we welcome players of any kind. From the most serious and ambitious to those that just want a way to keep fit and meet new friends.  

Would you like to join us?

Why TOC H?

During the First World War, a soldier's club was established by the Reverend Tubby Clayton at Poperinghe in Flanders, a place where troops of all ranks could go for a brief respite from the battlefields. It was named Talbot House, as a memorial to a young lieutenant killed in action in one of the many conflicts in the previous year. TOC H was the way the signallers pronounced the letters T H, the initials for Talbot House. TOC for T and H for House as in todays TANGO HOTEL. After the war the organisation continued using the name Toc H setting up a number of similar houses - called marks - throughout the country. In 1924 members of the Manchester mark of Toc H formed a rugby club, calling it Toc H Manchester and was situated in Victoria Park. After moving to various sites the club arrived in Didsbury and in 1986 the name was changed to DIDSBURY TOC H to identify with the location of the clubhouse.

Click here for more information on Talbot House.

Click here for a map

From the M56 towards Manchester.

The road becomes the A5103. Follow the road to the first set of traffic lights, get in the right hand lane and follow directions for Didsbury along the A5145. Follow the road into Didsbury and at the traffic lights turn right onto Wilmslow Road. After approx. 1/4 mile turn right at the next set of traffic lights near the Shell petrol station onto Dene Road, then immediately left onto Ford lane. Follow the road bearing left all the way until you go down a small hill, the club entrance is on the left into a blind gateway.

From Stockport along the M60.

Turn off the motorway at junction 1 and take the signs for Didsbury along the A5145, (the third turning off the roundabout). Follow this road until reaching Parrs Wood Lane and a set of traffic lights at the A34. Go straight across, passing Tesco's on the right and turn right at the next junction. Continue on this road (Wilmslow Road) until reaching a set of traffic lights just before a Shell garage. Turn left at these lights onto Dene Road and take the first left onto Ford Lane. Follow the road bearing left all the way until you go down a small hill, the club entrance is on the left into a blind gateway.

If you get completely lost, call the club-house on 0161 4462146.

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