Rugby clubs recruiting players in England
9 clubs in England are recruiting through Rugby Unlocked, with 4 open vacancies right now. 6 offer housing, 1 helps with visas and 9 help players find work. Every club below has a public profile you can read before you apply. Applying is free for players.
Playing club rugby in England
- Season
- September to April. National League 2 East, for example, runs from 5 September 2026 to April 2027 with fourteen clubs. The RFU's 2026/27 regulations took effect on 1 August 2026.
- Leagues
- Prem Rugby (10 clubs) and Champ Rugby (14) are professional. Below them: National 1 (14 clubs), three National 2 leagues of 14, six Regional 1 leagues of 12, twelve Regional 2 leagues of 12, then the Counties leagues. Only a club's first XV may play at Regional 1 and above.
- Visa
- A Standard Visitor (£135, up to six months) may join an amateur club to gain experience in a sport but cannot be paid or take work. Australians, New Zealanders and Canadians aged 18 to 30, or 35 for some countries, can use the Youth Mobility Scheme (£340 plus the health surcharge) to live and work for up to 24 months, though not as a professional sportsperson. Paid rugby needs the International Sportsperson route and a governing body endorsement.
- Registration
- No numeric cap on overseas players. Every player arriving from another union needs a Clearance to register. From National 2 upwards a player not born in the UK who is contracted or paid must show a visa permitting payment: an amateur visa is not sufficient. At Regional 1 and below an amateur needs no immigration documents unless asked.
- Clearance
- World Rugby Regulation 4: a player leaving one union to play in another cannot be registered or play until the new union has received a Clearance from the old one. Ask your current club and union for it before you travel; it stays valid until replaced by a later one.
England has more clubs at more levels than anywhere else on this site, and the level a club sits at decides what it can offer. National 1 and National 2 clubs pay, which is why the RFU checks visas there. Regional and Counties clubs are amateur in the rules and mostly amateur in practice; the offer is a squad place, help finding work and sometimes a room.
A player on a visitor visa can train and play as an amateur but cannot take a match fee, and a Youth Mobility visa allows work but not professional sport. Get the club to say in writing which level it plays at and whether any payment is on the table, then match that to the visa before you fly.
Read on from RFU, Regulation 6 Appendix 2: men's competition structure (updated 30 July 2026), RFU, Regulation 14: adult player registration (effective 1 August 2026), GOV.UK, Standard Visitor visa, GOV.UK, Immigration Rules Appendix Visitor: permitted activities, GOV.UK, Youth Mobility Scheme visa, GOV.UK, Immigration Rules Appendix International Sportsperson, World Rugby, Regulation 4 (player movement and clearances).