Description Available in: Bristol Bears (officially Bristol Rugby Club) is an English professional rugby union club based in Bristol, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby.
The club was founded as Bristol Football Club in 1888; between 1921 and 2014 Bristol's home matches were played at the Memorial Ground and since 2014 Bristol plays its home matches at Ashton Gate Stadium in the south-west of the city. The current head coach is Pat Lam who was appointed in 2017.
The club announced a new nickname of Bears to be used from 1 June 2018; between 2001 and 2005 the club were known as Bristol Shoguns due to a sponsorship deal with Mitsubishi.
Bristol won the 1983 John Player Cup and have also won England's second division four times, most recently in 2017–18.