Stade Français Paris Rugby is a French professional rugby union club based in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. The club plays in the Top 14 domestic league in France and is one of the most successful French clubs of the modern era; the original Stade Français was founded in 1883. In its current form, the club was founded in 1995 with the merger of the rugby sections of the Stade Français and Club Athlétique des Sports Généraux, its traditional home is Stade Jean-Bouin, though the club has played some home games at the 80,000-seat Stade de France, taking anywhere from two to five matches to the larger venue each season since 2005–06. From 2010 to 2013, the team played temporarily at the 20,000-capacity Stade Charléty in Paris to allow a new stadium to be built at the Jean-Bouin site; the team participated in the first French championship final in 1892, went on to win numerous titles during the early 1900s. Stade Français spent about 50 years in the lower divisions of French rugby, until entrepreneur Max Guazzini took over in 1992, overseeing a rise to prominence, which saw the team returning to the elite division in just five seasons, capture four French championships in seven years.
After a financial crisis plagued the club in 2011, Guazzini sold a majority stake and stepped down as club president. From 2009 to 2015, the team struggles. 2015 marked a rebirth for them, as the team reached the final phases and won three games in row, against Racing Métro and Clermont and won Top 14. Stade Français was established in 1883 by a group of students in Paris. On 20 March 1892 the USFSA organised the first French rugby union championship, a one-off game between Racing Club de France and Stade Français; the game was refereed by Pierre de Coubertin and saw Racing win 4–3. However the club were able to make up for the loss the next season when the two teams met again in the final, with Stade Français winning 7 points to 3; the team became a powerful side in the competition, featuring in every championship in succession until 1899, successful in 1894, 1895, 1897 and 1898. From 1899 through to the 1908 season Stade Français would contest the championship final on seven occasions against Stade Bordelais, winning in 1901 and again in 1908.
Stade Français defeated SOE Toulouse in the 1903 season in Toulouse. Following a vast amount of success during the early years of the domestic league, after 1908 Stade Français would not make another final appearance until the 1927 season, when they were defeated by Toulouse 19 points to 9 in Toulouse. Stade Français would go onto spend over fifty years in the lower divisions of French rugby. While in the third division of the French leagues, entrepreneur Max Guazzini took over the club in 1992 with the dream of bringing back top class rugby to the city of Paris. Stade Français CASG was born in 1995 through the merger of the existing Stade Français club and another Parisian side, Club Athlétique des Sports Généraux; the team returned to the top division in 1995 which coincided with the appointment of head coach Bernard Laporte. By 1998 the team had reached the championship final, captured their first title since 1908, defeating Perpignan 34 points to 7 at Stade de France. Laporte left the club to coach the national team, he was replaced by Georges Coste, in turn replaced by John Connolly in 2000.
Connolly took the club to their first Heineken Cup final in May 2001, where they were defeated by the Leicester Tigers 34 points to 30 at Parc des Princes. Connolly was replaced by South African Nick Mallet. Stade Français won the domestic league again in both 2003 and 2004. During the 2004–05 season Stade Français went close to winning both the French league and the Heineken Cup, but lost both finals. Mallett soon returned home to South Africa and former Stade Français player and national captain Fabien Galthié was appointed head coach. Stade won the 2006 -- 07 championship; the club faced serious financial issues during the 2010–11 season due to the failure of an affiliated advertising company. In early June 2011, Stade Français temporarily avoided an administrative relegation to the amateur Fédérale 1 league when Guazzini announced a deal by which an unnamed investor, working through a Canada-based foundation, would purchase a majority stake in the club. However, the deal collapsed with at least three people linked to the deal arrested.
On the deadline set by France's professional league for a resolution of the club's situation, Guazzini announced a new deal, in which Jean-Pierre Savare, chairman of French security systems company Oberthur Technologies, purchased a controlling stake in the club. Guazzini stepped down as president in favour of Savare's son Thomas, remaining with the club as honorary president. After six years of presidency, Thomas Savare hands over to Hans-Peter Wild; the arrival and rescue of the Swiss businessman puts an end to a long story in Paris marked by the aborted merger with rival Racing 92 in March 2017. The new owner of Stade Français Paris is a rugby lover, a sport he himself practiced and promoted in his country. Upon his arrival, Dr. Hans-Peter Wild presents his project to the media. A 5-year project with the training of young French players as a priority and at the end of which he wants to hoist the Parisian club again among the European leaders; when he became President, Max Guazzini knew that he had to get people talking about his club for it to develop in a city as anonymous as Paris, with so few rugby fans and so little attachment to any club.
Little by little, through savvy media coups highl
Purmandal is a village located on the Devika River in Samba district and Kashmir, India. The village and its temples are a pilgrimage site for Hindus, who believe bathing in the river cleanses the soul. Purmandal is located on the banks of the Devika River in the hills about 30 kilometres southeast of Jammu and about 25 kilometres northwest of Samba by road via Vijaypur. Devika runs down from Purmandal to Uttarvehni through village Mandal. Uttarvehni in local dialect means flowing towards north, it is one of the rare places. Rameshwaram and Bhuteshawar are ancient temples in Mandal. Purmandal Temple, dedicated to Parvati, is built on the west bank of the river. A number of other temples are dedicated to Shiva. There is a large haveli dating from about 1830, in good condition, several dharamshalas severely deteriorated. Many of these structures are decorated with murals dating from between 1813 and 1898. Buses connect the village to Jammu; every month a Mela is organized here. The devotees seek blessings.
There are total 12 Mela in a year. Every Mela has assigned a unique name corresponding to the month, i.e. Chaitra Chaudish, Shivraatri Mela, etc
Merton College Boat Club is a rowing club for members of Merton College, Oxford. It was established in 1838 and competes every year in Torpids and Summer Eights, the intercollegiate bumps races at the University of Oxford, as well as external regattas; the club shares a boat house with Worcester College Boat Club on Boathouse Island, on the northern bank of the Isis. Merton College Boat Club is run by a junior committee of current students at Merton who are guided by a Senior Member, a current fellow of Merton; the committee reports to The Friends of Merton College Boat Club, a group of ex-rowers and alumni helping and supporting the boat club. Old members race every now and on an ad-hoc basis as Merton Gannets, an alumni boat club, founded in the 1950s. According to the Club archives, the boathouse, still in use today, was finished in 1949 and is the last in the row of college boathouses built in the distinctive brick style mirroring the first boathouse built on the Isis stretch by Christ Church College in the 1920s.
Plans are under way to extend the boathouse and funds are being raised for the project. According to the archives, Merton competed at Henley, winning at least two events, namely the Visitor's Challenge Cup, for coxless fours at the time, in 1920 and 1956. Additionally, Merton reached the final in the Ladies Challenge Plate in 1920. One member, Mr J L Bland, rowed in the Grand Challenge Cup winning OUBC/Thames Tradesmen's Rowing Club crew of 1982. Merton College Boat Club has fielded numerous ‚Blues’. During the last ten years, Merton has produced more female crewmembers representing the university than any other college. Members of the club have taken on the role as president in both the Oxford University Lightweight Rowing Club and the Oxford University Women’s Lightweight Rowing Club multiple times in the recent past. Merton College Boat Club website Oxford Torpids and Summer Eights bumps charts