A year later they played their first game in their well-known red and black colours.
A three-year unbeaten run from 1879 included winning the Midlands Counties Challenge Cup.
The club provided the backbone of the Great Britain side which took the silver medal at the 1900 Olympic Games at Paris, albeit they played just one game losing to the host nation 27-8.
They acquired the freehold of their ground, the Reddings, in 1925.
And their best spell came in the late 1960s to the early 1980s.
Four-time National Cup finalists
They reached the English Knock-Out Cup final on three occasions, finally winning it on a shared basis with Gloucester in 1982 when the rivals were all square after extra time.
When league rugby was introduced in 1987, Moseley were placed in the top level – National Division One.
But they were relegated in 1991.
After stretching their resources in the early days of professionalism, they went into administration and had to sell the Reddings.
A temporary home was found at Birmingham University before new headquarters at Billesley Common were secured.
Bouncing back from relegation and administration
Relegated from the second tier in 2003, Birmingham returned after winning the National One title and remained in the Championship for 10 years.
They changed their name to Birmingham Moseley in 2016.
And then avoided the drop in April 2019 when they beat relegation rivals Caldy 12-10 in the last game of the season.
Over the years, 34 players have had international honours while playing for Moseley.
Rams faced Moseley for the first time in the 2019/20 season.
Both games were crackers, resulting in a 25-21 home win and a 29-27 success away when Drew Humberstone’s last-gasp penalty secured victory.
After Covid cancelled the following campaign, the two sides belatedly locked horns in February 2022, the scheduled fixture in November called off due to snow.
Split results in 2022/23
Rams picked up a 26-5 away win with one of their best displays of the season, before Mose turned the tables to record a 27-26 success at Old Bath Road.
The home side avenged that defeat as they started the National One campaign in fine fashion in the following campaign, earning a 50-25 victory.
But they were made to work extremely hard, Rams only getting over the line at Billesley Common when Max Hayman completed a hat-trick to seal a 24-21 triumph.
Atkins’ debut delight
On the opening day of the 2023/24 season, Rams hit back from 22-7 down to win a thriller 50-36 at OBR.
Debutant Ben Atkins bagged a brace, but Mose won 39-31 away to conclude the campaign.
Rams took the spoils 24-7 at home in October 2024 as Tomek Pozniak, Ryan Lomas, Zach Clow and Robbie Stapley touched down in a bonus-point success, but they were beaten 19-0 away in the reverse to end a streak of scoring in 382 matches dating back to February, 2009.
Cooke leads Rams to home victory
Seb Reynolds’ side edged past their visitors 31-28 back in October 2025.
Moseley took the lead through a converted Sam McNulty score, but Rams led 21-7 at the break as wings Luke Graham (two) and Charlie Robson dotted down.
Yet the scores were level seven minutes into the second half as Tighe Maxwell-Whiteley maintained his perfect record from the tee after Morgan Dawes and Ollie Stedman crossed.
Cooke slotted a penalty and then added to a Hayman score to make it 31-21, Will Safe’s final-lay seven-pointer too little, too late.
But Birmingham gained their revenge with a 31-24 victory at Billesley Common back in January.
Jack Jolly converted tries from Aquile Smith and Elliott Creed to put Mose 14-0 up, before Rams replied as Cooke added to a Clow score.
Callum Allen grabbed two seven-pointers either side of the break for 28-7, but again the visitors rallied.
Rowan Grundy crossed before Hayman powered over out wide before Lamb slotted a super touchline conversion.
And Willo Bicknell then made it a four-point game, only for Tommy Taylor’s penalty to seal the deal for the home side.
*A reminder for travelling supporters – Saturday’s game has a slightly later 3.30pm kick-off.
