Rugby Club Magazine issue 93

Welcome once again to the latest edition of Rugby Club Magazine.

Well we are here again at the start of another rugby season! Sport can be an oasis in the uncertainties of life! The odd curve ball, will inevitably be thrown at us from time to time, and who can argue that every generation and indivuidual has and will have their burden to bear!

Rugby Clubs are a safe place to visit amongst these challenges. I feel everybody that can, should try out their local club, and experience human conection and support at many times extraordinary levels.

In the mean while i present to you the 93rd edition of our magazine , i hope you enjoy the insights we bring you and if your club has a story to share please dont hesitate to contact me directly.mbm@sportip.biz in Rugby Morgan

CONTENTS

Newton Abbott Rugby Football Club

Newton Abbot RFC is based in the heart of Devon within easy traveling distance of Torbay and Exeter.

Claverdon Rugby Football Club Steve Grimsley has been involved with Claverdon Rugby Club since 2004.

Faringdon Rugby Club

A great club to be part of! Lets take a look at this interesting club.

Northern Football Club Chatting to the Chairman, Richard Kain.

Avonmouth Old Boys Rugby Football Club

Learning more about this fantastic club.

Nottingham Moderns Rugby Football Club

A recent history past and present of this fine club.

Clifton Rugby Football Club Chatting to Aftab Hamid, Club Chairman.

Chelmsford Rugby Football Club Catching up with the latest celebrations and news from this amazing club.

Aspull Rugby Football Club Catching up Baz Bailey, the Club Chairman.

The Mighty Ducks of Rugby This is the Dartford Valley Rugby Football Club.

Tottonians Rugby Football Club Speaking with the Head Coach and Chairman

Gainsborough Rugby Football Club

Learning about this great club.

Beckenham Rugby Football Club Chatting to Laura Thompson, Chairwoman

Rochford Hundred Rugby Football Club Celebrating the Club’s 60th Birthday.

Streatham-Croydon Rugby Football Club Interviewing Freddy Green.

Old Caterhamians Rugby Football Club Learning about this great club.

Ealing Trailfinders

Talking to Simon Sinclair, Chief Operating Officer of Ealing Trailfinders Academy.

Southend Rugby Football Club

Chatting to Josh Ward, Director of Rugby

Newbury Rugby Football Club

Exploring some fantastic information about this club.

Banbury Rugby Union Interview with Matt Goode, Director of Rugby.

Exeter University Rugby Football Club

A fantastic club to be associated with.

Percy Park Rugby Football Club With four senior teams, including a Woman’s side playing in the National League, a comprehensive junior setup and celebrating 150 years of experience and tradition, Percy Park is one of Northumberland’s premier amateur rugby clubs.

Newton Abbot Rugby Football Club

Newton Abbot RFC is based in the heart of Devon within easy traveling distance of Torbay and Exeter. With some 19 teams of all ages, genders, and abilities, the club is one of the largest community clubs in the UK. Rugby Club Magazine has recently caught up with Club Chairman of the Directors Charles Baughan.

INVOLVEMENT

Charles told us,

“Having enjoyed Rugby at school and in the Royal Marines, I started playing for Newton Abbot some 40 years ago. I am delighted to have played a few games for the club in the same team as my son, proving Rugby really is a family event.

As chance happened my business is next door to the club, and my office has a great view of the front pitch. So, it was natural for my business to get involved, and

CURRENT CHALLENGES

“COVID has caused havoc with finances and disrupted many of the day-to-day routines that all clubs need. But it has also provided opportunities to review and strengthen the offer we can provide both to the club members and to our local community. At a time when finances were tight, how could we make the most of these

for the last four years I have been on Board of Directors to help the club meet the challenges that face many sporting clubs in the UK.”

WHAT NEXT “A lot of the improvements we have made are not immediately visible to visitors but these all help “make the boat go faster”, this includes removal of dangerous trees, better access for emergency vehicles, a new Tannoy system, a larger electrics supply, better drainage,

opportunities to improve the pitches, the safety of grounds, the club infrastructure and the amenities that are vital to a successful and busy club? And do this when face to face meetings were not possible.

However, as the restrictions of COVID fade, we have survived financially and are in a great place to develop further and look to the future.”

investment in pitches, a new tills system, I am sure many of these items will appear on most clubs “to do” list. Our largest investments however have been in new grounds care machinery, and a new 460-seater marquee. We

currently lease the pitches and wish to secure the freehold so we can invest further. The income we can generate from this extra hospitality space will hopefully make this possible. With either a long lease or the freehold in place we can

Are there any stars of the future in the Under 8 line up

look to the future, and we are already working on some exciting new plans to include a new club house, and allweather pitch.”

OUR PHILOSOPHY

“The financial pressure of COVID has helped us make one of the most significant changes to the culture and philosophy within the club. We had no option but to stop paying any players, we also needed to pool all the club accounts into a central account. This meant we started to operate as one club, with a top to bottom single approach. This was a huge move which concerned many members. To help this move we involved all the team coaches and adopted a #oneclub #onecommunity approach in all club matters.

The benefits of this are coming through daily. From the under 5/6 teams to our Senior teams everyone is playing in the same kit. It has sometimes been a challenge to retain players moving from Colts to Seniors however they train together with positive results. The same occurs with our U18 Girls training with the Ladies. We are all now operating under the same banner, this has helped with all communication across the many teams we have. This single initiative has helped younger players enjoy a smooth transition to the Senior game”

OUR LINKS WITH THE PAST

“Newton Abbot RFC was founded in 1873. Can you imagine the party we are

WHAT IS THE CURRENT MOOD AT THE CLUB?

“I am an optimist, but we are in a good place, and there is no reason to think why this should continue. We are winning on and off the pitch, and the speed of change means every time members visit the club there is something new to see. We are playing exciting rugby at all levels and forging new relationships and friends for life. The club is a good place to be.”

going to have next year as we celebrate our 150year history? The club has an “1873 club” which club members can join, there will be an obvious focus on this birthday next year.

Newton Abbot has its own main line railway station which means it is easily connected to the rest of the country. This has led to the club hosting some of the top international sides on their tours of the country, including the New Zealand All Blacks in 1905, 1924 and 1935, the South African Springboks in 1907, and Australia in 1908. Indeed, it was during their time at Newton Abbot that the Australian team gave themselves the nickname of the ‘Wallabies’ following questioning from a local reporter.”

HOW DOES THE CLUB CONTRIBUTE TO WIDER RUGBY COMMUNITY?

“The location of the club and the excellent access, makes the club an ideal venue for Rugby Festivals and Tournaments. The club also has the parking and hospitality to ensure that all ages can have a great day whatever the weather. Our large marquee is ideal for Devon RFU and other organisations to do regional training for example coach training and first aid training. We also welcome other clubs to join our internal club sessions. This is particularly applicable when clubs in the area are looking to consolidate numbers to form teams such as Juniors and Girls.

We offer touch rugby and will be looking to offer

walking rugby and maybe a Man v Fat Rugby team. We have a close working relationship with clubs like Exeter Chiefs, Plymouth Albion, and Devonport services we are very much part of the rugby family”.

HOW WAS LAST SEASON?

“It is great to be playing rugby again and the club had a successful season, with entertaining rugby at all levels, our Seniors won the immediate Devon Cup in a thrilling hard-fought battle against Kingsbridge. The reorganisation of clubs in the South West means we are going to be playing against tougher opposition and have in effect been promoted. There were other successes at all levels throughout the club, the excellent performances from both our boys’ and girls’ junior teams put the club in a strong position as we look ahead to next season.

COMMUNITY A KEY PART OF THE CLUB

“Community is at the heart of everything we do. I love the saying that it takes a whole village to bring up a child, and a Rugby club in my view can be a real part of that. Not only do we provide a safe and inclusive space where all our members are welcome, but under the watchful of our team coaches the club will give them guidance on standards on and off the pitch that will remain with them for the rest of their lives.

With 130,000 people within 12 miles of the club, 35,000 within walking distance and further 15,000 homes planned, the club is the perfect venue for events other than rugby.

These include Andy Mans Club, Active Devon, Devon County Council Families Early Help Group, The Free School Meals Initiative, RFU Families Fund, Hosting coaching for

Our Ladies know how to party

2022 End of Season Dinner and Dance

NATHAN YENDLE MARKETING DIRECTOR AT PRIORITY PIXELS

PARTNER OF NEWTON ABBOT RUGBY CLUB

Priority Pixels has been a proud Platinum Partner of Newton Abbot Rugby Club since April 2021, when we were first approached by the club about their partnership opportunities. After becoming an official Platinum Partner, we began assisting Newton Abbot Rugby Club with their social media and paid advertising – more specifically, we started helping the club

sell tickets to their community events and matches held throughout the year.

Following a series of triumphant events including a comedy night hosted by local legend Noel Brodie, a sold-out Octoberfest and an incredibly successful Bonfire Night, it was decided our team would take on Newton Abbot Rugby Club’s marketing full-time in January of this year.

Our relationship with Newton Abbot Rugby Club has only strengthened with time – and it’s been

enormously successful. We now care for all their branding and marketing needs, working closely with the club to ensure they maintain a consistent brand identity online across all their digital platforms, and in print. We’ve created a set of brand guidelines for the club, plan and manage their social media and newsletter and assist with all graphic design for the club’s print advertising. What’s more, in April 2022 I joined the Board of Directors in a Non-Executive capacity to assist the club with its marketing. Three months

later in July, I was voted onto the Board of Directors as Marketing Director.

Newton Abbot Rugby Club has been built on the core values that make rugby an enduring and popular sport for people all over the UK and abroad – community, integrity, discipline and sportsmanship. All activities at the club, including both their matches and community events, are governed by the principles of equal opportunity and inclusivity, meaning anybody can join in on the fun regardless of age, confidence level, experience or ability. Rufus, son of Paul Clapp who is a co-founder of Priority Pixels and our Creative Director, is a member of the Under 7s team and even won an award for completing the 2021/2022 season. An All White in the making?

Newton Abbot Rugby Club is dedicated to celebrating the vibrant spirit of the South West and meeting the diverse needs of our local community with their ethos #OneClub #OneCommunity. On behalf of the team at Priority Pixels, we’d like to say a resounding thank you to Newton Abbot Rugby Club for all they do.

The team at Priority Pixels continues to work closely with the club – we can’t wait to see where we go together next.

Local Scouts Sports Badges, School Holiday Sports Clubs, and many others.

The club provides the venue for the local business chamber to hold their popular monthly member meetings. It is surprising the amount of business and networking that is done over a pint at the end of the day.”

IMPORTANCE OF PARTNERS AND SPONSORS

“As we have increased the size and scope of the club, we have become very reliant on monthly reoccurring payments from our partners and sponsors. This is the lifeblood of the club, it is what makes the wheels go round, but we would do nothing if it was not for the volunteers and helpers who selflessly are contributing towards the vision of the club. Our management team are largely made up of people who are experienced in running business and giving value to their customers. We strive to ensure that ever year we give more value to our members and our community,

MIKE SAXTON DIRECTOR OF RUGBY

My journey with Newton Abbot Rugby Club started as a Player 20 years ago in 2002. Finishing school and starting work in the family business meant moving from Brixham to Newton Abbot, and coupled with my love for rugby, it made sense to join my local club; and that is where it all began!

As a junior player, I played my rugby at Teignmouth RFC in their mini’s as a 5 years old and then moved to Brixham to finish my junior rugby up to the age of 16. The Clubs are local rivals on the pitch, and I am fortunate to have many friends at both Teignmouth and Brixham RFC.

One of the challenges we face at Newton Abbot is aligning ourselves to share and contribute towards the vision and mission of the club. The current structure and commercial models are in their infancy, just completing their first full season now, since the changes over 3 years ago due to COVID, and we have found pulling in volunteers is proving harder as the years have gone on. Communicating is something that I know many clubs struggle with and we are no different. What is important is that we do recognise where we are on our journey and where we want to be. I guess I’m talking goals or targets, both on and off the pitch and It is very important that we do have a vision and

and we realise that this would not be possible without the support of everyone involved with the club.”

THE SEASON AHEAD

“We have built a reputation for looking to the future with the improvements we have made to the facilities and a vibrant calendar of events. This coupled with success on the field is enabling us to attract new talent and retain our established players. We have 16 junior teams feeding through to the senior teams, so we have strength in depth. Our coaches are excited, the players are excited, we are all excited!”

OUR ETHOS

“We believe the senior management team has expert knowledge, a crystalclear vision, and a selfless determination to improve what the club offers to all its members.

We now are showing what is possible for the club, and how important sports clubs can be to the communities they serve.”

know we are heading in the correct direction.

The current club structure creates focused channels on the critical areas of our functionality, all split into various areas of significant importance, with a leader/ director taking their own area of responsibility then reporting to the Chairperson and Chair of the Board: Director of Rugby, Junior Chairperson, Members Director, Facilities Director, Financial Director, Commercial Director, Hospitality Director and Marketing Director.

Those entrusted with the title from the members are responsible for recruiting the volunteers and filling the roles within their area of responsibility and ensuring that the progress is number 1 priority. Filling roles has become easier within NARFC.

As we continue to grow and evolve, as a valuable asset to the community, we are finding attitudes are changing and many external sources are singing praises about the #OneClub #OneCommunity Ethos. Both volunteers and players are coming forward to help build on what already is a superb team!

Off the pitch we are working with our landlords to extend our lease or purchase the land. Either or will provide a solid platform to build a legacy for members for many years to come. The infrastructure of the club and its facilities have improved; however, the

security of a lease will allow us to reinvest in the facilities and possibly build a new clubhouse and changing rooms.

#OneClub

We plan to continue to bond or unite the club as 1 entity and thankfully we are a long way down the road with this goal and it feels great! Having Matchday experiences for each age group run by myself - Director of Rugby whilst pulling in a Junior and a Ladies Director of Rugby has helped both sections have as much attention on them as possible.

#OneCommunity continues to go from strength to strength. Being able to provide activities for the `Holiday Activity Fund` which includes providing hot meals and education around sports is absolutely priceless. We also host `Andy’s Man Club`, a mental health awareness group that uses the facilities weekly, and each Christmas we supply food hampers for those who are in need and are vulnerable and we are currently in talks with another charity for children with

learning disabilities & special needs who would like to use our facilities during the week.

We run all of these projects free of charge where possible. There may be some funding available or our own fundraising but there is still a huge amount of effort that goes into these projects. The club offering these services provides our commercial partners (Sponsors) with some very satisfactory community responsibility contributions. We hope to continue to grow our club in the interests of our environment, society and club as a whole.

We don`t have any coaching philosophy as such. We are though very keen to fill the hopper early being one of only a few local clubs running an under 5 and under 6 combined age groups. This offers new coaches the opportunity to start their coaching journey with other coaches who have been working with that particular age group for a year. This is a brilliant way to transition from newcomer providing a 2-year run up before hitting rugby games at under 7’s.

We are also working hard at the other end with structured and planned transitions session for U16s to colts and colts to seniors. Additionally, there is an U25s team to keep in touch with Uni students and those working away. We try to keep them all connected to the club.

As director of rugby, I am trying to create the best atmosphere and support to provide resources from recruitment to equipment. Our girl’s rugby numbers have doubled this year with a project my Junior Director of Rugby created going into local schools to provide rugby experience lessons. We have now been invited back to several the schools for next term which is exciting.

We have had a number of players join the Exeter Chiefs academy over the last couple of years. Our last was Joe Bailey who joined the Exeter Chiefs Academy and was named in the England Under-18s squad to travel to France to take part in the U18 Six Nations Festival this year.

Our men’s senior team started the season with 3 losses on the bounce. Little did we know this was against the top 3 teams. There was a Turning Point in the season where we went undefeated for 7 games plus while finding ourselves in the position where we’re in the Devon Intermediate Cup final and subsequently found ourselves securing promotion.

All of our junior teams are full to the brim, with more on a waiting list to join. Almost all of the teams are the strongest in their age groups and I’m excited to see what the future has to offer.

We will continue to invest in girls’ and ladies’ rugby to improve their numbers and give them the platform they deserve to improve their rugby at Newton Abbot Rugby Club. We have secured Emily Tuttosi, Exeter Chiefs and Canadian International, as coach but still require more support with the management and coaching of Woman`s Rugby.

OUR CLUB PARTNERS

The club has come away from calling its commercial sponsors, sponsors. Our preferred terminology is` partners`. `Partners` both on and off the field and we are very proud of what we offer our business community in return for their funding.

With the new infrastructure and foundations that have

been put in place we have seen our Commercial partners hit 86 in numbers and more in the pipeline. Our business model is set up for a pay monthly structure a bit like a membership where the partner may sign up for a period and then fall into a rolling monthly contract.

This monthly income provides a steady and constant cash flow even during the quiet months, although our events business is now becoming very successful, and will go on to provide the cashflow that the club requires to grow.

Our Commercial partners are not a 1-way ticket. We have teamed up with the local business commerce to provide them with a monthly Networking Day and we provide social media releases, give them priority to events and, more importantly, keep them updated with the community and Newton Abbot Rugby Club projects.

HUMAN RESOURCES

CONSULTANCY

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that you may just need a little extra support from time to time. However you choose to work with us, we will provide valuable people solutions that are right for your business.

LEADING HUMAN RESOURCES SERVICES

Commissioning HR provides leading Human Resources Services through a dedicated HR Professional team. Committed to continuing professional development we

constantly enhance our skills by keeping up to date with employment legislation, case law and the latest practice in our field. You can therefore be confident that you receive sound and up-to-date advice. We think proactively about our clients and will not only pass on our knowledge in this area but interpret what this means for your business and the steps you need to take with our help.

We recognise the complexities of employing people and that the world of work and business is constantly evolving. We are always looking at new ways, research and techniques to keep people at the heart of organisations. When we read an article, or attend an event or training we do so thinking about our clients and how we can use this knowledge to make their business even better.

Our vision is to help organisations realise the potential of their people by delivering valuable people solutions. We champion Good Work and encourage people to be the very best they can.

PARTNERING WITH SPORTS ORGANISATIONS

We have been pleased to partner with Newton Abbot Rugby Club and help them lay the foundations of good HR and employment practices. We work with a number of specialist sports organisations across the country and understand the challenges of providing community-based sport with a small team. Often this is supported by a volunteer network. We also provide HR support to organisations that work with children and young people so understand the need to embed safer recruitment and safeguarding practices.

BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS

We know through our own research that choosing the right HR Consultancy is all about connecting with a team of HR Professionals who really get your business and challenges. When starting your journey with us, we will have an exploratory session with you to ensure we are the right fit – that means as much about us feeling excited about working with your business as you do with us. We know it’s a two-way relationship that helps you thrive.

KEV SHERWOOD, CLUB PARTNER WITH SHERWOODS

With focus on Community and Sustainability on every level, in partnership we are proud to sponsor and support NARFC. It is a pleasure to see the growth of players, especially from an early age come through the ranks and develop into respectful individuals with a strong team and work ethic. All looked after and guided

by some amazing people, mostly voluntary, to whom we are extremely grateful.

Strong roots, founded in 1873, here’s to the next 150 years and beyond. #OneClub, one large family, with a clear vision; we are excited about the future with NARFC being at the very heart of our community. We are honoured to be alongside you sharing similar values and of course a passion for rugby.

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Myriad Business Services are proud supporters of Newton Abbot Rugby Club.

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R ANDREWS & SON R Andrews & Son have been proud supporters of the Newton Abbot Rugby Club for many years. Recently donating over £6,000 in the form of new shower blocks for both the home and away team to use. We pride ourselves in supporting grass roots sports clubs in the area, especially where they develop and nurture getting kids into sports. After all, they are our next generation of sports men and women.

R Andrews & Son also take part every year in Gas Safety Week, and this year is no different. Gas Safety Week will be taking place 12th-18th September 2022. Coming up to its twelfth year, this pan-industry event sees everyone coming together for one common goal — keeping the nation gas safe. Head over to our Facebook page to keep an eye on how you can stay safe this winter. Mistakes are costly, our advice is free.

JACOB BELLAS, CLUB FINANCIAL DIRECTOR AND CLUB PARTNER WITH MAVEN SOLUTIONS

I have had a long and positive association with Newton Abbot RFC having played there as a child. As I got older life and work got in the way of my rugby and now, I’m at the age where I’m hoping my children will become involved in this great rugby club. My wife and I have four youngsters, with number 5 on the way in October, and recently our smallest two boys went along to sample rugby; hopefully they will be part of the U5`s setup for the start of the forthcoming season!

My company Maven Solutions decided to become a partner of the club and myself and our staff have enjoyed supporting the many teams whilst attending some of the excellent club events; last season’s cup final being a particularly memorable occasion.

Newton Abbot RFC, as well as being a fabulous place

to spend time, is steeped in so much history. Some of the clubs’ older members have an `encyclopaedia` like memory when it comes to recalling tours, ex-players, dates and of course the odd hilarious story from years gone by; you can’t help but enjoy the rhetoric from these great club characters.

Newton Abbot Rugby Club has evolved into a strong and vibrant pillar of the local community with a far-reaching reputation born out of the club’s quality of people. Currently we have a waiting list of children wishing to join our junior ranks which speaks for itself. The club exudes enthusiasm and has many wonderful personalities jointly coming together to make positive changes for all. If it wasn’t for the plethora of unsung heroes amongst our members, players, coaches and parents, all contributing to the clubs growth with their free time, we wouldn’t have such an outstanding club as we have today!

BRIAN PILKINGTON NEWTON ABBOT

RFC PRESIDENT

I was born in Yorkshire and moved from the region when I was 3 to Newton Abbot where I grew up. As a 15-year-old, attending the local Grammar School, i joined the clubs Colts aged 15; in the days before there were boundaries in place as you entered senior rugby. My main playing position was Hooker.

Unfortunately, life got in the way of my rugby although I did play played at university and whilst I was in the Armed Forces for the Army. Aged 35 I broke my shoulder and carried this repeated injury for some time eventually hanging my boots up at 35.

When I returned to Devon in 2003, from the Forces, I went along to watch the All Whites and in 2009 started as the clubs gate steward, then membership Secretary in 2017, followed by Hon Sec and in 2019, when a Club Chairman was needed, I was honoured to step into the role. Now in 2022 I have had the privilege of becoming the Club`s President.

I am particularly proud of our club over the past 3 years. Covid offered its challenges, of course there was no revenue coming into the club, but it had its positives allowing the club to reflect and we never lost our sense of humour and our steadfast inclusivity.

The 2022/2023 season is now upon us and I don’t feel we need to overly worry about our competition, with the new leagues restructuring, as we know many of these teams having played against them previously.

We have a `One Club Mentality` and are always trying to evolve and bring all our club sections closer together. Barriers have been broken down over the years and little things make all the difference like all our players turning out in the same kit.

Newton Abbot Rugby Club owes a lot to many great people and volunteers who have kept the club moving forward and continue to do so. Without the parents, players and members we wouldn’t be in the healthy position we enjoy today- we really appreciate everything they do!

JAMES VINCENT DIRECTOR JMV SOLUTIONS

“For year we have been supporting local sports club and getting involved upgrading the IT Systems and technology they use. These new system range from Upgrading Wifi to supplying Laptops and everything in between.

We were invited down to the Newton Rugby Club to see what was going on and

talk through any opportunities at the club. After hearing about the history and what the directors at the club are now putting in place, we simply couldn’t say no. The amount the club do for the local community is huge and being able to be a small in that is fantastic. Everyone we have met have been so welcoming to us and we are looking forward to working with the whole team at the club for years to come.“

NAT CHARTRES, MARKETING MANAGER- TOZERS

As Marketing Manager at Tozers Nat is tasked with leading the firm’s marketing activity, driving growth, and building brand awareness. He works closely with his colleagues in the marketing team, team leaders, and senior managers, to build and execute bespoke marketing plans and subsequent campaigns to help meet the firm’s desired goals:

I`m originally from Plymouth and although our company’s relationship started with Newton Abbot RFC before I joined the firm, I came to understand that the union between us both had been alive for quite some time. Many of my colleagues in our Newton Abbot office are rugby fans and supporters of the club; some are also frequent match attenders too. As a company we feel we share very similar values and attitudes as the rugby club and certainly when it comes to community involvement this is the case. Our own outreach has developed over time and now we are involved in sponsoring many different types of sports. As a key part of the Newton Abbot community it is clear to see the great service that the rugby club provides to local people and businesses.

On the back of an outstanding 2021/2022 season we are looking forward to following the clubs continued progress as they enter their new campaign in September. Myself and all our staff at Tozers would like to take this opportunity to congratulate everybody at the club on all they have achieved and wishing them the very best of success for many more years to come!

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JON CLYNE DIRECTOR, CHARLES DARROW

Jon is a highly successful commercial property specialist who has been actively involved in the transfer, sale and acquisition of property within the South West of England for over a decade. He has a wideranging understanding of the commercial property market having previously specialised in the licence trade with an international property agency, forging close contacts with all the major national and regional pub and hotel operators. His business Charles Darrow are a partner of the Rugby Club and Jon told Rugby Club Mag recently:

As a company we have always been keen to support local sport. The community value and inclusiveness that clubs can

provide to local people, and businesses, is invaluable. At `Charles Darrow` we decided to connect with individuals across many sports which in addition to Rugby include Football, Golf and Tennis, in men’s, women’s and children’s categories.

Over the years we have had many friends and colleagues who were or are involved with Newton Abbot Rugby Club either as players, coaches, or supporters. They are a very well-run club that seem to have continued to evolve, in a positive fashion, post Covid. Myself, fellow directors and staff at Charles Darrow would like to congratulate everyone at the club for their deserved recognition in Rugby Club Mag and wish them all the very best of success for the 2022/2023 campaign!

JULIAN MARSH, SUPPORTER AND SPONSOR, YE OLD CIDER BAR

I have lived in Newton Abbot for over 10 years now having decided to leave my job, with a larger company, and open three bars in the area. Ye Old Cider Bar has always been a rite of passage for many rugby players in the town. Growing up, my own experiences of school rugby was not great, and my daughters are more into gymnastics and other sports, however, I became aware of what a great club Newton Abbot were and the excellent service they provided to our local community. I then decided I wanted to support the club

and give a little back, so I became a club partner. Having children, myself it was important for me to be associated with a club that was particularly focused on the positive development of children and NARFC really fitted the bill.

As a club they are a fully commercialised entity, well organised and blessed with a plethora of great people. The friendliness and desire to have fun is clear to see and I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate everybody at Newton Abbott Rugby Club on being recognised for their excellent contribution to rugby this year.

Wishing you all continued success –please keep doing what you are doing!

Ye Olde Cider Bar and The Railway Brewhouse wish NARFC every success for the upcoming season.

Members will get a 10% discount in the Railway when showing their card!

East Street, Newton Abbot and Queen Street, Newton Abbot

yeoldeciderbar railwaybrewhouse

Claverdon RFC

STEVE GRIMSLEY CHAIRMAN

Steve Grimsley has been involved with Claverdon Rugby Club since 2004 and is part of the clubs on and off field team driving the club forward into new territory. Not many clubs can claim to have a first team hooker who is also club Chairman! Steve has experienced the ups and downs, typical of all rugby clubs, and as well as having the honour of captaining the club in 2006 he was also part of a formidable side who lifted the league title in 2010. Working closely with his fellow committee members and coaches he has a lot to offer the club with his experience. Steve took time out recently to tell Rugby Club Mag: After covid we arrived at a place where we were wondering how our future would play out and we decided to bring in new senior coaches. This turned out to be Lewis Clarke and Lee Foster. We are very happy with our selection and both have brought a lot of positive and additional elements to our teams adding much and enhancing the Claverdon Way of playing rugby.

Lee, our 2nd XV coach and

Dave Goosen has played scrum-half for Old Yardleians RFC, West Midlands Police and Claverdon Rugby Club. His relationship with Claverdon was for a few seasons towards the end of the 80`s, however, he continues to have a close relationship with the club to this day. He owns and runs the local pub, The Crown Inn, which has been a favourite watering hole for club members for many years. He told Rugby Club Mag: I get down to watch the teams play at least a few times a year and I greatly admire the cohesiveness I see amongst the players, members and our

assistant to Lewis, a former Referee, really wanted to be part of what we were looking to achieve at Claverdon and the influence of a committed group of volunteers, on the youth elements of our club, has been noticeable and our club has received a massive boost.

Last season was outstanding, 5 of our colts came through to the seniors and with our onfield success the social side of the club just blossomed; it was an amazing time for the club. On the downside and very sadly for Claverdon club stalwart and former Club President Basil Sayer passed away.

One of the seasons highlights came after a win against Old Wheatleyans when our fans formed a guard of honour for the players as they left the pitch, it was quite emotional for us all and a great honour to be received in this way. As a village club we play against a lot larger clubs in size and depth; formed in just 1965 we certainly punch above our weight I’d say.

Claverdon are an extremely unified and together club. We do have the space and support from our community to develop our club and facilities and it would be

community; they really seem to have a good foothold on how to run a club successfully.

President Liz Kelsey has had a great influence, alongside Steve and many other unsung heroes who contribute their time and energy freely. The M&J section seems to be thriving and this is very much a vital lifeblood of any club.

My business, The Crown Inn, is also a club sponsor, and we enjoy supporting Claverdon Rugby Club in any way we can. Keep up the good work, be happy, build on this momentum and continue to play hard on and off the pitch!

great to have a women’s section which is an important ambition we harbour. Facilities wise we certainly would love some new changing rooms. It means a lot to us that we continue to keep rugby at the forefront of our community. Our neighbours Wasps have been very generous in allowing us to use their facilities and 3G pitch. A big thank you to them and as neighbours it’s nice that we have built a mutually respectful relationship with each other; in response we allow them to use our pitch for their Wasps camps.

Everybody contributes in their own way at the club Mike Jay our 1XV captain was also secretary of the club, Colin has stepped into captain our 2nds, everyone chips in from marking the pitches to serving the food post match.

A lot of the teams we are playing this coming season we have faced before. As we are moving forward, on the back of a fabulous season, regular and clear communication between the committee and Lewis is essential to allow us all to adjust when necessary. Lewis and the club’s relationship with Wasps is such that additional coaching support doors can perhaps be opened too.

Claverdon Rugby Club are focused on doing this season justice just like we did throughout 2021/22 and not taking anything for granted. We need to ask the questions about what areas we can improve on. With many of our young players successfully coming through to senior rugby and players signing for Worcester Warriors and Coventry we are doing a lot of good and right things at Claverdon and long may it continue! I would also like to take this opportunity to send out a massive thankyou to all our sponsors, VP’s, players and their families for their fantastic and continued support!

The

WEBSTER-KELSEY

CLUB PRESIDENT

I moved to the Claverdon area 26 years ago with my 3 boys. Whilst driving around the tiny lanes I stumbled on the gate of Claverdon Rugby Club, tucked away at the bottom of a hill on a sharp bend. I found a jewel in the middle of Warwickshire’s beautiful countryside! I have been there ever since.

When I joined with my then eldest son there were 11 children in the minis and junior section this being run by a lovely guy Jules Wells. Sadly, Jules had to give up due to work commitments so myself and another lovely chap Big Al Conway took up the Sunday morning job to keep this section going, otherwise it would have folded.

At the time I joined the committee representing the juniors and became welfare secretary and then social secretary. The junior section grew and grew and when I stepped down we had 113 kids on a Sunday! With this number more parents

stepped forward to help and formed a junior committee growing this section to a pre covid 250 children! Quite unbelievable for a tiny village rugby club I’d say!

Continuing the committee roll about 14 years ago I was then asked to take on the running of the bar along with my husband Paul. Paul is Claverdon’s club steward/ bar manager who I have to say serves the second best Guinness in the area!

In 2019 I was invited to become President by the then legendary Basil Sayer. A 6ft 8” honey monster and Claverdon’s biggest lion. I was honoured and totally elated to have been named the first female President of Claverdon RFC, it is an absolute privilege. I believe this appointment to be the first of its kind in Men’s league clubs.

There is lots to be done for the club moving forward and I have seen a lot of change but I shall continue to be extremely pro active with the running of our wonderful club we all know and love to ensure it thrives and the amazing work of my predecessor continues.

It’s exciting times on the pitch which we aim to match off the pitch in true Claverdon style.

I thank everyone, past and present, who have all helped to make the mighty Claverdon RFC the club it is today!

SUE WESTMACOTT, LONGSTANDING SUPPORTER AND SPONSOR

It was really through my husband Brian that I was introduced to Claverdon RFC. Brian was a rugby nut you might say and so I became one too. Our family is still very much involved, initially it was with Brian’s son Tim, who was a very good player, and now my grandchildren Louis & Jonny ( Named after the great Jonny Wilkinson- I had the privilege of catering for the squad during the 2003 world cup) play in the M & Js. My daughter Holly is also in charge of the clubs catering these days. I can’t really express how I feel about the people at Claverdon RFC except to say that it has been and honour and a privilege to be amongst you over all these years and I would like to wish everyone many more years of success and happiness!

All my 3 sons have been involved with Claverdon. Jack whose retired now, Harry who is in the U17s and Chris who plays for the 1stXV. The one thing that has always stood out to me about the rugby club is the people! They are totally dedicated to their community and look after each other. I have witnessed the direction and help they have given to the many children, who through the coaching and playing of this great sport became healthy and successful club members. Well done to everybody at Claverdon Rugby Club and best wishes for many more seasons to come!

The Club have worked really hard to ensure that there is a strong pipeline between the under 17 and under 18 age groups and adult rugby. This was particularly successful in 2021-22 when 11 players who had played in the Colts squad the previous two seasons made their debuts in Claverdon‘s adult sides. This is achieved through joint training

sessions and open age touch rugby during the off-season as well as the coach and management team in the older age grades being aligned and regularly working with the senior coaching team. In addition, simply prioritising the welcome young players receive pays dividends. It really shows the importance and benefit of having a whole club approach.

Basil Sayer (pictured with Liz Webster-Kelsey) Basil sadly passed on 1st March 2022. A great rugby man and character who was Claverdon RFC`s secretary for 19 years and President for 15.

PETE JOHNSON Pete Johnson played rugby for Claverdon RFC from around 1973-75, refers to himself as side line in the days teams only called on players to game! Pete told Rugby Club Mag:

LEWIS CLARKE HEAD COACH

Lewis Clarke is the current Head Coach at Claverdon Rugby Club, originally from Coventry he played his earlier rugby at Broadstreet starting in the U6`s and coming all the way through the ranks to senior rugby. Due to recurring ACL injuries, in his late teens, he stopped playing when an opportunity to work PT at Leicester Tigers appeared on the horizon. Subsequently another offer to travel to Kuala Lumpa, as assistant coach of the academy and men’s rugby team, took him to Malaysia for two years. He Told Rugby Club Mag: Kuala Lumpa, Malaysia was one of the best periods of my life where I got to meet another coach, a great guy from Darlington Mowden Park RFC and we became good friends. I got to train the teams in the academy and travel to tournaments all over Asia including one we held ourselves with visiting teams from Cambodia, Australia, Singapore and Thailand. It was also there that I started to play again whilst working with the players; it ignited my passion for the sport once more.

After being there for two seasons I started to think about my future and decided I would go into teaching. I ended up going to the

famous Warwick School where they had set up an Elite Playing Academy and I was able to mingle with many ex professionals, level 4 coaches and trained school age kids, many of which went on to become international rugby players in their own right.

After a few seasons I noticed Claverdon Rugby Club were looking for a Head Coach and decided to apply. Steve Grimsley, Liz Kelsey and Mike Jay interviewed me outside the club house over a pint and made me feel very relaxed and welcomed. I knew that some older coaches had applied for the job and at aged 27 I am grateful that they showed such faith in me and offered me the job. I can’t speak highly enough about the support I have been given by the committee and everyone at Claverdon since then. I can only describe it as outstanding!

I had an initial taster session with the team, really to see how we connected, and moved forward with 22 players which increased quickly to a regular 35 appearing at training on the Wasps 3G pitch we used weekly. Myself and Lee Foster formed a very strong partnership, we are sometimes known as Batman & Robin, I have learned as much from Lee as I hope

he has learned from me; particularly with his insights into team management. We have become good friends and his input coupled with the massive buy in by the players started to make a difference.

At the team meeting, at the start of the season, I said I was looking to change a few things and that we should aim for a top 4 slot. By Christmas 2021 our target changed as we decided to complete our last 8 games with victories to become League Champions and possibly remain undefeated, everybody at the club backed us and said let’s do it!

Promotion brings its own challenges, we know some of the teams from the higher league, one of which we played last season who then finished mid-table in their own league. They had won quite convincingly, so we have had to look at areas we can improve in. I knew we didn’t want to change our main style, which was all about good handling and breaking away in times of chaos after breakdowns. We now wanted to develop our awareness during play more. Rugby is great for a few phases before the carnage sets in and during training we would work to and through high levels of fatigue where we could still move up a gear during these periods of play. Many of our

games last year were won in the last 20 minutes when we came alive and scored 3 or 4 tries; this period of play start with a code word where we would turn it on, not going to ground, and staying on our feet whilst attacking.

The overall club supporters have been a 16th man to the team and has made a major contribution during games. More and more fans were coming to watch us. In a fixture against Old Wheatleyans a load came to Coventry to watch us compete. Their invaluable support & roars lifted the guys enabling us to score in the last minute of the game to clinch victory. Towards the end of last season, the club had an event where we played and won convincingly in front of our club and fans and I recall a special moment when I stood there in the field and watched the joy and celebration of our fans; it was quite a moment.

It’s been an amazing time for me at Claverdon Rugby Club. It is a really friendly family orientated and welcoming environment. My girlfriend, who never comes to rugby, now goes to the club with me, which speaks for itself. I would just like to thank everybody at the club for all their support and will be forever grateful for this opportunity!

MIKE JAY CLUB CAPTAIN

I`m from Henley in Arden and Live in Warwick now. I played my rugby for a different club than Claverdon before going off to uni and when I returned I was looking for a good social rugby club to enjoy not just on but off the pitch. When I called the club there was an international match on that day and one of the lads immediately invited me down for a pint and to meet the guys.

Before long I started training, I did know a couple of the players which was good. Unfortunately early on last season, just a few games in, I took an injury to my knee

which kept me from playing. Thank fully this has mended now and I am really looking forward to the new campaign.

2021/2022 was absolutely brilliant for Claverdon. Coming off the back of covid we didn’t really know what to expect. On the whole our performances were outstanding; the best Claverdon team I’ve played in!

As a club we made a decision to go out and find a new head coach and to really focus on the playing side. Coach, Lewis Clarke had an immediate impact and gained a lot of respect from lads. His training sessions were interesting and fun and high tempo, although it didn’t feel like that because they were so

enjoyable. I think that being a physically smaller squad we are more dynamic and nimble allowing us to move the ball quickly and out into wide areas which can contribute to our opponents tiring quickly.

Coming off the back of an Undefeated season will help us settle into the new league. There is a lot of confidence amongst the lads.

I`ve been at Claverdon Rugby Club for 10 years now and it’s been a great club to be part of. We are famed for our social side, our inclusivity and making people feel welcome. Players tend to stay at the club for a long time because we offer such a positive environment and I would like to wish everybody all the very best for the 2022/2023 season!

DAVE GOOSEN

Dave Goosen played scrumhalf for Old Yardleians RFC, West Midlands Police and Claverdon Rugby Club over the years. His relationship with Claverdon was for a few seasons towards the end of the 80`s however he continues to have a close relationship with the club to this day. He owns and runs the local pub, The Crown Inn, which has been a favourite watering hole for club members for many years. He told Rugby Club Mag:

I get down to watch the teams play at least few times a year and I greatly admire the cohesiveness I see amongst the players, members and our community; they really seem to have a good foothold on how to run a club successfully.

President Liz Kelsey has had a great influence alongside Steve and many other unsung heroes who contribute their time.

The M&J section seems to be thriving and this is very much a vital the lifeblood of any club.

My business is also a club sponsor, and we enjoy supporting Claverdon Rugby Club in any way we can. Keep up the good work, be happy, build on this momentum and continue to play hard on and off the pitch!

JON STONE, PLAYER AND SPONSORCLAVERDON RFC

Jon Stone lives just 3 miles from the rugby club and after completing his university degree some of his friends, who had joined Claverdon RFC at the time, invited him along to the clubs pantomime celebrations in 1995; and so it all began. Jon told Rugby Club Mag recently:

Yes, after the pantomime experience, I started training, and the rest is history as they stay. Originally a front 5 player I have unusually slimmed down somewhat, since those early days, and now you are more likely to see me playing fly-half for our 2nd XV team squad. My son Ollie Stone, who plays hooker or loose-head, also played for Claverdon for a few years from the age of 14 before joining Coventry, captaining their U`18 side and recently signing a pro -contract. Flanker Jack Forsythe, who now plays for Worcester Warriors is a former Claverdon player and Marko Stanojevic, the Italian winger, who was capped 8 times for his country was a Claverdon boy too.

Our current setup is very solid with head coach Lewis Clarke and assistant Lee Foster bringing structure and a more expansive and open style of rugby to the club which has attracted more players; success breeds success! As our colts aged players come through coupled with building on what we already have has certainly been helped by introducing them to `Touch Rugby ‘on a Thursday evening. These new and younger players can benefit from the experience of playing alongside the older ones ultimately facilitating a smoother transition into full contact and our senior sides.

In our first games of the season both 1sts and

2nds played away and at 5.30pm, on our return to the club house, we were full of 20-25, or so, players from each squad, plus friends and girlfriends. This really speaks for itself about how people feel about our club and enjoy being here.

I started working for Frederick Cooper, a longstanding club sponsor, in 1997, when a friend I had met through the rugby club got me a job there; I’m now the MD. Our company has employed many people from Claverdon who entered into various, on and off field, roles at the club over the years. As a manufacturing company that produces specialist Wet Paint Spraying and Powder Coating solutions, we have also helped

with some of their painting requirements, keeping to club colours of course; from the odd horses head, for tour purposes, to bikes and even TV`s; painted to dissuade anyone from taking them.

You can learn a lot about people when you play rugby, with or against them, and you can see their positives and negative character traits; the cut of their jib you might say! Rugby is a team sport where you need reliance and support to be able to function successfully as a unit. Whenever a ruck is formed, for example, you must have a quick and decisive action from your teammates, solitary play never works well for long. I must also mention Rod Noon, Claverdons famous founding member and owner of Frederick Coopers who has been a great club stalwart who played until the age of 50.

I would like to wish everyone at Claverdon Rugby Club the veery best of good luck and success for the 2022/23 season and beyond -Keep going! And I look forward to joining you on the field of play soon. Win or loose we`re on the boose!

THE CHALLENGE

The challenge we have set ourselves, is considerable. It is to row, unsupported, from Tenerife to Barbados. Whilst we are not attempting this within the support and construct of the official Atlantic Race, we will be following the course of the very first race, back in 1997.

We envisage that it will take us 6 - 7 weeks.

ROD ADLINGTON

Rod Adlington has been involved with Claverdon Rugby Club since the mideighties as a player, and club captain, sponsor and has always credited the rugby club for helping him forge confidence in himself and develop as a person. He recently told Rugby Club Mag:

“

I`m so pleased that the club are doing so well, last season and this one too! Its apparent that everyone has a togetherness about them and are really buying into what the club is all about, with coaches staying behind after training and the camaraderie is noticeable. Although my two sons don’t play for the club, I’m always ask to bring them down for which is testament to Claverdon`s inclusive and friendly nature.

Club President Liz Webster Kelsey has done an excellent job by keeping the club grounded, helped of course by many other

committee stalwarts’ parents, members and supporters.

I feel that colts age level players can be the most difficult to maintain but the club seem to have found the right formula with so many progressing to our senior teams.

I would like to thank everybody at Claverdon Rugby Club for their friendship and support over the years- best wishes for the 2022/23 campaign! OF OCEAN

Set out below are some key facts to put the challenge into perspective.

• The journey is over 3,000 miles

• The team will row over 1.5 million oar strokes.

• The team will row 2 hrs on/2hrs off,

• non-stop, for the duration of the crossing.

• We expect to be able to sleep for a maximum of 85 minutes at a time.

• The cabins that we sleep in are roughly the size of a family estate car boot.

• At its deepest, the Atlantic Ocean is 5.28 miles deep.

• When mid-ocean the nearest human will likely be on the International Space Station

• The waves that the team expect to face will measure up to 40ft high.

• Temperatures will rise to 40c when near the equator.

• Each team member will burn in excess of 5,500 calories per day.

• We will need to take approximately 1,500,000 calories of food with us on the boat.

• The team expects to lose 20% of their bodyweight during the crossing.

• More people have climbed Mount Everest, than rowed an ocean.

OUR BOAT IS CALLED, MRS NELSON Mrs Nelson is a 28 foot Rannoch R45 ocean rowing boat, and features 3 rowing positions. She was the first R45 to be built and is a proven Queen of the Ocean, with 5 successful Atlantic crossings under her belt. When we first saw her, it really was love at first sight. We hope the feeling is mutual!

On taking receipt of Mrs Nelson, we instantly started remedial work, because, as we well know, with age and experience comes the odd ‘laughter line.’ In perfect structural condition, our repair work has been to consumable items such as seat roller bearings, and oar gates, plus a brand new colourscheme wrap that we absolutely love!

Ocean rowing boats are designed to be small enough to travel quickly, yet just about big enough to house the four crew members.

The two tiny cabins each end are just about big enough to lie down in, and serve as both bedroom and living room. The bow cabin is particularly small - roughly the size of a family saloon car boot. The bucket on deck serves as the bathroom - whilst basic in nature, it comes with an incredible view!

The kitchen is a brilliant jet boil. Solar panels on the cabins and deck power essential equipment including satellite phones, navigation and a water maker - enabling us to turn sea water into drinking water, and our all important sound-system!

RICHARD HOYLAND, EX PLAYER, CHAIRMAN AND PRESIDENT

Nearly 60 years ago a group of 17/18 year old lads met in the local pub and decided to try and start a Rugby Club. Like all such ventures, the path was not always as straight, or rock free, as it might have been!

However from the small acorn planted way back then, a fine oak tree has grown. The Club now boasts ownership of 16.5 Acres of land with 3 pitches and a Clubhouse which is the envy of most Warwickshire Rugby Clubs. Two regular XV’s take to the Park each week and occasionally a third team runs out too.

A Mini section (now 25 years old) for 6 year olds to

16 year olds hosts Circa 250 players each Sunday of the Season. The Club ethos has never changed; Whatever your Ability, there is always a place for you at CRFC!.

The Club prides its self on being a Social Club that plays Rugby, however, the boys do like to win! The 2021/22 Season saw the 1st XV go unbeaten for the Season and get crowned Champions of Midlands 4 West (South)

The Club is going from strength to strength under the Presidency of Elizabeth (Liz) Kelsey-Webster and her husband Paul our extremely capable Bar Manager.

I am both proud and honoured to be an Ex Player, Chairman and President of our Unique Rugby Club where all are welcome!

ED BROMWICH

Ed Bromwich has lived near Claverdon for 20 years now and has had a long and positive association with Claverdon Rugby Club. Ed is also a valued club sponsor with his business EHB Residential. He recently told Rugby Club Mag: My first connection with the Rugby Club came through watching from the side-lines as some of my friends were playing and I was also enjoying taking part in the club’s excellent VP lunches. Later on, my son Harry started playing rugby around age 10 up until he was 16 when his attention then turned more to golf and he decided to give full focus to his school studies. This has paid off for him as he will now become a student at Oxford Brookes University; he has however, always maintained many strong friendships with the club. My nephew, and Harry`s cousin, Marcus Bromwich, currently plays for the 1stXV which is great as it enhances our already good family club connection.

Some of my most memorable, and fun experiences with the club, was being part of the great and well organised mini tours, significantly I was able to spend an important amount of time with Harry as well as with other parents.

Last season was outstanding for the club as our seniors played some fabulous rugby and finished as undefeated champions! It`s been wonderful to see them continue where they left off with such a good start to this current campaign. Claverdon Rugby Club operates at a very high level both on and off the pitch and has a great plethora of members, players and parents who work tirelessly to provide such a welcoming environment for the local community. The club event with James Haskell, a carryover from Covid, which I attended, was particularly enjoyable experience! I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone at the club all the very best of continued success for the forthcoming campaign- good luck boys!We are all behind you!

Banana Moon Day Nursery

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The emphasis at Banana Moon is to see everything from a parent’s point of view. We appreciate we are being entrusted with the care of your most precious possessions, therefore we have created a caring, loving and secure environment for children from 0 to 5 years of age.

Quality of care and learning will be to the highest standards at every stage of your child’s development. To reinforce this, 100% of our staff are qualified or working towards qualification.

Our nurseries are light and airy with an in-house kitchen producing freshly

cooked nutritious food every day We do not serve convenience or any deepfried food.

Are nurseries are open 7.30am to 6 30pm, 51 weeks of the year.

• Outstanding facilities

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• Secure environment with extensive CCTV and fingerprint biometric entry system

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Find your local Banana Moon Day Nursery today!

MARK BATES, FORMER PLAYER, SUPPORTER, COACH AND MAIN SPONSOR (BANANA MOON)

Mark has had a long love affair with Claverdon Rugby Club, firstly as a player, aged 21 years old in 1989, playing either full back or on the wing, and then as a coach following his son Tom`s journey from the age of 5 all the way through to the U`17s. Mark reckons that Tom, a formidable 6`3” Fly Half, is a much better player than he was himself although he was always known to hold his own himself as a club player! Work commitments, family and rugby means he doesn’t manage to get down to see as many games as he would like however this has not diluted his affection for Claverdon describing it as, ‘A wonderful social club that plays excellent Rugby! He told Rugby Club Mag:

Last season was outstanding for Claverdon Rugby Club. The addition of Lewis Clark, who I have had the privilege of being present during a couple of his coaching sessions, has taken our senior rugby teams to a new level of performance whilst adding an enthusiasm and vitality to the rest of the club. Finishing the season as undefeated champions speaks for itself.

Claverdon have a huge amount of support from, not only the local community, but the many players, past and present, parents, coaches and supporters who enjoy the off field socialising as much as the on field success. My business Banana Moon is delighted to continue our support as the main sponsor and give something back to a club which has been a huge part of my life.

I would like to congratulate everyone at Claverdon Rugby Club on being recognised for their great contribution to community and club rugby alike and wish everybody all the very best of continued success for the 2022/23 campaign- True Claverdon!

2ND TEAM CAPTAIN

I`m originally from Sussex and played most of my rugby at Horsham RFC, my wife Nicola is a local lass and that is how we came to the area. When I first moved to the region, I messaged the club and asked if I could come along to training and the rest is history as they say.

Last season I played loosehead alongside hooker and club Chair Gunner (Steve Grimsley). This season, at age 46, I decided to step down and put myself forward as 2nd Team Captain. I`m not entirely convinced I won’t get a call and end up back in the 1st XV front row again but will have to wait and see. As a club we have had a lot of success with Colts coming through and this season our 2nds have joined a merit league with structured matches that we believe will offer our colts a good steppingstone and transition into senior rugby.

The success of the 2022/2023 was great for the club with our 1st XV having a good spread of old grizzlies (Mainly in the front row) and young players who all combined well together and got the job done. We could tell straight away that Lewis, our new head coach, had played at a higher level

and he brought that extra structure and organisation to our plays which made a positive difference. His communication was also excellent, clearly putting across his message simply. We are keen to attract new people to our club and we can offer a great sociable, friendly and welcoming environment. Recently we had a really fun tour near Amsterdam, Holland and regularly we put on VPs, ladies days amongst our regular match days. We have much to offer our local community and are open to everyone. My wife and daughter Felicity can regularly be seen around the club, and I feel that this is an important and primary part of Claverdon THE CLUB Hole Ln Warwick CV35 8HN 01926 843133

Rugby Club, if our off field activity is healthy and positive this will have a great influence on the clubs atmosphere and effect on the field of play!

Graham Lawton has had a very long and positive association with Claverdon Rugby Club with his business Inn Express, he spoke to Rugby Club Mag recently:

Liz and Paaul have always been an absolute pleasure to deal with over the years as has been many other great clubs stalwarts I have had the pleasure to know; some of which are sadly no longer with us. The service they provide to young and old alike throughout their community deserves appreciation and acknowledgement. Without the rugby club and their merry band of volunteers, coaches, players and parents Claverdon would be a much less vibrant area. Sending everybody at Claverdon Rugby Club the very best of continued success for the new season- It has always been a pleasure never a chore!

INN EXPRESS

Faringdon Rugby Club

WHAT WERE THE MAIN CHALLENGES FACED IN NAVIGATING YOUR CLUB/ TEAM/SECTION INTO THE POSITION IT IS IN TODAY?

CAN YOU LET ME KNOW ABOUT ANY AMBITIONS OR DEVELOPMENT PLANS ON AND OFF THE PITCH?

footfall with floodlights and exponential members.

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN INVOLVED AND WHAT FIRST ATTRACTED YOU TO THE CLUB?

I’ve been involved with the Club for 6 years and became Club Chairman in 2021. The people and players that are passionate about the Club is what attracted me. They put their heart and soul into every activity we do from matches to fundraising, all voluntary.

Scott Cocks (Vice Chair and XV Chair) said

“

I was playing for British Airways/BA Bulldogs (merged due to numbers) which involved travel into London and losing endless Saturday’s. With a young family this wasn’t practical. Approximately, 5 years ago I reached out to the club Captain at the time Darren Clark (ex- neighbour), Andy Kehoe and Woody (Ex Vice and Chair). Before I knew I had a pair of socks and was officially recruited as a Silverback. The instant attraction was the social aspect, the community belonging and more importantly family feel of the club. In 2021, along with Chuck I was voted in as both Andy and Woody’s replacement to build on the great work and commitment shown since club inception (thankyou). I have particularly enjoyed the commercial aspect of the club but of course playing with the XV, the camaraderie and being promoted this season. My wife now plays for the club, my twins and my youngest “It’ really has become a family affair”!

Building the Club into one of the places the community wants to come to, spectate and play. We had a strong legacy, but we knew the Club needed to be updated for the growing community. Faringdon and surrounding areas are like every Club we need a strong membership foundation and teams. Our Senior team has played exceptionally well this last season and now we’ve got to build the succession behind it. Navigating the grants that are available locally so that major pitch updates can take place has been tricky, but we managed it and now have permanent floodlights for winter training.

Echoing Chuck’s sentiment, the main challenge is player retention and how M&J’s transition into senior rugby. The floodlights have been such a win for the club, from initial concept, working with the RFU, planning approval, funding and installation in Feb 2022, all in under 12 months. This has only been possible by a collective team spirit and can-do attitude of all “players, social members, parents and volunteers. The strong work relationships with both the cricket club and tennis have allowed us to navigate the complexities of planning, which has been essential.

Our biggest ambition is to grow every age group and gender squads to play as full teams regularly in their leagues. This is tough particularly in the teen age range as so many players drop off, so we’ve got to make the Club special to keep them involved.

I want to build facilities that the community can be proud of. Enough changing rooms for the 3 men’s sides and women’s side, it’s still mad to think then when I took over we only had 1 men’s senior team and a year later we are pushing out 4 sides. This has come at a cost though, facilities are not in place to grow as quick as we have. I would also like to see an outdoor café for all those outstanding parents that turn up every week on Sunday mornings to watch their children.

Our shared vision of the exec team (Chuck, Kiera , Chris P, Chris Mcg, Sean Ed and myself ) is to extend our offering to everyone in the community, all ages, all genders and all abilities. “In our house all are equal”. We have reached capacity and our ambition is gaining support, funding and sponsorship on how we could expand. The planning for fencing of the pitch has also been approved which will be essential to protect the playing surface now with increased

DO YOU HAVE A SENIOR AND JUNIOR COACHING PHILOSOPHY AT THE CLUB?

ENJOY, ENJOY and ENJOY – that is our philosophy, as we strongly believe if you are enjoying yourself the results will come with it. At Faringdon we aspire to be at the heart of the community and are proud of the contribution our members make, not only within the Club but within the wider community. We instil the RFU core values of Teamwork, Respect, Enjoyment, Discipline and Sportsmanship in our players from age 6 upwards. It’s great to see many of our juniors emerge into the senior rugby ranks exhibiting such great values!

SC: The senior team mantra which is throughout the club is “Teamwork, Respect, Enjoyment, Discipline and Sportsmanship. I have seen this first-hand with all age groups irrespective of the score (good or bad) they act with integrity which makes the club, parents and the community very proud.

COULD YOU PROVIDE A POTTED HISTORY OF YOUR CLUB?

In June 2004 we held a ‘taster’ event for over 200 children at Faringdon

Community College. This was run by coaches from the RFU, Grove Rugby Club and FCC Sports Leaders.

In September 2004 Faringdon Rugby Club (in association with Grove Rugby Club) ran its first ever Sunday morning session at the school field. Forming the Faringdon rugby club, then we looked at the adult game. The Silverbacks were formed! Why Silverbacks I hear you ask... because many of our newly formed rugby team were of a certain age and sporting more than a few grey hairs!

Darren Kenyon has always liked designing shirts so in addition to the Silverbacks, the children became the ‘blackbacks,’ the girls’ team were the ‘pinkbacks’ and the really old and retired team became the ‘goldenbacks’!

We started with a handful of children (all belonging to the coaches) in 2004 and no adult team to now having 200 children and 100 adults all training at the wonderful Folly Park and with the use of a lovely clubhouse.

NIGEL CLARK, PROUD PARENT AND SPONSOR: COLTELLA IT MANAGEMENT AND SUPPORT

It was really through my son Colton that I first became associated with the rugby club. Colton joined the club aged 8 and now as a 10-year-old has been introduced to `contact` which has been very interesting to watch and witness how the players handle the new dynamics and interact. I can’t really speak highly enough about the club and the tremendous strides they have made in a relatively short history.

The club is very family orientated and has a plethora of enthusiastic members who work tirelessly to keep everything running smoothly

There are many people that have been involved over the years who have helped to create and nurture this club into the fantastic, inclusive, welcoming, and resilient place it is today. Many, many thanks to all those who have been involved in whatever way and long may it continue to grow and thrive.

HOW’S THE GENERAL MOOD DOWN AT THE CLUB AT THE MOMENT?

The mood is really positive, we’ve had a very busy year adding a lot to the calendar, while the Senior team has moved up two leagues. It was very difficult to navigate out of COVID, but our numbers are strong and we are positive for the coming season.

DO YOU HAVE ANY SUCCESSFUL PLAYER CONNECTIONS THAT HAVE COME THROUGH OR PLAYED FOR THE CLUB OVER THE YEARS?

Due to it being a relatively

and to look after each other. Chris Preece is an absolute legend amongst legends and the service provided, by the club, to our local community can only be described as invaluable.

My company Coltella IT Management & Support are also delighted to support the club and give a little back for the great environment they provide for us all.

I would like to congratulate everybody at Faringdon Rugby Club on reaching the hights they have, at all levels, and to encourage all the players, members, parents and supporters to keep the momentum going for the 2022/2023 Campaign; just keep doing what you’re doing, it works!

young club, we haven’t had any superstars YET! Although we have had 5 of our U16s all receive scholarships at Hartpury which we all know is a fantastic opportunity to carry on rugby at another level.

HOW WOULD YOU SAY LAST SEASON HAS GONE FOR THE CLUB ON THE PITCH?

Not only growing exponentially (400+ club members not including parents) over the last year with the support of sponsors and volunteers we have achieved some great wins. Our ‘Silverbacks’ XV have recently been promoted to BBO Premiership after finishing 2nd place (21/22) and being recognised by the RFU, subsequently winning Tribute’s South West team of the month (Feb 22). Planning permission approved and

DAVE SYMONS, SUPPORTER AND SPONSOR. DJS ELECTRICAL

I became involved with the rugby club through one of my apprentices who asked if I would consider sponsoring him. As I have come to know the club I really appreciate the great work they do in providing a fun and safe environment for people to enjoy themselves whilst playing or learning to play rugby.

floodlights installed. The club fielded its first VETS team and extending all younger age group rugby and we saw the formation of our first ever women’s XV, which is fantastic!

HOW DOES THE CLUB ENSURE THAT YOUNGER PLAYERS ENJOY A SMOOTH TRANSITION INTO THE SENIOR GAME?

“We have developed an Academy philosophy to ensure a smooth transition of players across age grades. This includes the involvement of senior players within our academy structure, ensuring that our young players have good role models as they transition to adult rugby. It’s essential that this is a gradual transition, physically and mentally. By integrating Age Grade Rugby with the adult game through the Academy through a one-club

Last season was quite an outstanding time for the senior squad being promoted who achieved promotion, whilst the formation of a Women`s team will surely be a great addition to the club as it moves forward. I would like to wish everyone all the very best of success for the new campaign and for many more seasons to come!

philosophy, we are hoping to retain and develop players over the years 15-18, where experience suggests that we lose most players to other sports and interests.

CAN YOU TELL ME A LITTLE ABOUT GIRLS AND LADIES RUGBY AT YOUR CLUB?

WHAT ABOUT TOUCH OR WALKING RUGBY?

We are hugely proud of how far our girls and ladies rugby has come on in the last year. The ladies have a Silverbacks team and shirt sponsors coached by Woody. Next season we will be looking at the team starting matches. The Club also hosted the final of the girls county cup and plate final, along with county game Oxon v Wiltshire/ Dorset.

Chris Ellicot has spearheaded the girls’ team who again just started in the last season. We’ve always been inclusive with the younger ones so U8s play boys and girls together.

WOULD YOU CONSIDER YOURS TO BE A COMMUNITY CLUB AND IF YES HOW DO YOU ENGAGE WITH LOCAL PEOPLE/BUSINESSES?

From serving bacon rolls to the dog walkers on a Sunday, to hosting a free Kids festival last Summer, our aim is

to be massively a part of the community. We also encourage local businesses to sponsor the Club in any way they can, from player to longer term team sponsorship and give them great packages alongside their investment. We have also started an outreach programme to our local schools and send our coaches for after school Clubs.

HOW IMPORTANT AND VALUABLE ARE YOUR SPONSORS TO YOUR CLUB?

Without the sponsors we wouldn’t have the shirts for the players or the means to know we can invest further in the Club and community outreach. They are our lifeblood and we can’t thank them enough. We are trying very hard to broaden the range of sponsorships so that we can cater for lots of business sizes.

HOW DO YOU AND THE CLUB FEEL ABOUT THE CHALLENGES OF THE 2022/2023 SEASON?

We have huge plans for next season, on the pitch we want to be pushing for another promotion with the 1XV. For the 2XV we want to be able to meet all our fixtures allowing us to officially enter BBO leagues 23/24 season. Vets, we have entered the Vets cup competition and we would like to win a trophy at the very least. Finally, women, we want to see them playing more fixtures across the county and enter some competitions where possible.

Off field, I plan to further develop our community standing with our very own outdoor café, improve pitches with new fencing and increase our overall community presence through charity work within the community.

PLEASE FINISH OFF BY TELLING ME WHAT MAKES YOUR CLUB SUCH A GREAT CLUB TO BE PART OF?

“The people”, players, parents, officials and the support from the local community and our sponsors all make Faringdon RFC a great club to be part of!

SCOTT AND HAZEL, SUPPORTERS AND SPONSORS, OSTIN CONSTRUCTION

Scott and Hazel, Directors at Ostin Construction, were so impressed by Faringdon Rugby Club they decided to take on a 3-year sponsorship deal, now in their 2nd term. Hazel recently told Rugby Club Mag:

Via a social event, we chatted with Scott Cocks and were offered the opportunity to support the club through sponsorship, which we jumped at! We sponsor 2 banners around the pitch, along with our logo being on the senior’s team shirt arm.

CONTACT THE CLUB Sports Pavilion

Folly Sports Park Stanford Road

Faringdon England Oxfordshire SN7 7AQ

(0)7557 985340 www.faringdonrugby.club

during match days, to the new floodlights which will benefit the players as those darker nights draw nearer.

We attended the prize giving evening at the end of last season, had a great evening and have a sponsor’s lunch on October 15th tied in with a match against Didcot – looking forward to that. We are kept updated with club activities and during August, the club’s Facebook page highlighted a different sponsor each day.

Ostin Construction Ltd provide completion. Your project will be successfully executed with a professional, efficient, collaborative, pragmatic and honest approach. All communication and reporting is undertaken with the highest level of integrity.

Not wishing to be silent sponsors we started to attend various events and during last year’s family fun day, we witnessed how well supported and proactive they were throughout the local community. I hear this year’s family fun day on September 24th, will be even bigger.

For such a young club they seem to have a clear vision for the future and such a can-do attitude, they don’t take no as an answer!

The development of the clubs’ facilities keeps moving forward, from the small refreshments hut, utilised

Faringdon Rugby Club are truly at the heart of our local community and provide such a positive and healthy service to young and old alike. They recently ran a summer club for kids which was really well attended and got great feedback. The club is also building relationships with local schools and the community college.

Scott and I, along with our team, would like to congratulate everybody at the club on such a successful year. Personally, we wish to extend our appreciation to the club for the great welcome we always receive and for the outstanding support they provide throughout our local area! Good luck for the 2022/23 season!

DEBBIE MOLYNEUX AND ADAM PICKFORD, SPONSORS AND SUPPORTERS, HIGHLIGHT PEOPLE

Both Adam and I are big rugby fans. I’m originally from Leicester so I’m a big Tiger’s fan, in fact my oldest

son was lucky enough to meet Manu Tuilagi last week and asked him exactly why he left the club! We’ve lived in Faringdon for the past 22 years, and I was one of the first to attend the inner warrior event last year. We both then joined `Touch

Rugby` which was ideal for us as it covers all ages and abilities! I’m now a club player and really enjoying it although I had never played rugby previously, and all 3 of my boys have played at the club over the years too. The opportunity arose last season to sponsor the women’s team and, as Adam and I run a HR and People Development Consultancy which operates throughout the region, we jumped at the chance. The rugby club connects so well with our own values and what we do; aiding physical and mental well-being, driving growth and development,

and increasing teamwork, communication and connections. We’re also excited to have recently started sponsoring the girls’ team too. We believe strongly that girls should have the same opportunities as boys and it’s great that these pathways are open to all.

Faringdon Rugby Club is about building new friendships, trying something new, and keeping fit. It has a real community feel and it’s such a welcoming environment, so even if you’re not sure please come along and try it out to see what you think - you won’t be disappointed!

We help businesses to get the best from their People

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Football Club

Chatting to Richard Kain (Chairman).

for the vets and I should come into club selection. He bet me a curry that if I did I would get a game for the first team. I did and I did get to play for the firsts four times (one of the games was against Saracens) but I’ve never actually bought him the curry yet! I have been 2nd team captain, Captain of the Gypsies, Fixture Secretary, President and now I am the Chairman.

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN INVOLVED AND WHAT FIRST ATTRACTED YOU TO THE CLUB?

I first came to the club after a conversation with a parent on parents’ evening at school!

He was the captain of the Gypsies which used to be Northern’s veteran side. I was playing at Medicals and he suggested that I came to play for his side during the Christmas and Easter breaks when Medicals didn’t have any games. Eventually, when I couldn’t keep up with the students antics after the game, I moved to Northern in 1984 to play for the Gypsies full time. One of the senior players suggested to me that I was too young to play

• To achieve league advancement consistent with available facilities and financial support

• To further develop grounds with improved drainage, extra training lighting and spectator provision (stand)

• To further develop the changing facilities to support girls/ladies rugby

• To develop the club house to attract more participation from the local community

• To secure funding for floodlights on a second pitch to support additional training facilities

DO YOU HAVE A SENIOR AND JUNIOR COACHING PHILOSOPHY AT THE CLUB?

The objects of the Club shall be:

• To promote, encourage and foster the Game for the benefit of the Members including (but not limited to) the coaching thereof at all levels.

• To promote, encourage and foster the Game at all levels in Newcastle upon Tyne and the surrounding areas.

• To ensure that the Game is played in accordance with the Laws of the Game and is administered in accordance with the RFU Regulations.

• To undertake such matches and fixtures and other activities as the Committee may decide.

• To maintain and develop the Ground at McCracken Park, Gosforth, Newcastle upon Tyne NE3 2DG as the headquarters of the Club and as a venue for playing the game and conducting the other activities of the Club so as to provide the best possible facilities for Members and those visiting the Ground.

• To strengthen the bonds between the Club and the local community in the areas surrounding the Club

COULD YOU PROVIDE A POTTED HISTORY OF YOUR CLUB?

Northern Football Club was founded in 1875 and is the oldest Rugby Football Club in Newcastle upon Tyne. It was originally called Elswick Football Club but was renamed in its second season changing colours to red, white and blue which are still the colours to this

• Achieved financial stability

day. Northern originally played at Mill Inn, Westgate, and moved to a number of different sites including the Town Moor. A period of 60 years passed without a “home ground” and Northern was nicknamed “the Wanderers”.

Over one hundred years ago the then Northern FC and RFU President, William Call, was instrumental in managing the successful split between the RFU and the Northern Union (later to become the Rugby Football League).

CAN YOU LET ME KNOW ABOUT ANY AMBITIONS OR DEVELOPMENT PLANS ON AND OFF THE PITCH?

WHAT WERE THE MAIN CHALLENGES FACED IN NAVIGATING YOUR CLUB/ TEAM/SECTION INTO THE POSITION IT IS IN TODAY?

• Recruited volunteers –team managers, coaches, committee for example

• Developed coaching and infrastructure to attract players Currently we have children and young people from at least 15 different schools in the Newcastle and Gateshead area.

Northern FC moved to McCracken Park in 1937 when the ground was purchased for a clubhouse and four rugby pitches. In 1956 an addition to the clubhouse was made when two squash courts were built and in 1961 a cocktail bar was added. Squash became so successful that a third squash court was added in 1974.

The club would regularly put out seven teams including colts and veterans sides and it was often necessary to make use of pitches available at nearby Gosforth Park racecourse as a supplementary playing venue. Northern became synonymous with good hospitality, late night singing and revelry.

Indeed being based on the A1 trunk road through Newcastle meant that rarely would a team or a rugby playing individual pass the clubhouse on their way to or from rugby venues north or south without dropping in to see old friends.

The clubhouse held many memories in the folklore of north east rugby but, by selling off one of the pitches to raise capital the building was demolished in 1994 and a new £1.2 million clubhouse was built and opened in 1995 by Dennis Easby, the President of the Rugby Football Union.

Northern FC has been a well-respected and wellknown club throughout the rugby world and has produced 18 internationals as well as Presidents of the Rugby Football Union and the Scottish Rugby Union.

On December 18th 1994 the present clubhouse was opened to include a fourth, glass-back, squash court, a new Terrace bar and a functions bar.

played at Northern while he was a student at Northumbria University. Our current Senior Vice President was capped for Scotland. He played eight games for Scotland between 1982 and 1985 when he was playing at Gosforth RFC. He is also one of the current first team coaches.

HOW WOULD YOU SAY LAST SEASON HAS GONE FOR THE CLUB SO FAR ON THE PITCH?

The number of people involved in the youth section continues to grow and they are very successful. We now have a thriving female section and are looking to start running an adult womens’ team from next season. In the adult section we regularly put out 3 teams and that is not common at the moment with many clubs struggling to put out 2 sides let alone 3.

The Panthers (3rd team) won their league. The Wanderers (2nd team) had a successful season beating Morpeth and Blaydon second teams as well as a number of other second teams of clubs in higher leagues than Northern. The First team having finished second in Durham and

HOW’S THE GENERAL MOOD DOWN AT THE CLUB AT THE MOMENT?

There is a very upbeat mood at the club at the moment. Preseason training has just started and on the first night we had around about 60 players out training with three coaches. There is a great team spirit about the club with all the players from all the sides interacting. There is certainly no first-team elitism everyone mingles with everybody else.

Northumberland division 1, have been promoted into which is a great thing and begins the process of moving Northern to the level at which we all want to be.

HOW IMPORTANT IS YOUR ONGOING CONNECTION WITH LOCAL SCHOOLS?

At Northern FC we have a firm commitment to establish links to local schools. We have rugby players with ages ranging from 5 to 18. The players have in the past come from predominantly independent schools. However there has been a focus on recruiting from local state schools recently and that has now started to pay dividends.

Currently we have children and young people from at least 15 different schools in the Newcastle and Gateshead area. It is important for us to fulfil our obligations which are both written into our constitution and as part of our role as a Community Amateur Sports Club which relate to promoting the game to all. For that reason we also are committed to making access to rugby affordable, is for any reason a child or young person cannot afford to pay

fees we will waive them or reduce them to ensure affordability.

This season we will be looking to access more schools where rugby is not part of the mainstream Physical Education offer by appointing a schools liaison coach. We also promote the use of the club by a number of schools and regularly host mini/youth county festivals.

We tend to connect with the local schools via Mini and Youth rugby.

HOW DOES THE CLUB ENSURE THAT YOUNGER PLAYERS ENJOY A SMOOTH TRANSITION INTO THE SENIOR GAME?

The Mini/Youth Section at the club is successful in terms of numbers training and playing rugby. We have over 300 active members. When the players move into the youth phase of the game Northern have the usual fall off of players based on other interests taking away the focus of some of our players.

The club has produced many internationals. Some of whom, in the early days, were capped whilst playing for Northern. The last of which was Feidlim McLaughlin who was capped for Ireland in 1976. Scott Hastings played for Northern for three seasons while he was a student at Newcastle Polytechnic. He turned up one Saturday with his bag and asked for a game. He played for the lasts and the following week he was in the first team! Hennie le Roux played at Northern for 2 seasons, having come over to England for a bit of rugby experience. Rory Best also

In terms of the local player transition position, we have also developed and passed on a large number of players into the Newcastle Falcons Academy via the local player development program. We feel that there is a need to improve how this system works as we find that once young players are taken into the Academy system we don’t get them as returning adults once their journey has ended. The Chair of Mini/Youth Rugby and Chair of Adult Rugby are looking to speak to Newcastle Falcons to try and improve communications.

We used to be very reliant on local private/independent schools. We now recruit from a wider range of schools and now have a Colts side for the first time in several seasons.

More than a dozen of the new Colts squad trained with the senior players at this season’s preseason training launch. It is anticipated that those figures

DO YOU HAVE ANY SUCCESSFUL PLAYER CONNECTIONS THAT HAVE COME THROUGH OR PLAYED FOR THE CLUB OVER THE YEARS?

"

"Northern FC has been a wellrespected and well-known club throughout the rugby world and has produced 18 internationals as well as Presidents of the Rugby Football UnionandtheScottishRugbyUnion.

CONTINUED...

will increase to more than 25 Colts players in preseason over the coming weeks.

We also have plans to appoint first team/senior mentors to Colts players and the senior coaching staff are going to set up personal development plans for each of the Colts players.

DO YOU HAVE GIRLS AND LADIES RUGBY AT YOUR CLUB? WHAT ABOUT TOUCH OR WALKING RUGBY?

We have had girls’ rugby at the club for the past three seasons. They are called Northern Amazons and they have regular fixtures usually on a Sunday. We are in the process of recruiting for a women’s team for next season which would include some of the Amazons who have reached the age to qualify to play women’s rugby. There is a regular touch night usually on a Monday during the closed season where people of any gender arrive and have fun playing touch and keeping fit.

WOULD YOU CONSIDER YOURS TO BE A COMMUNITY CLUB AND IF YES HOW DO YOU ENGAGE WITH LOCAL PEOPLE/ BUSINESSES ETC?

We are very much a community club and because we have a full on license we are in fact technically open to

the public. We have regulars who come to the club every week, some at least five times, and even though they are not supporters they still seem to enjoy the rugby shenanigans after the game on a Saturday! We have regular leaflet drops around the local Estates and we advertise that we are open for coffee and refreshment from 11 o’clock onwards each day. We promote the facility on a regular basis via social media and leaflet drops.

We have a policy of buying supplies from local businesses, hold food nights that are regularly sold out with 48 hours of being advertised and have great facilities to make people feel welcome.

In addition to our traditional commercial activities we also host a number of local groups who benefit from the use of our facilities, they include Gosforth Bridge Club, Tyneside Welsh Society, the local branch of Tumble Tots

HOW IMPORTANT AND VALUABLE ARE YOUR SPONSORS TO YOUR CLUB?

We have many sponsors who either advertise in the match programme, have a board on the edge of the pitch, and some who sponsor games. They also sponsor players and before each match a photo of each player is displayed on one of the TVs in the terrace bar together with

and the Tyneside Anglers Society. We also rent space to a local holistic therapy service, a music collective working to promote music in local schools by lending instruments and a range of keep fit classes for all ages.

HOW DO YOU AND THE CLUB FEEL ABOUT THE CHALLENGES OF THE 2022/2023 SEASON?

We are looking forward to the challenges of the new season. Our fixtures will be much easier to manage in this new level six league. The travelling isn’t as onerous with basically just three long away trips. The longest of which will be an hour and three quarters on the bus to Keswick. Next season we also have a Colts side playing at Northern for the first time is several years. This aligns to our ambition of growing our own talent and seeing them transition into adult rugby.

PLEASE FINISH OFF BY TELLING ME WHAT MAKES YOUR CLUB SUCH A GREAT CLUB TO BE PART OF

• It provides a welcome for rugby and squash players, all genders, all levels and ages.

• It has a social atmosphere with support from the local community.

• It is open every day and night of the week for both rugby activities and the local community.

whoever is sponsoring them. We promote the sponsorship of club shirts and individual 1st team player sponsorship. Annually we invite sponsors to a first team league game and host a lunch to thank them. The securing and building of relationships with sponsors is an important and valuable asset to the development and maintenance of rugby at Northern.

Northern FC offer an outstanding environment not only for Rugby enthusiasts but also for anyone looking to enjoy a healthy and positive environment! My husband Paul is the team manager and it was really through him that I came to now the club and find out the great service they provide to local people. Whether you have an appetite for an excellently cooked lunch or just want to meet some new friends Northern FC offers you all this and more. As a club sponsor with my business GL Aeshetics I am seeing more and more male customers choosing to use our aesthetic services and find they are very often surprised by the relaxed environment we provide. I would like to congratulate everybody at the club on such a great season just gone, and wish them for continued success for the 2022/23 campaign!

Specialists in all types of Skin Care and Aesthetics. Warm and Friendly environment. Catering for both Male and Female Clients. Call: 0191 511 1012 Text: 07729174339

EMMA BARTLESCOTT, SUPPORTER AND SPONSOR, GL AESTHETICS

Avonmouth Old Boys RFC

HOW DID YOU FIRST COME TO BE INVOLVED AND WHAT KEPT YOU COMING BACK TO YOUR CLUB?

My dad was a disgruntled football player in his younger years and decided to take my brother and I to the club when I was 6yrs old for training and we never really left.

PLEASE PROVIDE A POTTED HISTORY OF THE CLUB.

The club was founded in 1897. During this time, Avonmouth had a relatively small population however it was growing due to the increasing trade & shipping at Avonmouth Docks. People would move their entire families to the area from all over the country for work and the village had a real sense of community spirit.

Hugh Holmes Gore was a key figure in Bristol’s labour movement during the last two decades of the nineteenth century. Gore linked Christian Socialists, morally concerned about the poverty and suffering caused by economic depression, with the workingclass revolutionaries in the Bristol Socialist Society. His eloquence as a speaker moved Dockers and Miners and attracted working class votes in local elections. He was popular as the ‘people’s solicitor’ and for his committed practical work in the community & it is believed that he moved to the area to gather support for his party.

Together with the help of local school master William Powell, Rugby was introduced to the men of Avonmouth. Powell moved to the area from Porlock, Somerset to take up his post at Avonmouth National School where he taught primary pupils.

The majority of men then were earning their living as Dockers - This was an extremely labour-intensive role in a time before heavy machinery was introduced. Typically, they were strong and fit which enabled the club to do really well in its early years of existence by winning the Gloucestershire Junior Cup competition in 1902. There were attempts to join the Bristol league however Committee members of the Bristol Combination Society rejected this so the club had to settle for friendlies and Cup fixtures until around 1904.

By 1908, the club had produced its first player to pull on the famous blue and white stripes of Bristol RFC. Clifford

Shaw, a Locomotive driver on the docks was described as a talented footballer who possessed speed, agility and physicality and was exactly what Bristol were after. Clifford would go on to achieve 28 caps for Bristol along with multiple selections for Gloucestershire County with a notable fixture against a travelling Springbok team.

Talent must have run in the Shaw Family as Clifford’s younger Brother Mervyn would go on to represent Bristol RFC via Avonmouth Old Boys, running out incredible 290 times for his city club. Mervyn would also go on to captain the County XV, win the County Championship and trial for England however all hopes of becoming our first international player were dashed when the England selectors were present at a Bristol Vs Bath fixture where Shaw knocked out an opponent with a punch who just so happened to be the current England skipper!

The club have produced a total of 31 players for Bristol to date. We had to wait until 1975 until a full international cap was awarded to an Avonmouth player, prop Barry Nelmes was called up to tour with England in Australia. Barry achieved 6 international caps in total, with the last being against the All Blacks at Twickenham & 1 cap for the BaBa’s Vs the British Lions. His England shirt and many other international jerseys are on display in our club house. The club have enjoyed much local

success throughout its time with 8 Bristol Combination Cup wins and its highest league placing being National 3 (South). In more recent times, the club have focused its attention on bring through its youth section into the senior setup and currently playing at level 8.

WHAT HAVE BEEN THE MAIN CHALLENGES AND OBSTACLES FACED OVER THE YEARS IN NAVIGATING YOUR CLUB/ TEAM/SECTION INTO THE POSITION IT IS IN TODAY?

Like many clubs across the country covid has been the biggest obstacle of late with playing numbers dropping drastically at both senior and youth level. There just doesn’t seem to have been as many people return to the game or to support. The vast majority of people watching in years gone by have been ex-players/ families and many of which have now found other things to fill their weekends with, consequently this has had a knock-on effect with less people volunteering to help with things around the facility.

CAN YOU LET ME KNOW ABOUT ANY AMBITIONS OR DEVELOPMENT PLANS ON AND OFF THE PITCH?

Our ambition as a club is to ensure we continue providing a fun, safe environment for the youth of our area. This should in turn produce future senior players for both our men’s and women’s sides.

We have a number of projects in the pipeline off the pitch. Currently we are looking to upgrade our flood lighting on our training pitches and our 1st XV pitch. With anything these have become dated over the years so the project will give us x3 full flood lit pitches all in spec with current RFU guidelines. As a side project to this we will be also looking to install new drainage to our 1st XV and training pitch whilst also upgrading our pitch side barrier systems.

DO YOU HAVE A SENIOR AND JUNIOR COACHING PHILOSOPHY AT THE CLUB?

We just want to ensure our youth sides are having fun and enjoying the sport with each other. Our club motto is ‘The Game For The Games Sake’.

HOW’S THE GENERAL MOOD DOWN AT THE CLUB AT THE MOMENT?

Personally, I feel we are still very much recovering from the pandemic both on and off the pitch. Our senior men are in a transitional period where we have seen many of our older home-grown players step away due to starting families, mortgages work life etc taking priority. At mini & Junior level we have had a gap for around 4-5years where we saw no youth progress through into the senior set up. The timing of this hasn’t helped with the older guys stepping away but I’m proud to say that we have

now had 2 colts’ sides since covid progress into the senior set up. Its been a bit of a baptism of fire for those young men, but they’ve had a good pre-season and are looking forward to the season ahead.

DO YOU HAVE ANY SUCCESSFUL PLAYER CONNECTIONS THAT HAVE COME THROUGH OR PLAYED FOR THE CLUB OVER THE YEARS?

Over the decades we’ve had quite a strong link with Bristol during the amateur years which saw players like Mike Rhodes, Wayne Hone feature many times over the years. Derek Eves in the 90’s also enjoyed a great Bristol career before moving on and in most recent times we have seen guys like Harry Hone feature in the B&I Cup for Bristol and Ashley Challenger pull on the Bears shirt after securing a 1year deal before a move to France this summer. Barry Nelmes is still without doubt our most decorated player. Barry in the 70’s played for Bristol, Cardiff, England and the BaBas.

HOW WOULD YOU SAY LAST SEASON HAS GONE FOR THE CLUB ON THE PITCH?

Not great, as I’d mentioned we had a lot of young players come through and feature for us which was tough for them, but many lessons were learnt and they will be better players for the experience.

HOW DOES THE CLUB ENSURE THAT YOUNGER PLAYERS ENJOY A SMOOTH TRANSITION INTO THE SENIOR GAME?

Most recently we’ve had our backs coach (Sylvan Edwards) who also coaches his sons age group at u12’s level lend a hand with those junior sides that have transitioned or who are going to transition. There have also been several senior players that have assisted on training sessions with junior age groups to give them a little insight into what’s in store for them. Slowly as they’ve come of age, we’ve been able to integrate those youngsters into senior training.

CAN YOU TELL ME ABOUT WOMEN`S RUGBY AT YOUR CLUB? WHAT ABOUT TOUCH OR WALKING RUGBY?

We had a lady’s side during the 90’s which was quite competitive around the Bristol area, sadly it didn’t stick, and the team disbanded. However, over the last 6yrs or so the ladies’ side has returned thanks to some hard work from key figures. What started as a bit of a charity side has now resulted in great numbers and they will return this year for their 3rd season in league rugby. The club had a big push around around the same time to start recruiting more young girls into the sport. We now proudly boast 4 junior girls age groups and are starting to see a conveyor belt of girl’s transition through those age groups into our women’s squad. Many of those girls have enjoyed county honours and been involved in the Bears centre of excellence so the standard of player coming through to the ladies has improved massively.

WOULD YOU CONSIDER YOURS TO BE A COMMUNITY CLUB AND IF YES HOW DO YOU ENGAGE WITH LOCAL PEOPLE/ BUSINESSES ETC?

We are very much a community club. Our youth section is filled with members of the community as is our senior section. In the past we have attended schools on open days to give taster sessions and introductions into the sport. We host an annual fireworks display that has ran now for more than 30years and for many in the area become a tradition to attend.

HOW IMPORTANT AND VALUABLE ARE YOUR SPONSORS TO YOUR CLUB?

Massive… without their support like many grassroots sports clubs we simply wouldn’t be able to function or provide what we do to our members. We have been very lucky over the years with our relationships with sponsors. Unite union (Branch: SW0001732) have been our main club sponsor now for around 10yrs and have done all they can to assist us in providing quality kit on and off

the pitch for all senior squads and made donations to our mini and junior section also. CBES again have over the years gone above and beyond in assisting us with club maintenance at our facility and there’s many other local businesses that have done the same for us as a club. We are very lucky that we have a number of supporters and local businesses at the club that all help where they can to provide support for the rugby and help around the facility to ensure its maintained. Keeping relationships strong with these sponsors etc Is a thankless task for a volunteer but one that is hugely important to us aswell.

HOW DO YOU AND THE CLUB FEEL ABOUT THE CHALLENGES OF THE 2022/2023 SEASON?

The challenge for the men this year is simple, to improve on last year’s results and give a good account of ourselves. We must learn from our mistakes when it counts, I want to see more consistent numbers available on match days and at training but as a whole we need to get back to fielding 3 sides on a Saturday afternoon. We’ve spoke to those players involved regularly and although young men now I think as a club (coaches, managers, committee) we have a duty to them to make them understand that growth and success doesn’t happen overnight, these things take time. Our ladies finished their

season on a high after a slow start, so to see them push on again and back that up with a solid season this year with a push for a top 3 finish would be amazing.

PLEASE FINISH OFF BY TELLING ME WHAT MAKES YOUR CLUB SUCH A GREAT CLUB TO BE PART OF?

Simply put it’s the members and the small group of volunteers that dedicate a huge amount of their time to the club. The seniors enjoy plenty of socials throughout the season which pull members together whilst our m&j committee ensure that our youth get the same from their socials that are regularly organised. It sounds a little cliche but the club is very much a big family where people will always help those that need it.

LEN MATYSIAK, CLUB MEMBER, FORMER M&J CHAIR AND SPONSOR- UNITE

Len Matysiak is a much loved and long term member of Avonmouth Old Boys Rugby Club where he is renowned for the great contribution he has made over many years, particularly as Mini and Junior Chairman. Originally from Brechin in Angus, Scotland, it was really through his daughter that he initially came to be connected with the club and now his grandchildren are involved. Len recently took time out to speak to Rugby Club Mag:

When I first came out of the Guards my daughter asked me to come down to the club and I guess the rest is history as they say. It wasn’t long before I was helping out with our youth players and my experience in the forces around organisation and discipline came in handy. As numbers grew it was important that any sponsorship contribution included the children of our youth section so that they could have that bit extra of party food during their celebrations and any get togethers. I was really impressed to see that no children were allowed to wander home alone after training and parents rallied around to ensure safe transportation took place from club to home.

Over the years the club have been blessed with many great members and families like the Britons and Nesbit’s who have ensured this great club continuation. I have always had a particular love for Avonmouth Old Boys Rugby Club and its great community inclusion which has altered the path in a positive way for many a wayward lad. 125 years of rugby is a great achievement for any organisation and I would just like to thank everybody at the club for having me there and wish them all the very best of success for the next 125 years!

Nottingham Moderns RFC

A RECENT HISTORY PAST AND PRESENT

This year’s captain is Will Greenwood – he plays hooker and is a former Hartpury scholar. This is Will’s second season with us. He has been a “breath of fresh air” bringing an infectious enthusiasm to everything associated with the club and has been instrumental in attracting some really good players to play at a level which is always difficult when it comes to recruiting and retaining players.

Head Coach is Steve Mason former Moderns 2nd XV captain and a local entrepreneur – Steve in the founder and director of Mason Infotech – the company has also supported Nottingham rugby over a number of seasons. Assistant coach is Ian Melrose another former player – an exschoolboy international Ian is lead forwards coach and is also the Colts liaison officer. Assistant forwards coach is Rob Freeston now in his mid- 40s he played for a successful U19 teams in the mid 90’s and has gained representative honours for NLDRFU at senior level. Nick Carroll – backs coach -former Nottingham Rugby player, a former captain of Moderns Nick has represented Wales at Touch. His son Owen played his first senior game for Moderns this month. Owen

has also represented Wales at Touch. All are level 2 coaches with Steve and Nick working towards their Level 3. All our coaches are ex- players and none are paid.

Moderns currently runs 3 teams although 3rd fixtures with similar teams have proved difficult to find due to the current player shortage in many local clubs. At mini and junior level the club runs 10 teams – the u13 squad did not reform post covid playing restrictions. Total junior numbers are around 180. South Notts Sapphires is a combined

initiative with West Bridgford RFC with teams in a number of different age groups.

The 1st XV has had a good season winning promotion from Level 9 to the newly restructured Level 8 competition. The 2nd XV finished mid table in the Nottinghamshire Pennant league. The Colts have a strong squad of over 30 players and are having a successful season. The club has managed to retain its 16-18 year old post pandemic. 16 players made the transition to senior rugby throughout the season

We have a very committed squad of players with an average age of 23. Most of the squad are available for the new challenge next season.

The club best achievement since the inception of the leagues was winning the inaugural NLD Divisional League title in 1988 as well as winning the Three Counties Cup Final in 1991 without conceding a try. In 2007 the club won both the County Cup and the NLD Shield.

The current 1st team squad contains 6 players who have come through the junior section at the club. Moderns also provided an opportunity for 2 Colts Jack Pearson and Musa Moyo to spend 1 year playing in Australia in 2015-16 linking up with former 1st XV captain Mike Penistone who lives in Sydney.

The club also benefits from strong links with both universities with 3 University of Nottingham students playing regularly at 1st XV level.

A number of former players have gained international honours:

• Barrington Pitt played England Colts.

• Ian Dunbar gained England honours at U16.

• Ian Melrose also gained international recognition at the same age group.

• Brian Hall played for the Barbarians and captained Leicester Tigers.

• Nick Carroll represented Wales in the 2011 Rugby World Touch Cup in Scotland.

• Bobby Sourbutts was Head physiotherapist for Leicester tigers and is currently involved in the England squad.

Joe Heyes is our latest international having played his first club rugby at Moderns has proved a fantastic ambassador for the club finding time to visit

on a number of occasions. Joe worked with us as part of Project Rugby, the RFU/ Gallagher initiative which was aimed at increasing participation across all under-represented groups including: i) Ethnically diverse communities; ii) People from Lower Socio-Economic backgrounds (top 30% IMD) and iii) Disabled People.

The club took part in the pilot ALL Schools programme during a 3 year period 20152018 and has retained local links with a number of secondary school. The club continues to host the NOTTINGHAM CITY Schools festival in the U13 to U16 age grades.

We have been asked to take part in a new RFU initiative currently being piloted in 3 CBs. The title is Rugby United and aims to involve members of the BAME Community in not only playing but eventually in coaching, refereeing and volunteering. This project is in it embryonic stage with the CB plan in the process of being approved by the RFU and NLDRFU.

The club has close links with the University of Nottingham – I. NTU train and play at the club and the club is also used to host the combined UoN /NTU Intra Mural programme a 12 team league which takes place over 20 Wednesdays during the season.

NMRFC currently has 34 students on its “books” –with a regular involvement of around 15.

The club tours every 2 years and has visited a variety of places – Chicago, Boston, France, Germany and Holland – the current May 2022 tour will take the club to Newcastle.

We also host training and playing opportunities for both Universities, a Gaelic Football team and Aussie Rules. Over the years the club has supported a number of charities including Cardiac Arrest in the Young.

Framework – a homeless charity based in Nottingham

– Sophie’s Choice – a Cancer Charity; and is currently fund raising for the Doug Scott Memorial Fund – set up by the club to support the retention of 16-24 year old club members in the game. The target for the fund is £8849 – the height of Everest – I recently completed the 1550 KM static cycle ride Land’s End to John O`Groat raising around £3500 for the fund (Donations always welcome)

The ethos of the club remains inclusive and amateur with an emphasis of involving young and old from whatever background. There are a number of long serving individuals – Neil Highfield who whilst taking a back seat in the day to day running of the club remains involvement and organizes our annual Sportsman’s Dinner and MCs the event with great aplomb.

Our President Dave Hassall – is a long-term servant of the club – Player – Chair of selection, Chair of the Doug Scott memorial Fund and active referee for the Colts ,2nd and 3rd XVs and the Intra mural university competition on a Wednesday.

Stuart Grantham – former Junior Chair and Finance Committee Chair – Stuart has been instrumental in turning around the Club finances.

We have a young (in comparison to most) Management Committee who I am sure will provide a service to the club in future: Rich Pascoe – Chair, Ed Lisley –Secretary – Mike Burke Fixtures – Nick Halstead Treasurer.

HISTORY

Nottingham Moderns were founded in 1956 by a group of Secondary school boys unable to get a game locally at what were then closed old boys clubs. After a number of itinerant years, we eventually settled at a pitch on the banks of the River Trent.Our clubhouse was built some years later, and we have gradually extended our facilities as far as floodbank restrictions would allow.

I came to the Club in 1976 following my graduation from Nottingham College of Education which had established links with the Club. One of our most significant members who made his way from the College to the Moderns in 1971 is Jeff Mapp. His contribution to the Club as player,1st team captain, coach, chairman, and crucially, principal fund raiser cannot be overstated. He has also held the role of President of Notts,Lincs,and Derbys RFU. Without Jeff’s efforts, we would not be in our current healthy position.

Like most grassroots clubs, the challenges we face are those of recruitment and retention. In an effort to combat these,the Junior section was set up by Alistair Clarke in 2005;a significant development in our existence. The success of our Junior section is essential to our progress, and we are fortunate to have a group of committed and talented coaches who, I am confident,will ensure this. Evidence was provided this season by our very strong

U15 team, who, after a hardfought final, lifted the NLD trophy. Coupled to this, nine graduates from the Junior section featured in this year’s first team, so we are on the right track!

We are particularly proud to be one of the few clubs in the area to have a thriving Ladies section. Thanks to the commitment and expertise of their coaches, our playing strength is gradually strengthening and blossoming to the point where two of our ladies have been invited to train with Loughborough Lightning, and we were delighted to have one young lady selected for the England U18 squad.

Currently, the mood at the Club is one of great optimism. The first team topped the league and gained promotion. Our Colts side have also had a very successful season, and we are looking forward to seeing many of them feature in the Senior teams in the years to come.

We anticipate next season in a spirit of unity, pride, and determination.

IAN PRICE, U15S COACH

Despite a season beset by injury, including broken limbs and several concussions, The U15s from Nottingham Moderns RFC battled through the league to finally find themselves in the final.

They won the shield against Scunthorpe in the final at Newark on the 1st May 2022.

Despite going 2 men down during the game they held on to the slim lead for the match, showing grit and determination.

STEPHEN MASON, HEAD COACH AND SPONSOR

As well as playing a little rugby at school, Stephen`s senior rugby career started at work when he pulled his `boots` on for `Boots Rugby`! His first foray into coaching started there too, achieving a first foot on the coaching ladder with the then ‘Preliminary’ award run by Chalkie White (then DoR at Leicester Tigers) and one Neil Highfield of Nottingham Moderns. Wanting to progress his playing career, Stephen later moved to Moderns to play his senior rugby. After Vets rugby came family and for 15+ years Stephen coached his two sons Harry and Oli through mini and junior rugby at Nottingham Corsairs. Both senior players now, they, like many other sons of past players have made a few appearances for the Moderns in recent seasons!

Stephen was able to fulfil a personal goal of playing a game with both sons a day after Oli’s birthday in March 2019, A game was conveniently organised between Nottingham Corsairs and Moderns 2nd XV. Back in situ at scrum half, Stephen scored the first try and managed to avoid his wife’s stare to remain on the pitch for some 60 mins rather than the previously agreed 15 mins. With a seemingly customary black eye after the game, Steve told Rugby World, ‘that was a reminder of both why you shouldn’t play at 50+, but also what a fantastic buzz you get from being part of a team and playing this game. The camaraderie experienced is something that remains unique to the game.’

The coaching team at Moderns now are all past players at the club and include Ian Melrose, Nick

Carroll and Rob Freeston primarily involved in the senior teams, amongst many others working across the Colts and Mini’s/ Juniors. The team have gained playing honours representing England Schoolboy rugby (Ian Melrose) and Welsh Touch Rugby (Nick Carroll), who also played over 60 games for Nottingham 1st XV.

The team have been in place for a few years now, but last season was the first we have been able to complete a full competitive season. The club weathered the covid storm well, with attendance of up to 50+ at the training sessions we were able to provide. This season a result of that effort.

The Moderns have always sought to play an expansive game and this philosophy is being developed by the current coaching team. Steve commented

‘We are always looking for new ideas and input for the team and courses offered by Paul Westgate at Inspiring Coaching have provided access to the likes Stuart Lancaster, Mike Ford, George Ford, Brian Ashton, the current England camp have all added to our knowledge. Our developing relationship with Nottingham will also add considerable value to our playing and coaching offering.’

‘Nottingham Moderns Rugby club do have to decide where their ambitions ultimately are, but we certainly can move up a few levels, and we’re heading in the right direction to achieve that. Beyond that it would be a personal ambition to develop the club as a pivotal component of the local rugby offering in all its formats and levels for anyone throughout our community to come and play or enjoy this great sport! CLUB NG11 981 1374

Clifton RFC

Chatting to Aftab Hamid, Club Chairman.

Istarted playing for Clifton when I was about 13yrs old after a school mate asked me to come along. I met some great people who made me feel welcome and it was fun to play with boys from other schools who I played against on Saturdays. My parents owned a post office and convenience store which was open 7 days a week, in inner city Bristol, so they never had time to watch or take me to rugby. This meant I had to rely on parents and coaches to give me lifts to and from rugby. This I’m extremely grateful for!

The main challenges the club has faced have been the decline in adult playing numbers. The club often put out 7+ sides on a Saturday. We went down to 2 but last year we managed to get a 3rd team back running with

Scott McGrath taking charge. This provides a valuable link between colts and senior rugby as colts teams are dramatically declining due to academies, school rugby and other demands on their time. Without the 3s some of the colts, that only have club and no school rugby, wouldn’t get a game which is not good for future retention.

Before the game became pro/open we would get lots of players who hadn’t quite made it with the Bristol’s, Bath`s or Gloucester`s of this world who would play for us. Also top players at the end of their careers like Pete Polledri, Simon Hogg and Wayne Hone would join to play a decent standard, have a good crack and go on tour at the end of season to Florida, Canada etc .With the advent of the professional/ open era in the 1990’s when we were playing in the old 3rd Division( National 1 now), we started to pay players, this almost bankrupted the club and we had a lot of debt to clear which we have now

repaired with hard work and prudent decisions. I would say the game and culture is different now but not particularly better (we did have some fun).

The volunteer base is dwindling as people are more time poor than in previous times. Fewer people are doing more work. To get more volunteers involved will be a great challenge but one that is achievable in the right enWe try to play the ‘Clifton Way’ which is basically to get the ball in your hands and pass as much as possible. We do coach the coaches sessions where the senior coaches help pass the message down to the younger age groups. We aim to do more of this!

The club is ambitious, and we would love to be very competitive in National 1, for our 1s, our 2s and 3s to climb the leagues so that the players can play the most competitive and meaningful matches possible. This brings its own challenges off the field but one we feel we are up to.

We would also like to improve the coaching standards of our junior coaches so that the younger players are taught the basics very well from an early age. This brings its own challenges off the field but one we feel we are up to.

JON MAYCOCK, PROPELEX-PLAYER, COACH AND SPONSOR

My wife is from the Bristol and after leaving university, and playing for Blackheath and Rosslyn Park rugby clubs, I ended up at Clifton. My father-in-law Christopher Jenkins was a former club captain and dare I say it my options were all pointed towards Clifton.

I had played rugby, mostly in the scrum half position, from an early age and my dad was always involved in this great sport so I guess I wanted to emulate him. My career has spanned nearly four decades now playing for all and every squad at Clifton from 2003 to 2019 when I eventually hung my boots up, although I didn’t fully realise this at the time. Truth be told it had been on the cards for a lot of years with a recurring back injury and a serious head gash that hampered my return to play.

My daughter and son also came through the club’s mini section. Jacob played for the clubs 2nd XV in the position of Openside last season; the 2nds had an extraordinarily competitive season in the Gloucester leagues eventually finishing as runners up. My

We have plans to develop our grounds and facilities, as although the grass pitches are superb, our changing facilities aren’t really fit for purpose as they aren’t big enough or selfcontained which means you can’t have a mixture of adults and juniors playing at the same time or girls/ladies.

We have a massive housing development starting all around us and we want to be the ready for all the new residents . So we would like the club to be a viable option for a Sports Bar/Food/Gym/ Functions and of course Rugby.

The general mood around the club is good considering the last few years of Covid. With the 150th nearly upon us we have planned some exciting events concluding with our May Ball On the 13th May with Scott Quinnell who is our guest speaker alongside other distinguished guests. The rugby is going well and we have a strong squad.

Obviously every team and age group has different views and opinions about how they would like things run. The club must always come first and our job is to ensure we play at the highest level possible whilst still incorporating the old traditions of rugby.

Times are changing, we all know, but rugby values are something we should fight to

daughter Lexi played rugby up until the age of 12 then transferred to football which she also loves, recently inspired by the great Lioness achievement in winning the Euros.

One of the great joys I have experienced at the club is in coaching 7- and 8-yearolds all the way through to senior rugby. Clifton Rugby Club have a special attitude towards the members and the sport demonstrated most clearly by their awareness and desire to not leave a man behind. Inevitably academy players don’t always make the cut and it is so important that they still have a home; that home is Clifton Rugby Club!

We are proud of our player retention, our focus and abilities at Clifton to provide support for all of our teams and coaches. The natural transitions that can be difficult, for example from Colts to Seniors, have to be handled with care. In short Clifton Rugby Club is all about making rugby enjoyable for everyone whether your playing for the 3rd or the 1st XV , one of our 800+ juniors or a supporter you will always find you will be valued and appreciate if you choose to join us!

uphold. The minis and juniors are starting on their rugby journey and their needs are different from the seniors. Our aim is to create a stronger bond between the whole club so information is key. With this in mind we have employed a social media company to help us get our message out there.

Many of our players have gone on to play at a higher level including: Rhys Oakley, Ollie Kohn, Alex Davies( England 7s captain) Blake Boyland (England 7s who I coached from 5 yrs old).

Mako Vunipola, Ellis Genge, Andy Uren, Callum Braley have been on loan to us to help their rugby development.

We also have a proven pathway where our younger players move on to the Bristol Academy (over 18s). This year Jimmy Halliwell, Paddy Pearce and Sami Hamid came through our juniors to get a bears contract whilst Joe Owens had a superb debut season and has now signed a contract with the Bears.

Last season our 1s played superbly and finished 3rd in National 2 south with an exciting brand of rugby we are hoping for improvement next season.

The 2s came runners up in Gloucester premier in their debut season on the RFU leagues proper. After a superb start after Xmas performances dropped as injuries (mainly from 1s, so players had to go up) and unavailability’s hit the squad. With the reorganisation of the leagues this season they will be looking to get promoted.

The 3s started off strongly but the Knock on effect of the higher sides injuries/ unavailability’s also hit the team hard and they finished at the top end of the table.

They are in the RFU leagues proper this year and we are expecting the team to continue to develop the young colts and not so young. Lots of 3s had experience of playing in the 2s which was fantastic for their rugby development.

The minis and juniors section are a very important part of the club as not only are they future senior players, they are future administrators/ sponsors/Volunteers. They were started in the late 70s and have gone on to be one of the biggest in the South West. We have to make the club as engaging/welcoming and as much fun as possible So that the M and Js, inc their parents, feel part of the Clifton Family.

Its very difficult to transition colts up to seniors and it’s something we haven’t been great at in the past. We now try to integrate colts as soon as we can and have senior coaches coaching them so that when they have the opportunity to play adult rugby they aren’t over whelmed. The players must be ready as we don’t want to put players off.

Clifton had a very successful ladies teams that played in the premiership finals etc but they had to affiliate to a premiership club ( ironically as Bristol got relegated soon after). So our ladies fizzled out. We haven’t got a girls/ ladies section but hopefully if we improve our facilities it’s something we will actively look to relaunch.

We aim to be a better community club and hope when our facilities are updated we will be able to engage a lot more with the local community. Most of our players don’t live locally but with the new housing developments we hope this will gradually change.

Our sponsors/partners are extremely important to us. Without them this place just doesn’t run. We take great pride in our club but it all takes money. We are trying to give more value to our sponsors so that our relationship can continue to grow in the future.

A LITTLE BIT OF OUR HISTORY

Clifton Rugby Club was formed on 27th September 1872 at the Kings Arms on Blackboy Hill in Clifton, Bristol. The pub still stands, although it was rebuilt in 1902, and since refurbishment in the late 1990’s, and was known as Bohemia. It was then renamed Babushka, then Stark and was refurbished and renamed The Black Bear at the end of 2007. It has now (2009) reverted back to its original name of The Kings Arms. We are the 33rd oldest club in the United Kingdom,

the 22nd oldest in England, the 2nd oldest in the South West (Bath beat us by 7 years) and the oldest in Bristol.

We have had 3 players gain international honours while playing for Clifton, James Arthur Bush in 1872, 73, 75, and 76, Hiatt Cowles Baker in 1887 and John Currie 1956-62. Many players have played for their country before or after playing for Clifton, most notable of these are 2 England captains, in 1955 Peter Young and in 1967 Colin McFadyean and the first captain of Wales, James Alfred Bevan, in 1881.

I think Clifton Rugby Club has a special place in my heart. It’s been so warm and welcoming to me (not very many Asian Chairman in Rugby), it’s somewhere that my family have come to love with my wife Sarah being a Vice President and my 2 boys(18/21) playing for the club. It’s always a

TOM HOOD, CLUB SPONSOR –HYDES OF BRISTOL

Yes, I am a Bristolian, born and bred in Bristol, and I suppose my main connection with the club came through both my sons involvement. Harry & George, who both now live and work in London, went to Clifton College a local school. As children they would train at the rugby club on a Sunday morning with their friends. Anytime they return home they always make a point of visiting the club, meeting their friends and supporting the teams.

As a company Hydes have been a sponsor for 3 or 4

safe environment that provides much fun. If you need help we will try our best to support you no matter what your back ground is. There have been plenty of stories of troublesome boys starting at the club then turning into respectable members of our community. That’s the Clifton Family!

seasons now and although I don’t get much free time to visit the club I’m fully aware of the great service they provide to the people in our local communities.

I would like to congratulate everyone at Clifton Rugby Club on being recognised for their outstanding contribution to Rugby this year and myself and everyone at Hydes would also like to wish them all very best on providing 150 years of rugby- Happy Birthday and good luck for the next 150!

CONTACT THE CLUB Station Road Cribbs Causeway Bristol South Gloucestershire BS10 7TT (0117) 950 0445 www.cliftonrugby.co.uk

SIMON QUARRIE, THE CLIFTON SAUSAGE, LONG TERM SUPPORTER AND SPONSOR

I’ve lived in Clifton for 18 years now and my relationship with the Rugby Club started about 12 years ago when many of my customers, including Darren Lloyd, Roger Opie, got chatting with me. The club members were always very friendly and as we got to know each other I was given the opportunity to sponsor a match and jumped at the chance. I thought it was a great association Clifton Rugby Club & The Clifton Sausage, sounds like we go together!

I usually get down to see 2-3 matches a season and my daughter`s Rosie & Joni have now learned how to say `Come on Clifton`!

Clifton Rugby Club provides a fabulous service for our local community and you couldn`t find a more welcoming place. To keep anything going for 150 years is quite a remarkable achievement and the many hard-working volunteers, past and present, have to be applauded. Congratulations to everyone at the club on their 150th; more of the same please!

ANDY STEPHENS, LONGSTANDING SUPPORTER, PLAYER AND SPONSOR

I was 12 when I started in the juniors at Clifton and for the majority of my playing career was a Hooker. I also had a stint in the U21s at Bristol and both my sons Max & Sam play for the U11`s and U8`s where I help out.

Cliftons 1st XV had a great campaign last season and hopefully this season they can continue to grow and develop. Younger players transitioning to senior rugby can offer challenges but

the experience of our older players can be invaluable. A big congratulations has to go to Aftab, our new chairman, who has already made a great contribution to the rugby club over the years.

Whenever possible I always fly the flag about Clifton Rugby Club because I feel rugby offer a great connection amongst people that sometimes is missed in other sports. Happy birthday to everybody at Clifton Rugby Club on achieving a 150 years of rugby and wishing this great club all the very best for the next 150!

Darren Lloyd has had a long and positive relationship with rugby. Firstly, with Dings Crusaders where he played alongside his Uncle Steve Lloyd, now club Chairman, making a formidable 396 appearances on the wing and then onto Clifton RFC from 2006 where he took on the clubs Director of Rugby role. He has a great love for both clubs and is also a valued sponsor with his business United, he recently took time out to chat with Rugby Club Magazine:

I am originally from Bristol and have really enjoyed being part of the Clifton Rugby Club setup since I joined in 2006 and since then I have worn many hats at the club including Chairman, DOR, Player Contracts Manager as well as being a club VP, life member and trustee; all of which have been a great honour. My initial reason for joining was to do with the club’s ambition and appetite to progress to National League rugby, however, as I stepped over the club’s doorstep, so to speak, it was really down to the tremendously kind and friendly people I met there; many of those club stalwarts are sadly no longer with us. The likes of Norman Golding, Mike Anderson, Ben Jordan and Grant Watson who engendered a positive and supportive attitude of `getting on and doing the job`. Without the tireless hard work, skill and insights of these special members

the club wouldn’t be in the position it is enjoying today.

The 2008/2009 season was a great time for the club and on the 4th April 2009 Clifton 1st XV became champions of South West 1 with 2 games to go and the likes of former Bristol captain Matt Salter joining us as a player/ coach which gave us a real boost. 2008 had already saw us at the Twickenham final against Hartpury College, a great achievement although we eventually lost, which included a 3 try contribution from a young Johnny May!

Off the pitch the club has redevelopment plans in place for an Elite Sporting Stadium which we envisage will take 3 to 4 years to complete. With 5000 homes being built around the ground, and the additional businesses which will appear, there is a real opportunity to monetise ourselves around the development. Being in an excellent location which is accessible, a high-performance centre, representative rugby for age grade and ladies’ internationals are just a few of the visions we have. Women`s rugby is also an ambition we wish to reintroduce to the club; we had previously developed an excellent woman`s section which on the 4th November 2008 Clifton Ladies became part of the Bristol Rugby setup and changed their name to Bristol Ladies.

This season Clifton rugby Clubs 1st XV has entered the new National 2 West League and I believe our growth and understanding last season will hold us in good stead for the 2022/2023 Campaign!

MIKE KING, SUPPORTER AND SPONSOR

Mike King is a long-standing fan, ex-coach, supporter and sponsor of Clifton Rugby Club, he recently told Rugby Club Mag:

I live about 5 miles from the club so when my son Sam expressed an interest in rugby, we decided to take him along to the club, he was about 11 years old at the time. Through his junior rugby career Sam played number 8 and now, aged 22, plays inside centre for London Welsh RFC; he still calls Clifton his rugby home though!

The reason we kept returning to Clifton was the superb atmosphere and how inclusive and safe the club felt. Typically, I ended up helping out with some training and coaching before being sent on a first

Aid Course to become the medic for our juniors. During that time Jon Maycock was coaching our young players, and having played at a higher level himself, passed on his own knowledge and ability to many the players. Jon was a very talented and naturally gifted coach who was able to command our juniors attention and respect.

Clifton Rugby Club is the type of environment where you can be involved in a number of different ways; and all are OK! When Sam left to play at London Welsh I still went along to the club and it struck me how many great friends I had made over the years at Clifton and how the club still offered the same friendship and support to me all these years later- what a great club!

Self storage facilities plus units and workshops for rental.

DARREN LLOYD, COMMITTEE MEMBER AND SPONSOR

Chelmsford RFC

CHAIRMAN PAUL REDFORD

At our recent Senior Players Awards evening, I spoke of how I could not have envisaged being as fortunate as I have been in my first year as Chairman to oversee such a successful year for all sections of the club. On the field, the first team finished fourth in London North East 2, narrowly trailing Stowmarket in third place by just two points.

All who have watched the first team this year will have been impressed by the style and pace of the Rugby played both home and away, and it is testament to the positive attitude of both the players and coaches that the first team took bonus points from 20 of the 22 games played in this campaign. A big well done to all the players who have been involved in the first team this season, led by club captain Phil Dechamps, and the often on field captain of Callum Booth, with huge thanks going to all those who support the first team home and away.

The second team won Division 2 by three points, led emphatically by captain Dave Ball, and coached superbly by Andy Barker. In fact, the Chelmsford II’s were not only the bedrock of the successful season that the first team enjoyed, but came together as a much reformed and extremely exciting unit that stormed to 16 victories from 18, amassed an incredible 683 points, and were unbeaten all season at Coronation Park.

I have no doubt that this side will continue to go from strength to strength and we all look forward to their endeavours next season after gaining promotion this year. Well done to all those involved with this year’s phenomenally successful second team.

The Undertakers enjoyed a solid mid-table season, finishing sixth in Division 5 in what was unfortunately a very disrupted campaign. However, they celebrated nine wins versus eight losses, and despite a total of 10 games cancelled, still enjoyed an excellent season of social Rugby including sending a strong outfit to Vets Fest in October and were a driving force in Chelmsford RFC becoming a partner club of the Wooden Spoon charity.

A huge well done to all who have been involved this year with our Vets, and thanks to our co-captains Gordon “G” Ash, and Matt Barnard. The Chelmsford Ladies finished their season with an emphatic 97-0 win away at Haverhill, which rounded off an outstanding campaign in which they enjoyed 11 victories and just one loss and winning the league!

Captain Ella Alderton, and coaches Lee Wainwright, Andy Pyne, and Adrian Cuthill should be widely congratulated on what has been a fantastic season for the thriving Ladies section of the club.

Furthermore, the continued development of youth and mini Rugby should be something we are all proud of, especially at a time when many other local clubs are having a hard time keeping hold of their younger players, we are quite literally bursting at the seams in a number of age groups.

The huge mini’s festival, and mass tour to Hunstanton this April is testament to the strength of our mini section

thanks to the efforts of Gabby and Tom Rowe, supported by many others.

There has been some brilliant progress made and some exciting developments with our youth players this year, some of whom are now working alongside Kev and the other senior coaches on Tuesday and Thursday nights, and I hope many of our youth players will continue to progress up through to the first team in future years, with thanks to Andy Pyne and all involved in youth.

Well done to all the mini and youth players who have pulled on the Chelmsford shirt this year, and a huge thanks to all the coaches, parents, and the army of volunteers who make it all happen week in week out. Off the field we have also had our successes this year.

The club has belatedly celebrated its centenary in style despite some disruption to proceedings around the turn of the year. Huge thanks must go to our President Andy Green for his organisation of the many vice president lunches and buffets that have welcome members from all generations of our history back to the club to mark this important milestone.

Jane, and her team have

taken it all in their stride once again and have always made sure that the club is an enjoyable and welcoming place. Thanks for looking after us all! The clubs Management, and Finance committees have successfully steered the club through a challenging 12 months, with more struggle to come no doubt in this unsettling period economically, but we as a club are strong regardless.

The members of the club have rallied and the continuing support that you provide has meant that we remain one of the strongest clubs in the region. Thanks to you all, and please do keep supporting the club over the summer months until we return to full Rugby activities in September 2023.

We are pleased to have continued our link with Woodland Group, who have renewed their support to us as our main sponsor, and we have been pleased to see teams from all sections of the club turning out in their new Chelmsford kit as provided by RED sportswear, our new club kit partner.

Thanks to both for your support this year, and to all those who have personally contributed to a section of the club this season.

DIRECTOR OF RUGBY KEVIN BLACKMORE

What a fantastic season it has been for the whole club. Coming out of the pandemic was understandably a huge challenge for everyone involved.

Whilst the minis section is not part of my remit as Director of Rugby it is the absolute bedrock of the club. As recent men’s first team selections have shown, most of the team started their rugby journeys here and continue to play here, due in large part to those early experiences of Rugby at Chelmsford as kids.

My part is to ensure the senior section continues to provide an environment that supports the enjoyment and ambitions of all the players, but I feel a particular duty to ensure that the senior section is packed full of players, that took their first rugby steps at Coronation Park as young boys and girls.

Notable mentions must go to Gabby and Tom Rowe as well Matt Burley who continue to lead the minis section with aplomb. Whilst countless

other volunteers no doubt play their part these three play a particularly central part to the ongoing success of the Minis section.

The youth section continues to go from strength to strength and has been led superbly by Andy Pyne and Tom Rowe as the joint youth chairperson. Again, Countless volunteers, be it coaches, first aid and administrators are involved and deserve way more credit than my words can possibly provide.

The playing talent within the youth section is truly mouthwatering. From U13’s through to the colt’s section there are numerous players to watch.

The team’s successes on the pitch this season are too numerous to mention, but what a season the whole youth section has had. My role with the youth is to ensure we (the club) provide a bridge from youth into senior rugby that is both progressive from a coaching and playing perspective, but also ensures it continues to be enjoyable.

I know from talking to coaches from minis and youth both past and present that nothing gives them greater pleasure than seeing their players go on to gain senior honours and become BLUEBOYS and BLUEBIRDS.

Not only does this make sense due to the great pride taken by previous coaches when players graduate to the senior section but is also the most logical and practical way for the club to recruit senior

players and ensure the clubs ongoing success.

Players that graduate in this manner have an emotional connection and affiliation that is almost impossible to match using other methods. As such, since January myself and other senior coaches have been taking U14’s, 15’s and 16’s for additional skills sessions on Tuesday and Thursday nights before senior training starts.

Each age group has attended on a three-week rotational basis. These sessions are in addition to the ongoing work their age grade coaches do with them. It is an opportunity for both players and coaches to learn and share ideas and helps connect the youth and senior sections in a semi formal way.

This partnership between senior and youth coaches is intended to provide the players with a toolbox of skills and game understanding to call upon and ensure they’re motivated and prepared to play senior rugby at Chelmsford.

The early indications are that this youth development program has been a real success and with a few tweaks we will continue to build upon the green shoots of success it has shown in to next season.

The Ladies section has been a roaring success this season. Not only have the 1st team lost just one game all season, dominating all and sundry and will most likely finish the season as league winners, with promotion beckoning (a startling achievement), this season has seen the ladies section establish a 2nd team.

This has allowed the squad of 40 plus players to all be playing a level of Rugby that meets each player’s needs. The squad is packed full of talented players and potential ones alike.

What is also hugely impressive is the sheer numbers that turn out each Tuesday for training. On average there are 30+ Ladies

out training week in week out, rain or shine, often outdoing the men’s section in this regard.

Whilst I don’t have the same direct contact with the players as I do with the men’s section, I continue to support the coaches and Ella as captain. Andy Pyne, Lee Wainwright, Adrian Cuthill and Steve Rooney the Ladies coaches deserve huge credit for the way they have created a culture of success around the Ladies section.

Training sessions are vibrant, engaging, and focused and they have done this as a unit of four coaches without a head coach. If there were an award for team of the year the Ladies coaches would certainly be up there.

Having said that, what a superb first year Ella Alderton has had as captain. A force of nature on the pitch and kind and considered off the pitch. Well done Ella, the coaches and all the Ladies players for a phenomenal season.

The Men’s section has had a cracking season and I would

argue to some extents have overachieved. Last summer the main objective for the 1st team was to avoid relegation having been newly promoted during the early days of the pandemic.

So, for the 1st team to have finished in 4th place in a tough London 2 league is a superb achievement. Having said this, I would be lying if I did not say both coaches and players were a little disappointed to not finish in 3rd place and we came mighty close.

This season Scott James, Dave Hyett and I have encouraged the players to play with style and flair. However, it’s not as simple as getting out there and chucking the ball about. The true architect of the men’s sections approach to the game has been Dave ‘Wobble’ Hyett.

Huge credit for some of the sublime rugby seen on Saturday’s has been down to his vision and coaching of how the game should be played. This approach suits our players and will form the basis of the ‘Chelmsford way’ as we move forward as a club. Following this ‘Chelmsford way’ the Men’s 2nd team has had a truly stunning season.

Not only did the 2’s win Essex merit 2, but they did so in style. Blowing teams away playing an expansive and entertaining game and losing just one game along the way

all led brilliantly by captain Dave Ball.

Whilst in the seasons leading up to this some progress had been made with the 2nd team, there is no doubt where the catalyst came from for this season. Andy Barker has managed and coached the side with a level of care for the players that is truly amazing.

Binding them together as a unit and creating an environment that players want to be part of. Yet another superb volunteer who has sacrificed so much for the good of the club and the team.

Thank you, Andy! It has undoubtedly been a superb season for the whole club but as true as night is day it is now in the past. My focus switched to next season the moment the final whistle was blown versus Diss on 2nd April.

With three promotions in the senior section there is much to prepare for. The step up in standard for the 3 sides will be marked, but by no means unsurmountable.

We should be confident, bold and be ready to go again, but with more energy, commitment, and quality than previously. With 3 new leagues to take on and with-it betterquality opposition; our players and all those that support them will need to do more.

Individual commitment to a group effort — that is what makes teamwork, a company work, a society work, a civilization work (Vince Lombardi). Dare I say it, a club work. Your Director of Rugby Kev Blackmore.

BRIEF HISTORY

Chelmsford Rugby Football Club has enjoyed over 100 years of playing rugby and partaking in all that makes rugby a way of life both on and off the field. Celebrating our Centenary year in 2021 due to the Covid pandemic delaying the 2020 season, CRFC has been a massive part of the Chelmsford sporting landscape for over 100 years.

From a group of enthusiasts in 1920 who wanted to enjoy rugby after the horrors of the First World War, the club has grown to a membership of several hundred, offering competitive rugby to all ages - boys & girls, men and women.

From season to season the results have varied, promotions, relegations, big wins and heavy defeats - but there has been one constant factor throughout the 100 years, the love of the game and the spirit within the club which has helped forge lifelong friendships and special relationships not only with neighbouring clubs but with clubs around the world.

As Chelmsford’s only rugby club we provide access to the wonderful sport of rugby and over the course of the weekend you’ll see hundreds of excited, passionate, friendly people down at Coronation Park getting enjoying the game we all love. CRFC is the source of many lifelong friendships.

The members of the club are a mix of locals, who are blue from birth, to those who’ve landed in this city for work or education, and those who discovered the game late in life and were attracted by the prospect of rugby, friendship and in many cases beer!

The club has produced some great talent in recent years

• Ehren Painter Northampton

• Billy Waker Nottingham

• Sam Bryan Saracens

• Tomiwa Agbongbon Leicester

BRIEF SEASON REVIEW

The 2021-2022 Season saw the return of rugby after the Covid-19 Pandemic. This year was one of the best in memory for the club, the Men’s 1st Team, promoted to London 2 North-East when the season was abandoned, rose to the challenge of promotion and the Blueboys battled hard all year finishing 4th and being rewarded with another promotion to the newly restructured London 1 league.

The 2nd Team weren’t to be outdone and put together a truly epic campaign, winning the Merit 2 league and gaining promotion to Merit 1 in the process. The Veteran “Undertakers” finished comfortably mid-table and all promised that they have at least “one more year” in them! The Ladies Section was stronger than ever.

Losing only once all season the Bluebirds cruised to the league title, gaining promotion to National Challenge 2 and getting numbers to put out a 2nd team for the first time. The Minis and Youth Sections Continue to thrive, with incredible numbers

As CRFC looks ahead to 2022-2023 it will be a challenging and exciting year on the pitch. With 3 Senior sides facing tougher leagues than ever following promotion and the establishment of a 4th Men’s Senior side, along with the continuation of the Women’s 2nd Team.

We also need to say a huge thank you to our Physio team. James, Denise & Harry, who do an amazing job keeping the squad fit to play and helping players come back from injuries.

JOSH SMITH, 1ST TEAM PLAYER, SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER

HOW DID YOU FIRST COME TO BE INVOLVED AND WHAT KEPT YOU COMING BACK TO YOUR CLUB?

I Moved to the area and joined in order to meet new people, the friendships & fun have kept me coming back every weekend since!

HOW’S THE GENERAL MOOD DOWN AT THE CLUB AT THE MOMENT?

The club is bouncing, we have a great vibe across the club with players enjoying each other’s company, training hard & seeing a lot of success on the pitch last season that we are keen to continue this year!

HOW WOULD YOU SAY LAST SEASON HAS GONE FOR THE CLUB ON THE PITCH?

Last season was fantastic, the 1st team rose to the challenge of a new league and were pushing the leaders all year. The women’s team only lost once all season. The twos won the league. You can’t do much better than that!

HOW DOES THE CLUB ENSURE THAT YOUNGER PLAYERS ENJOY A SMOOTH TRANSITION INTO THE SENIOR GAME?

We are welcoming, social and encourage to younger lads to express themselves and get involved with the group.

HOW DO YOU AND THE CLUB FEEL ABOUT THE CHALLENGES OF THE 2022/2023 SEASON?

It will be a tough season, but we are confident that all the teams will compete and shock a few people!

PLEASE FINISH OFF BY TELLING ME WHAT MAKES YOUR CLUB SUCH A GREAT CLUB TO BE PART OF?

The people make the club, welcoming, positive and you know everyone has your back!

HENRY PAYNE 2ND TEAM CAPTAIN (CLUB MEMBER SINCE 4 YRS)

HOW DID YOU FIRST COME TO BE INVOLVED AND WHAT KEPT YOU COMING BACK TO YOUR CLUB?

I joined the club as a mini when I was 4 years old and have stayed ever since. It has always been a part of my life since and I have made many lifelong friends along the way.

HOW IMPORTANT AND VALUABLE ARE YOUR SPONSORS TO YOUR CLUB?

They are very valuable to the club and without their support in recent years (despite the relegations) they have stuck by us and for that we are grateful.

WHAT HAVE BEEN THE MAIN CHALLENGES AND OBSTACLES FACED OVER THE YEARS IN NAVIGATING YOUR CLUB/ TEAM/SECTION INTO THE POSITION IT IS IN TODAY?

The club has faced many battles both on and off the field, over the years, from struggling financially to on the bounce relegations.

CAN YOU LET ME KNOW ABOUT ANY AMBITIONS OR DEVELOPMENT PLANS ON AND OFF THE PITCH?

The main ambition is to cement our 1st teams’ position in the new league and to ensure that the club continues to grow as a whole.

HOW’S THE GENERAL MOOD DOWN AT THE CLUB AT THE MOMENT?

Overall there is an element of excitement throughout the club. The men’s have new challenges and a chance to seize some great opportunities and the Ladies teams have come off a great season and are looking to reach new heights in 22/23.

HOW WOULD YOU SAY LAST SEASON HAS GONE FOR THE CLUB ON THE PITCH?

There were some close games that didn’t go our way during the season. However, with the league restructuring we were more than eager to take on the challenge of securing our place in London 1.

HOW DOES THE CLUB ENSURE THAT YOUNGER PLAYERS ENJOY A SMOOTH TRANSITION INTO THE SENIOR GAME?

Youth players are only transitioned in once they have shown their ready to compete at training. To start their journey in the 2/3’s team and slowly introduce them into adult rugby with the support that they need.

HOW DO YOU AND THE CLUB FEEL ABOUT THE CHALLENGES OF THE 2022/2023 SEASON?

With both the 1’s and 2’s getting promoted, the club is excited about the higher challenges of rugby which we believe we are more than capable of rising to and performing at.

PLEASE FINISH OFF BY TELLING ME WHAT MAKES YOUR CLUB SUCH A GREAT CLUB TO BE PART OF?

Our door is always open to people of all abilities and ambitions. We all take pride in the fact that anyone is welcome at Chelmsford Rugby Club and will be made a part of the blue family.

“

We are a proud, long standing partner to Chelmsford Rugby Football Club and are delighted to see their hard work, dedication and commitment to the sport and rugby culture recognised. Their success on the pitch is commendable, only surpassed by the true value the club creates for the local community and residents of all ages. We look forward to the season ahead and to seeing their off- and preseason efforts come to fruition at upcoming matches.”

John Stubbings, Group Director and Company Secretary at Woodland Group

Alan Boyd of MKM Building Supplies in Chelmsford is a rugby player himself so can easily relate to the players and members at Chelmsford RFC. Alan told Rugby Club Mag:

I am delighted to be associated with this great club and the tremendous work their unsung heroes carry out in the local community. Rugby has always been about unity and team cohesion and I feel that Chelmsford Rugby Club really demonstrate this at all levels. The 1st XV competed very strongly in a tough league last season, the 2ndXV won their division comfortably and the ladies and vets teams enjoyed a great campaign. The Mini and Junior section ensure that rugby will be played at this club for many more seasons to come. Myself and all our staff at MKM would like to congratulate everyone at the club on their achievements so far and wish them all continued success for the 2022/23 campaign!

GORDON ASH, CAPTAIN, UNDERTAKERS (VETS TEAM)

I became involved with the rugby club due to watching my Dad play for many years then I started in the MINI’s and progressed all the way to play 1st team, then coached my son`s who in turn both played 1st team rugby too. We have a lot of families who have done the same.

As an amateur club getting the same team

out consistently can be a challenge, however, we regularly put 3 teams out last season when a lot of clubs locally struggled with just 1 and our 1st team, 2nd team and Ladies were all promoted!

The Ladies section is a huge and valued part of the club that proudly managed to field a development squad for a few matches last year and gained promotion at the end of the season.

Chelmsford is our County Town and the rugby club have just celebrated our centenary with our MINI section running since about 1975. Many local businesses kindly sponsor us and as an amateur club, with big aspirations, we could not survive without them.

Chelmsford Rugby Club is a `Family` made up of members with many `Good Hearts` producing `One Great Club`!

JIM HOWE, EX-PLAYER AND CURRENT YOUTH COACH

HOW DID YOU FIRST COME TO BE INVOLVED AND WHAT KEPT YOU COMING BACK TO YOUR CLUB?

I first became involved when I was a colt in 1988/89 where I met some of the legends of the club like Rob Earley, Paul Bass, Graham Mackleworth, Vaughan Evans to name a few. I left the club and came back a few years later and they all greeted me with open arms. Having played first team for more than 20 years I have made many great friends and team mates.

HOW’S THE GENERAL MOOD DOWN AT THE CLUB AT THE MOMENT?

Very positive from all the age groups and one of excitement and some huge

challenges ahead which is a great place to be.

WHAT HAVE BEEN THE MAIN CHALLENGES AND OBSTACLES FACED OVER THE YEARS IN NAVIGATING YOUR CLUB/ TEAM/SECTION INTO THE POSITION IT IS IN TODAY?

Mainly people’s belief and positivity. We have seen some dark times at the club but also seen some amazing times with a great group of people. The darker times were when coaches left (Tim Hughes) and when people moved on we couldn’t sustain our position in the leagues and so ended up being relegated. Also we had a number of great players either retire or go off and play for other local clubs that pay their players; most have returned.

CAN YOU LET ME KNOW ABOUT ANY AMBITIONS OR DEVELOPMENT PLANS ON AND OFF THE PITCH?

I’m currently heading up the coaching team for the U17s which I have been with as a coach since they were the U6s, and I will see the lads through to senior rugby for Chelmsford and beyond should they so wish. We have a very talented group and I’m sure the wider club will support the lads on their rugby journeys.

DO YOU HAVE A SENIOR AND JUNIOR COACHING PHILOSOPHY AT THE CLUB?

We are an all-inclusive club and one of the finest community clubs in Essex with a huge minis and youth section that I have been involved in coaching since the 1998.

DO YOU HAVE ANY SUCCESSFUL PLAYER CONNECTIONS THAT HAVE COME THROUGH OR PLAYED FOR THE CLUB OVER THE YEARS?

Billy Walker (Ex Saracens, Nottingham and now Cambridge prop) played for England age grade.

HOW WOULD YOU SAY LAST SEASON HAS GONE FOR THE CLUB ON THE PITCH?

A good year for the club. The youth teams have excelled, and the seniors have also contributed.

HOW DOES THE CLUB ENSURE THAT YOUNGER PLAYERS ENJOY A SMOOTH TRANSITION INTO THE SENIOR GAME?

Slowly introducing the younger lads to the seniors in organised training and providing a match day experience.

CAN YOU TELL ME ABOUT WOMEN`S RUGBY AT YOUR CLUB?

WHAT ABOUT TOUCH OR WALKING RUGBY?

We have a well-coached and successful ladies section as well as U18 girls that has grown over the years.

WOULD YOU CONSIDER YOURS TO BE A COMMUNITY CLUB AND IF YES HOW DO YOU ENGAGE WITH LOCAL PEOPLE/ BUSINESSES ETC?

Yes ,Chelmsford is a community club and always will be. I always personally mention this whenever discussing the club to ensure the wider community know of

the club, what it can provide and how it can be a focal point in our community.

HOW IMPORTANT AND VALUABLE ARE YOUR SPONSORS TO YOUR CLUB?

Valuable for the whole club and not just the seniors. There are many potential sponsors throughout the minis and youth section of our club.

This is an area which we need to develop as we have a number of very successful business owners who are open to larger involvement overall so I think in this instance the club can and will do better.

HOW DO YOU AND THE CLUB FEEL ABOUT THE CHALLENGES OF THE 2022/2023 SEASON?

Excited, minis to youth and youth to seniors is a huge step up. The youth have so many outside distractions it’s always a challenge not to lose them as they get older and a bigger challenge to get them back once they have decided to take a break from rugby.

PLEASE FINISH OFF BY TELLING ME WHAT MAKES YOUR CLUB SUCH A GREAT CLUB TO BE PART OF?

I’ve been at the club quite a long time now and seeing its changes, people who have gone through the club and people that had the true club at heart who worked incredibly hard to provide a facility that matches the best in the county with a huge growing membership succeed.

Unfortunately, we have lost so many of the clubs earlier pioneers who worked incredibly hard to provide what we have now. These are some of the largest shoes to fill.

Ash, Ollie, Josh Wright playing for Camberley

ELLA ALDERTON LADIES TEAM (BLUEBIRDS) CAPTAIN

The Chelmsford Bluebirds have had a successful few years at the club. During lockdown and subsequent periods of restrictions, the Bluebirds saw a spike in numbers and were able to recruit enough players to field a second, development team.

The first time in the history of the club that we have been able to do so. In addition to this, our league side worked hard last year to be promoted to NC1. Currently we are busy preparing for this challenge, with preseason in full swing! The league side are looking forward to more games and experiencing a higher level of rugby.

This year we’re also planning to get more fixtures/game time for our development team, so we can build up their confidence and experience. We hope to continue to grow our development team in their second season, with ambitions of eventually joining an official league.

The Bluebirds are a very social team, we love spending time together and many players have made some lifelong friends through joining the club. More than ever, the Bluebirds welcome all women in the local area to join our team; those who want to try a new sport, meet new people, join a competitive league side, or return to rugby after a few years or come back after injuries.

The woman’s section at Chelmsford experienced a rare boost in numbers during and post lockdown. However, since we have returned to normality, many are now focusing on aspects of life they have had to put off due to the pandemic. For example, we will lose some players to travel, studies, weddings etc. Whilst retention has always been a larger issue for women’s rugby, we hope to tackle recruitment and retention head on and together as one club.

Training every Tuesday at 7.30pm at Coronation Park. All welcome!

ABI HARMAN WOMEN’S TEAM

VICE-CAPTAIN

I was looking to find a new hobby and noticed that Chelmsford Ladies were holding an inner warrior event designed to promote rugby to all women, including beginners.

As someone who hadn’t touched a rugby ball since playing tag rugby at primary school, I was really keen to attend this recruitment evening! The thing that kept me coming back was the ladies who I was training with; I’d never felt so welcomed

by a group than I didn’t know before joining Chelmsford.

As someone who has only been playing rugby and at CRFC since 2019 I feel fairly new to the challenges which have been presented to us as a club. However, I would say that COVID had a massive impact on us and every other sport. As a club we overcame this period by supporting players throughout the lockdowns and maintaining communication with the different teams to keep that morale and love for rugby going, even if we couldn’t train or play together.

Also, women’s rugby is growing everyday which is amazing to see but I imagine our predecessors would have come up against a whole range of challenges and obstacles to get the club and ladies team into the position it is in now.

I would say the general mood is excitement and nervousness- any person playing a sport wants to

succeed and do their best. With our upcoming season (our ladies team have been promoted from last season) there is a feeling of trepidation but mainly excitement and the buzz of a new season challenge starting!

Last season can only be described as amazing! There is always going to be things to work on and continued development but both ladies and men teams came back fighting after COVID and it shows from the recent promotions in this upcoming season.

Our coaches do everything they can do ensure a smooth transition into the senior game- including introducing the younger players to more senior players before they move up. This helps to make the younger player feel more comfortable with the team and ensures the senior players are aware of who to engage and help with during the transition.

Being part of the women’s team – I have nothing but praise for our squad. We worked so hard to be promoted this season and have had consistently good numbers at training. Whilst other clubs were struggling after COVID we found that we were able to recruit players- we are constantly looking to promote women’s rugby and grow as a team and club. I’m really proud

to call myself a women’s rugby player and even prouder of the success our team has had recently; I can’t wait to get this season started!

We have a good relationship with the rest of the club and try hard to promote a one club philosophy by supporting each other games, playing mixed touch and socialising together.

Our club is great because of the The people!! I’ve never met a more welcoming and supportive group of people than those at CRFC. Rugby as a sport is known for its hard hits and controlled aggression but the people couldn’t be nicer and that goes not only for our club but for this great sport generally.

Aspull RFC

BAZ BAILEY CLUB CHAIRMAN

I have been a member of Aspull RFC for 45 years, Aspull were setting up the mini section and i wanted to play rugby, i was at the very 1st training session and played in the 1st mini section game age 12. I played for 40 seasons, including Colts rugby and 1st team rugby for 25 years.

Player numbers and financial issues meant that 12 years ago the club was in trouble and we very nearly ceased to exist, luckily we had some loyal club members who kept on going and would not let the club close, between us we bought the beer for the bar and the club paid us back once we had sold it, several of the old players came out of retirement, the 1st team had to drop out of the RFU leagues and join local leagues.

It was a long hard road but eventually after 3 years we had picked up some players, the old players set up a vet’s team, which went unbeaten for 5 years and was a financial boost to the club. We kept going in the leagues and were successful in gaining promotion on a couple of occasions.

We were constantly trying to recruit players, but it is difficult when you are struggling. Several of the players who had left to pursue their careers, at a higher level, we were in luck that

they still wanted to play for Aspull and connect with their mates, we had an influx of players who were Aspull lads who had played at a higher level coming back to the club, Sam Kindred (Preston GH) Liam West (Sedgley Park), we entered the RFU leagues at level 9, with the help of the returning experienced players, the young players and the squad grew, we finished the season unbeaten and were promoted, we again picked up some players who had played at a higher level and wanted to come back to the club, Tommy Highman (Wrterloo),Liam Reeve (Waterloo), Mark Murray (Waterloo) Rhodri Carlton Jones (Sedgley PK) we were building momentum as a club and playing some excellent rugby which was attracting players. players. Capt. Sam Kindred was the driving force to promotion on his return to Aspull and current HC John Gavin has helped tyo develop the squad alongside his brother and 1st Team manager Jeff Gavin.

Whilst the rugby was going well the club suffered a huge blow, club secretary Christian Walsh who had been one of the main drivers to help grow the club sadly passed away aged 34, Christian had been at the heart of the club revival and had set out the plan for the club to continue to grow, Christian is sadly missed by all at the club, but his dedication and commitment

to Aspull RFC will never be forgotten. His dad Jimmy Walsh is down at the club daily maintaining the pitches and is the club president, Jimmy was Honoured this year with a lifetime award.

The club grew and even with the intervention of covid we continued to pick up players, working closely with some of our local rugby league clubs we exchanged players to play for them in summer and for Aspull in winter.

Over the last few years the club has continued to grow both on and off the field, the 1st team have won 2 more promotions as well as winning the Lancashire shield, both the 2nd and 3rd teams have won promotions in their respective leagues. we are now in the lucky position of running 3 senior teams which seemed a long way off a few years ago, hard work and persistence has paid off as well as having

many good members.

The club is looking to maintain its status in level 7 for the coming season, we are undertaking refurbishment of the clubhouse thanks to our group of ‘bodgers’ a group of ex-players, Mick Yates, Graham Bennett, Chris Hurst, Gary Owen, Paul Keegan and Pete Moss, who spend every Tuesday at the club helping to improve the facilities, they have upgraded the changing rooms, the toilets, function room , outside patio area and have an extensive list to keep them going, their efforts have made a fantastic difference to the club, they were rewarded for their efforts when they received volunteer awards from Lancashire RFU president Gill Burns in 2022.

Our rugby philosophy is to play entertaining open rugby and enjoy it, training is well attended and varied, we make it fun to attend training and matches.

The club at the moment is buzzing, 3 senior sides and a thriving min section, along with the introduction of a ladies section, 12 years ago when we had our problems we had an end of season presentation in the club with less than 30 people attending, this year we had to hire the DW Stadium for our end of season presentation as we had 230 attending.

MINIS

• Aspull RFC Juniors was resurrected in 2016 with 11 players.

• After 6 years 2 of which severely affected by COVID we have grown to over 100 players.

• Aspull RFC Juniors came in the top 4 of the Mini and Junior Section of the year at the National Rugby Awards in 2018/19 season

• Teams represented 22/23 season U16 Girls, U14 Boys, U11’s, U9’s,U10’s, U8’s.

• U13 team reached the Lancashire cup finals festival in the 2021/22 season. And we are grateful to also now have U12s & U14s Girls Teams!

Our main successful player would be Dan Bibby, he played for our mini section and colts before finding success as a regular for England 7s, winning an Olympic Silver Medal, Dan still comes to the club and helps coach the mins when his son had started to play.

Last season was very good season, 1st team won the league losing just 1 game, the 2nd team finished top 4 and the 3rds finished top 3, being able to field 3 teams regularly which has been a huge success for the club.

We are a family club and work closely with the min section, several of the senior players help to coach the mins.

We are a community club, we have a wrestling club, American football club, archers who all use our facilities, an adventure club

• Instil family values with focus on discipline and FUN!

• Strong community ethos with focus on Pride to represent Aspull RFC.

• Supported by Wigan Council and local businesses with sponsorship.

• Fundraising efforts have enabled investment in flood lighting to aid winter training.

• First team players providing coaching at the junior level for player development.

• Strong group of volunteers helping to run the junior section ensuring everything from administrative task to catering on match days is organised.

for small children called little sticks. We even have Wigan Warriors use our facilities to run summer sports clubs, we have a good relationship with the local councillors and local schools, and we have plans for the future to develop these relationships further.

Sponsors have been essential to help keep the club going particularly over the tough times, we have sponsorships from local businesses and club members too.

We are looking forward to the challenge of the new season, having been promoted we are aware it is a big step up, but we have prepared well over the summer and are ready for the season, continuing to get 3 teams out every week will be a challenge but we are confident we have the structure in

place. Off the field we have a very good committee who work hard in the background making sure the club continues to grow, we have several functions planned on the social side, and thanks to the work of the bodgers we have a club that is very good venue for functions, event and wedding etc.

Aspull Rugby Club a very friendly and welcoming club, we are inclusive to all abilities, always welcoming to visiting clubs, we are ‘one club’ and there is no divide between 1st, 2nd, 3rd teams, we integrate well with the mini section who are our future, we often say that once you come to Aspull people very rarely leave, we are very proud of what we have achieved and how we have come through some very tough times.

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Before heading off to university I had started playing for the club as a 17-year-old, always playing openside flanker, between 1974 and 76. This was at the time when many will remember the names of the great JPR Williams and Garth Edwards being hailed during the 5 nations and throughout the rugby scene of that time. Latterly my eldest son Jimmy, who played for the club and attended a local comprehensive school, was awarded a scholarship to attend the famous Wellington College. Jimmy was one of many players who received this accolade. Sadly, Jimmy passed away of cancer aged just 26. Aspull Rugby Club named the club Lounge `The Jimmy Highman Lounge` after him. The committee and members refused to change their minds about this when I expressed that many others connected with Aspull RFC had also deserved recognition. My youngest son Tom still plays for Aspull`s 1st XV and was also one of the players who received a scholarship to Kirkham. Tom now teaches over at Merchant Taylor.

Based in Wigan, a huge rugby league area, we are the only Rugby Union club in the whole region. Historically Rugby Union pre-existed league before 1890 and we have a cap in the club commemorating this before the split took place. Being isolated, so to speak, could be perceived as a disadvantage, however, the challenges faced have made us stronger; demonstrated many times on the pitch. Aspull has also produced some great Rugby Union players, like Jack Forster and Dan Bibby. Jack was born in Wigan and went on to play for Sale Sharks in the Aviva Premiership, usually playing as prop. While at Bolton School he was named as School Captain and Captain of the Rugby team. He scored a try on his first appearance for both Gloucester and

England Saxons, the latter coming against the USA at the 2007 Churchill Cup. One of our most famous sons Dan Bibby who played for our mini section and colts, and born in Aspull, before finding success as a regular for England 7s, winning an Olympic Silver Medal. Dan still comes to the club and helps coach the mins when his son had started to play. He also attended Kirkham Grammar School. Dan also went to Cardiff Metropolitan University where he studied sports science and where he represented them in the British Universities and Colleges sevens competition final at Twickenham Stadium before he was invited to Sale Sharks. More recently he was chosen for the final Great Britain Olympic team. In the quarter finals of the Olympic rugby sevens tournament, he scored the decisive try and golden point in extra time for Great Britain against the Argentina national rugby sevens team after a 0–0 draw.

Last season was outstanding for Aspull Rugby Club gaining promotion from a tough league. We had to hire the DW Stadium for our end of season presentation with 230 in attendance. Our M andJ section is coming together with senior rugby and at present we have age groups up to U14`s. Keeping things simple for our younger players is important: run forward, pass backwards and the ref is always right! Then plenty of mischief and fun in between!

Aspull Rugby Club is very much a community club. Five years ago, the village was on the verge of cancelling their Remembrance Day parade due to not having enough local people to help out. The rugby club members stepped up, including assisting with the traffic management. Most, if not all of our members, live within a few miles of the club. Its being a great privilege to have so many friends ,and to have journeyed so long with this great club and I wish everybody all the very best of continued success for many more years to come.

‘IN IT TOGETHER’ AND WOMEN AND GIRLS SECTION OVERVIEW

‘In It Together’ is Aspull Rugby Clubs Mental Health and Wellbeing programme that will go fully live at the start of the 2022-23 season. ‘In It Together’ aims to EDUCATE, INSPIRE and ENCOURAGE everyone connected with the club to look after their mental health and wellbeing in many different ways.

Whether you are a current or past player, a coach, a parent, a spectator or volunteer at the club this programme is here for you, to help you, support you and value your role and an EMU but also as a person. EDUCATE - about mental and physical health & wellbeing INSPIRE - people to talk and share their experiences ENCOURAGE - people to invest in their own mental and physical health and wellbeing • Inspiring • Educational • Investment • In mental health and wellbeing

We decided to call our well-being programme ‘In It Together’ as it signifies the values we hold as a club.

Whatever we do, whether we do it on or off the pitch, we do it together as one club community that is made up of individual teams, volunteers who undertake a multitude of roles and responsibilities, spectators and supporters.

We are simply ‘In It Together’ whether times are good or bad we always support each other and are there for each other without

question or judgement.

We believe that we have a responsibility to support our members the best way that we can, not just on the field but off the field too.

The wellbeing of all our members we hold of paramount importance and we will endeavor to provide the best supportive environment for them that we can.

‘It’s not just about the rugby it’s about providing an environment where everyone can develop as people not just on the field but off the field to, knowing that they can always find the support and guidance they need whenever they need it

CHARITABLE STATUS

From July 2022 the Aspull Rugby Club ‘In It Together’ programme will embark on achieving charity status in order to expand opportunities to apply for funding and also develop further work in the local community and schools.

We are and will continue to invest in our volunteers:

TRAINED VOLUNTEERS

Support, advice and guidance to members is provided by trained volunteers from within the club who have access to training such as; The Mental Health First Aid Qualification.

WOMEN AND GIRLS SECTION

2022 has seen Aspull rugby club embark upon the development of a women and girls section to provide a pathway from mixed rugby for females through to girls only rugby and onto senior women’s rugby comparative

‘IN IT TOGETHER’ ‘In It Together’ is made up of 6 elements;

Counselling Club wide opportunity to undergo counselling, psychotherapy and CBT in groups or 1-1 basis with our club counsellor Lee Jewitt. In addition to FREE Drug and Alcohol Counselling via the ‘Standing Tall Foundation’.

Support Advice And Guidance

Up to date and relevant local support, advice and guidance given to our members in relation to their mental health and wellbeing both on match days and non-match days with a 24/7 email helpline or face to face access

with the structure from mixed rugby to senior men’s rugby for the boys.

From zero women and girls participating at the club past age 12 we now have in excess of 20 senior women and 20 U16’s girls training on a weekly basis at the club with 10 girls split between the U12’ and U14’s age groups.

For the 2022-23 season we registered the women’s 1st XV to take part in both the Inner Warriors Allianz League

Health Promotion

Monthly targeted health promotions in conjunction with Aspull Surgery concerning men’s, women’s, boy’s and girl’s health issues to educate and inform our members of the importance of looking after themselves

‘Mob’ Night

Group nights encouraging people to have those difficult conversations and learning to share about their mental health needs and reduce the stigma of talking about mental health topics

Monthly Activites

Open access for members to attend monthly activity sessions away from rugby. Activities in the local and wider community such; rock climbing, walking, sailing, gym work, CrossFit, cycling, camping etc.

‘The Last Word’ Invitational speakers with inspirational stories to share about their own mental health or health challenges which they have overcome.

Question and answer meet and greet sessions for members to attend.

and the newly reinstated Lancashire Cup.

We also envisage that the U16’s will participate in regular weekly 15 a side games during 22-23 and we will make use of the cluster festivals organized by the Greater Manchester girls network for the 12’s, 14’s and the additional U18’s who will also double up in the women’s senior team.

The opportunity for the U18’s to cluster in their own

age grade will continue to aid their development in a more manageable and appropriate way to meet each player’s development need.

As a result of the women and girls being new to Aspull Rugby Club it allows us the opportunity to award Heritage numbers and certificates to those who represent the club at 1st XV level for the women which we believe adds that extra kudos and recognizes their long term embedment in the fabric and history of the club.

Changing lives

We fund life-changing projects across the UK and Ireland, using the power of rugby to support children with disabilities or facing disadvantage

Wooden Spoon is a registered charity in England and Wales (Reg No: 326691) and in Scotland (Reg No: SC039247)

The Mighty Ducks of Rugby

SOPHIE WARREN CHAIR

Sophie Warren became involved with Dartford Valley RFC when her uncle Ian Croft suggested that she complete her Sports Therapist training hours with the club in addition to helping out as well. At the time Ian was involved as a parent of Sophie`s little cousin, an U16`s player, and now 4 years on all three are still involved: Ian and his son are 2nd team manager and player for the 2nd XV and Sophie is the clubs Chair! “Shortly after completing my training, I became the Club Physio and after 2 years of being Physio, I was approached by ExCom, to become our club`s first ever female Chair and the youngest ever in the country irrespective of gender. The main attraction for me was the warm family atmosphere, which is apparent as soon as you walk into the club; you automatically become one of the Red and Black army and the support network is second to none. I am incredibly proud to be in the position I am in! Rugby core values are at the very heart of our coaching at Dartford Valley and we pride ourselves in being a working class club, ensuring our membership costs remain very low – we take rugby to all sections of our community and that will never change. Everyone is welcome and when you join us you become part of our family.

POTTED HISTORY

Darenth Valley Rugby Club started in the 70s, a nomadic pub team which fielded first one, then two men’s teams. In 2013 the Club was ‘reborn’ as Dartford Valley and the Club, securing the town crest. and crucially the support

of Dartford council who recognised and supported the Club’s plans to diversify, and to become a club at the heart of the community, which was open to all. In 2014 these plans were put into action with no shortage of ambition, as the launch of the hugely successful ‘Dartford Valley Youth Academy’ was quickly succeeded by launches of a women’s and wheelchair rugby section respectively. Membership growth and the requirements to service these new sections led to a pressing need to find what the club branded a ‘home of our own’, after operating out of a shipping container for the prior 25 years. With evidence that the club was doing exactly what they said they would do, Dartford Council got behind the ‘home of our own’ campaign in a big way,

building and handing over a multi-million-pound state of the art facility, at which club members can stand on the balcony and look down over the Dartford Bridge and Thames below. It is a stunning location, which has allowed the club to deliver and to continue to grow the service it offers to community, for which we are ever grateful to the leader of Dartford Council, Jeremy Kite and sponsors too numerous to name. The whole growth process took years of hard graft from ExCom members and the local community to raise money, but also engage in the specification, design and build phases of the project. The Club were determined that Dartford would have a home for Rugby, and we are so proud to say we have achieved that; a home we now call ‘The Lodge’, an ode to the origins of the site on what

was once Stone Lodge Farm.

Fast Forward to today, the mood at the club at is very exciting; and we are ready to go! The bar has been set high after last season’s achievements, which was the most successful in our history; and we are still just at the start of our journey. Dartford Valley are finally on the map! The new Dartford Valley Community Rugby club, opened in November 2019 just 4 months before the pandemic struck, and the results are most definitely starting to show!

The Men’s 1st XV closed out their season with promotion to Kent 1, after a dominant 101-0 victory against Greenwich 1st XV, at The Lodge, and went on to win the league. For the first time– we had won the league and finally gained promotion!

The Women’s team `Dartford Valley Roses` had a handful of players, barely enough for a team when we opened our new facilities. At the end of the last season, they finished top of NC2 and were also promoted.

The Dartford Valley Youth Academy has doubled in size since pre-pandemic to over 300 kids. They now have 16 club-age-sections and have enjoyed fantastic success this season, including the U-15’s girls reaching the Kent Cup Final (2nd May). Additionally, a number of players were selected for Kent County honours whilst players across 3 age groups became part of the Saracens Kent DPP and England development pathways. All of this from a club that, pre-pandemic had no home and was operating from the corner of a school field at the Leigh Academy school.

IAN AND JACOB COMPTON Father and Son, Ian and Jacob Compton have had a long and positive association with Dartford Valley Rugby Club. When Ian was involved with the club, in those earlier , the club was known as Darenth Valley RFC; a lot has changed since then. Jacob told Rugby Club Mag:

Previously I played outside centre for Faversham RFC who played in a higher league but when I joined Dartford Valley the spirit I experienced at the club and from the players was such that you would never know this. The club is really blessed with a fabulous group of people and an amazing support for both 1st and 2nd XV players who return this

positive attention by being dedicated to their teammates on and off the pitch.

Last season’s achievements were magnificent and I feel that the teams need only continue as they have been to be successful in their new leagues. Like I said Dartford Valley RFC are a special club and are obviously committed to the well being of all their members, young and old, and really provide a safe and enjoyable environment for anyone from their local community who wishes to join them.

Compton Kitchens are also proud sponsors of the club and everybody at Compton`s would like to wish everyone at the club the very best of continued success for the new Season!

The club has a ‘Red and Black Army’ of volunteers across all sections that work tirelessly throughout the year to grow and develop the club. Without the help of the council and these amazing volunteers, together with a loyal group of core sponsors and supporters, none of this success would have been possible.

We now have state of the art facilities at the heart of our local community and a place where everyone is welcome.

Discipline, equality and respect are non-negotiables, excellence is promoted and FUN is paramount. We are Dartford Rugby! The famous saying from the movie “Field of Dreams” said: ‘Build it and they will come’ well, in the case of Dartford Valley Rugby Club, they certainly did!

The Flagship and embodiment of our values and success is currently our women’s section. At the end of last season and we

Peter Timon grew up playing football, he describes himself as a left back playing a right back position; a Jamie Carragher type player. He became a little disillusioned with football whilst watching `Match of the Day` and the commentators insistence that it was perfectly legitimate to fake a foul. When his children started to show an interest in sport his mind was already made up to steer them towards Rugby. Peter told Rugby Club Mag:

In the early days of rugby at Dartford Valley RFC there was little in respect of facilities, you would have to walk right round from the school even when you just needed to go to the bathroom! My journey with the rugby club started as a parent, player, youth coach, social chairman and then Sponsor. My sponsorship of the club was not typical in that I used the exposure for my business more towards recruitment than work, and was able to recruit many members and players from the club.

Being a member of Dartford Valley RFC has taught me a lot. As I watched members and their children socialise I could see that it offered an inclusive and safe family environment where the parents could enjoy a drink and still have the kids running around too. In normal life this doesn’t always

welcomed Bex Goodwin into the women`s coaching team alongside Katie Doots. Our club’s Roses women’s team, which three years ago was barely able to field a side has now grown to the extent that it is now fielding two teams Dartford Valley RFC have had to break down a lot of barriers in Rugby and challenge the ‘norm’. In line with our values we have been determined to have parity between our men’s and women’s senior sections – including social media exposure, pitch access, training times, equal financial support and the same warm welcome that every single person – from player to supporter receives when they walk through our gates.

An additional ladies’ team has now been entered into the Inner Warrior leagues for this season, ensuring we have two ‘official’ teams and we continue to encourage those with less experience into the game.

The Dartford community is the heart of our Club. We have special membership

happen and adults are often sadly disconnected from their children. Until I joined the rugby club I never really understood why my mum loved her caravan with her family around her so much – now I do- the adults and children could be together in community with each other in a sociably acceptable way just like at he rugby club!

Dartford Valley RFC is unusual from other clubs I know or hear of where different sections are treated in different ways. Dartford don’t have that, there is a true equality amongst everyone and every section. We have also managed to change mindsets amongst other clubs by encouraging our Friday Night Floodlit fixtures, an alternative to the Sunday 11am get together, and post-match all of our teams are welcomed and applauded with a tunnel all the way from the pitch to the clubhouse. My son Ollie plays U15`s and my daughter Tillie is an U8`s player with her sister Annie being a former coach of the `Minnie Monsters` with Laura Stickings. I also have another daughter Eva who is 14 and two twin boys Joseph and Jacob who may also become involved with the club in the future.

Everyone loves to come to Dartford Valley Rugby Club because we have managed to built such a successful and fun community where people can relax and enjoy themselves away from the usual challenges of life!

options for discounts behind the bar and we host live music every Saturday. We also hire our facilities to local groups and are also starting to build great relationships with local schools.

Luke Stickings, Head of Youth Academy, Club Director and MD of Stone Valley Lodge (the club’s facilities management company) is the reason we are all here, he had the vision and continues to drive us all forward to places we didn’t believe were possible. Together with his family he is crucial to our success, and we are forever

in his debt. Ben Orcan, Club Captain – hasn’t missed a match in 7 years and is critical to, not only the Men’s success, but also the building of our home.

Mark Finnis, RFU Club Development officer provides his continued support as we try to challenge the norm, he is always at the end of the phone. The Club is run solely by volunteers, and we thank them all! To the Mums and Dads who throw their ring in the hat to coach and assist with admin, to the players who turn up to support and lend a hand – simply thank you, their sacrifices can never be articulated but hopefully the continued success of our club is the best thank you of all!

Actively recruiting experienced sprinkler fitters!

Anyone aged 18 years or older who are looking for a trade please get in touch! Full on the Job Training provided!

Tottonians RFC

WAYNE HAUSEN CHAIRMAN

I first played for the club in 1986 and within a few years i was involved on the social committee, we are very much a club which is run by volunteers and are exceptionally lucky to have so many great people.

After I finished playing, I started coaching my sons age group, under 6’s, and continued all the way through to Colts, where I coached for 4 seasons as well as becoming club coaching co-ordinator and junior vice chairman, after I finished coaching I stepped in for 7 years as Club Vice Chairman and finally became Chairman in 2019.

I realised in 2019 we needed a more balanced coaching team so I employed 2 new experienced coaches to add to our existing 2 coaches and this proved to be the catalyst for our recent success, however, we didn’t plan on a worldwide pandemic having such an impact on us but when we were able to train, even if it was in groups of 6, as laid out by the RFU, we did so all the way through Covid, this was tedious at times but put us ahead of the curve to those clubs that didn’t train and closed their doors.

For the last 15 years we have run 4 men’s senior sides

in the leagues and are the only club in Hampshire to do so, with that said we only had 2 pitches and a training area so I put a 5 year plan in action when I took over as Chairman, to install an additional 3rd pitch and build a purpose built tractor/machinery/kit store. This has freed up the existing tractor store attached to the clubhouse and we are just finishing the conversion into an additional 2 new changing rooms. At the same time we extended the main clubhouse social space into an unused room increasing the floor area by a 3rd, the last part of this development is happening now a much larger external balcony overlooking the 1st team pitch this should be in place for the 1st game of the season.

Because of covid grants have been few and far between because of the financial situation the RFU finds itself in. No grants were obtained from them, so the club has invested £250,000.00 of their own reserved funds into this project.

When I was CCC myself and Gavin Williams, who was our then DOR, we wrote a year by year player development pathway document which was a great starting point, I have shared this with other clubs and they have implemented this as well.

Because of our experienced coaches we have, and due to the lack of RFU Cpd grade courses, we hold coaching clinics for our mini/junior coaches organised by the club and delivered by our senior coaches.

After such a successful season last year, where our 1st

team won London SW2 and gained promotion, our 2nd team won Hampshire 1 and also gained promotion and the 3’s & 4’s settled nicely into their leagues the anticipation of this forthcoming season is one full of excitement; especially for the 1st team who go into a new league Regional 2 Tribute South Central where we will face 11 teams we have never played competitive rugby against before.

The 2nd team now go into Hampshire Counties Division 2 which is a new restructured league where they find themselves amongst 9 local first teams playing level 8 rugby this is essential for our squad to have this level of competition as well as our 3’s & 4’s in their leagues facing decent opposition.

David Sisi who is currently a lock for Italy, and plays his club rugby for Zebre in Italy, having previously played for London Irish & Bath as well as England U18/U20, has proudly come through our youth section. Current player Dylan Baptista played for Zimbabwe also.

At any given time at least 80% of our 1st and 2nd team who are the majority of the senior squad have come through our mini/junior section and our transition from junior to senior through to our player pathway has been a great success. Many other clubs in the County use it as a textbook model, geographically and demographically we are not the biggest club around and are not fed by private schools; but by 2 local comprehensive schools, but we are the only club in the county fielding 4 senior sides.

We were one of the first clubs in the County to run a ladies side ‘Totties’ but this hasn’t run for a few years but is very much a priority of ours, especially now we have additional changing rooms so there is no clash with Colts rugby on a Sunday. We organise touch every summer as a matter of course with the mini/juniors 6-7pm then U15Seniors 7-8.30pm.

Our facilities are open to the local community for functions/ meetings; the NHS use it several times a year as well as the local cricket club, the running club use it as a staging post on a triathlon day, and the fire brigade use changing rooms for their evacuation drills. Additionally we have

supported the Welsh Rugby team ‘Ride to Rugby’ from Cardiff to Paris on their 6 nations fixture and laid food and drink on for them.

About half of our sponsors are ex-players who run their own businesses and they naturally just want to help, other sponsors come on board initially with a package to buy our international tickets, but they soon fall in love with the club and sponsor match day lunches as well, this in turn helps our revenue so we are not totally reliant on membership and bar takings.

We are ready for all the challenges that this year will bring i.e. tougher opposition, but the initial challenge will be to get our pitch into a playable condition for the 3rd September due to the drought damage that has occurred.

Tottonians Rugby Club have always been known as a warm and welcoming club, we are lucky we have our own club and our facilities are not shared, on Saturday nights the club is always open for members and returning players to enjoy, meaning we are not having to rent out like some other clubs which I have always felt was short-sighted.We also do a rugby tour each year and this year have returned with 60 tourists to a beach rugby tournament in Ibiza age ranges 18 - 75yrs.

Would like to wish all our players, supporters and members of Tottonians the very best of continued success for the 2022/2023 Campaign!

PHIL OSMAN HEAD COACH

Phil Osman, originally from Southampton, comes from a great rugby family. His dad Eric had a real love affair with rugby and was a formidable back row player for Trojans in his day. Eric had always hoped one of his 4 sons would be a forwards player like himself but It wasn’t to be as all 4 sons Russel, Tim, Nick and Phil, all successful players in their own right who competed at a high level, were backs! It took until grandson Isaac came along to realise his dream; although Eric is no longer with us he would have been highly pleased of this particular outcome!. Mum Rossi is a regular visitor at Tottonians on matchday and with her many years of supporting the boys has developed quite a keen

and wise eye for the game.

Phil`s rugby career, mainly as fly half, has spanned over 4 decades from captaining his school and county sides, in his teens, to progressing through to senior rugby at Trojans, Harlequins, Nottingham, Henley and Newbury (The 4 Osman brothers are the only known set of 4 siblings to play together in a National League game). A few years were spent playing and coaching in Boston, USA for Beacon Hill RFC and as well as some time coaching at RMA Sandhurst. His longest club spell was at Henley Hawkes, during their highly successful period in the early 2000s, achieving numerous promotions while playing an ambitious style of rugby; an earlier coaching strategy of former England World Cup-winning coach Clive Woodward. This period was really where Phil honed his coaching skills under the tutelage of the great Nigel Dudding. Phil recently told Rugby Club Mag:

It’s a breath of fresh air to be part of Tottonians Rugby Club with my brother Tim alongside me. It really feels that the whole club is faced in one direction. I have known our Chairman Wayne Hausen socially for a number of years and I have never come across a club member who has so integrated himself into everything the club stands for. I have also been blessed with a fantastic coaching support from club stalwarts Bob

Millard and Adrian Spafford, and a hugely committed Physio team and back room staff. Everyone pulling in the same direction makes a massive difference.

I was thinking about a change when covid hit and the friendliness and ambition of Tottonians tipped the scales for me. I am absolutely loving it here! We are regularly attracting new players and having had a decent rugby career myself; played and coached at a good level, I feel I have been able to bring coaching standards to Tottonians of clubs a few levels above us; I am also very impressed by how our lads have all bought into this. That’s not to say we don’t have challenges; the main one being availability. Our guys have partners, kids and lives and may not always be available when we need them.

Consolidation is word we don’t use at Tottonians,

we believe that if you enter a league, you enter it to compete, to be competitive! I`m glad our 1st game is at home and it would be great to get a home and away win early in the season.

Moving here has been a fantastic move for me, my long-suffering rugby wife Alice is happy that I’m doing what I love to do. From top to toe our club ethos is focused on developing one happy and successful environment for all; from minis to seniors. It is great to have this opportunity to work with such a diligent chairman as Wayne and the abundance of talent in our teams all helps to push the club forward. I do have a hardnosed mentality about succeeding and believe that to be successful you desperately have to want it. I am very excited about the next chapter and the future at Tottonians Rugby Club!

I live in Bournemouth now, previously from the Isle of Wight, and use to play for one of the club’s biggest rivals. Sadly, that club went through some tough times and ultimately went into decline. During a match against Tottonians, their captain came over and suggested that I should play for them. I felt a bit conflicted about going to my teams’ rivals, but my wife pointed out that if I really wanted to continue playing rugby, I didn’t have an alternative option. 17 years later i`m still there, and last season, I decided to hang up my boots. I reached a point where I was loving the changing rooms atmosphere before and after the game, I knew I had a good run, but at age 57, and lacking the energy and vigour of my younger teammates, I knew that the right time had come to retire graciously.

Tottonians rugby club

have made some very good long-term decisions over the years which have ensured the clubs success on and off the pitch as we see it today. As a principal sponsor the company I work for, Brewpack, do their best to proudly support this great club in any way they can.

Wayne Hausen has carried the club baton forward with the help of ex-players and friends of the club. Chris Wingham, also a former back row player and sponsor, who I played alongside, is still involved with the club; I had the privilege of playing with Chris; a formidable player in his time.

I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate everybody at the club on being recognised for their outstanding contribution to Rugby. Tottonians Rugby Club is a real family club where anybody is welcome. Good luck to all the teams for the 2022/2023 campaign!

CHRIS WINGHAM, EXPLAYER AND SPONSOR

It was originally through the Searle`s family that I got involved with Tottonians. Keith and I went to university together and worked in the same industry and I eventually move to this part of the world about 35 years ago. I had always played rugby as a child and into my youth but hadn’t played for a few years due to work and family commitments. When the opportunity arose to play for the clubs vets side, I was 40 at the time, I decided to become involved again. I`ve always been a back row player and played up until I was 52 when a cruciate injury ended my rugby career.

The club enjoyed a great season throughout 21/22 and I’m sure they will continue their success as they progress in this year’s new division. The London leagues can be generally a mixed back of teams from large to smaller clubs and there can be an element of an unknown quantity.

Tottonians carry the mark of a traditional rugby club who carry the values and passion of rugby football. They engage fully not only with anyone that wishes to part of them but with their whole local community. It’s a great club to be part of and I wish everyone all the very best of enjoyment and success for many more seasons to come!

Gainsborough RFC

KIERON SMYTHE

I have been at the club for 6 years. I first joined when I was 18. Having competed internationally at judo, I fancied having a go at another contact sport. My cousin convinced me to come down and I haven’t looked back since!

Our main challenge in my first few years was consistency. We would have different faces at training and each week on matchdays. Recently, the consistency in the first team has been the key to our success. In my six years I have seen three different captains, which shows how inconsistent we have been. Our current captain is now going into his third season and has given the club a winning mentality, something we didn’t really have before.

Short term, we expect ourselves to win the 2021/22 NLD cup final, which isn’t until August. After that, our ambition for this season is to comfortably finish mid table in our new league, before pushing for promotion in the next three years. Cup wise, we expect ourselves to retain our Lincolnshire Cup crown. The ladies are competing in their first ever league campaign and will hope to do well, winning games and being consistent. Our junior teams be hoping they can continue to compete with the larger clubs in the area. On the pitch, we want to continue implementing a game plan throughout all the

teams we have. Currently we don’t have any major off field plans.

Our junior and senior philosophy has always been based around physicality. We’ve now evolved as a club and the philosophy is to be playing expansive rugby across all of our teams.

The club is now in its third era. The team has previously been formed from 19241929, 1949-1962 and then 1974-now. I believe the club only stepped up out of the merit leagues in the last decade, so the last couple of seasons, which includes multiple cup finals and last season league and cup double, along with another final to come, is the most success the club has seen.

The mood is fantastic. Like I mentioned before, there is a real winning mentality throughout the club at the moment. The ladies are

excited about their first league campaign and the men are still on a buzz from their silverware. Everyone is excited and looking forward to a big 22/23 season for all teams. We know net season

will come with challenges and difficulties, but we are relishing the fact that we get to face much more competitive teams next season.

Last season was fantastic. The club is in the best place it has ever been. The juniors have played competitive matches against larger local clubs, the ladies managed their first ever win in their 6 competitive games, which ensured they could enter the league system. The men won the county cup and the league with another cup final imminent. The atmosphere is really positive.

We are currently missing the older juniors/colts age groups in our club. Some have left to a bigger local team and two recently made the step up to senior rugby. They were heavily involved in training before making substitute appearances and then starting against some of the team struggling in the league. This allowed them to both shine and look shoe ins for starting positions next season. As the current u13s get older, we will hope to bolster their ranks and in a few years time end up with a full junior age group going from u7s up to colts.

The ladies are eager and determined to do well. They train three times a week

sometimes to get as fit and strong as possible. The majority of the ladies started with no rugby knowledge so they have come a real long way from their first every training session two years ago!

We definitely are a community club. We get a few locals down to watch who aren’t relatives or friends of the players. We have donated money to local charities and ensure all of our sponsors are local businesses. We had a huge variety of sponsors throughout the club last season. There is a real community feel in the club too as seniors will socialise with the juniors, which is brilliant for them as they really look up to and idolise the senior team.

Sponsors are vital to the club, now more than ever. The club will only continue to grow with the support of our sponsors. They were all invited to our presentation night and awarded tankards for their sponsorship. They have enjoyed watching us do well, so hopefully we will continue our good form into next season for them!

I feel like the club has realistic ambitions for the next season. Success in the cup and a mid-table finish seems fair given this seasons success. Although, in this years cup runs we did beat two teams from our new league, so who is to say we can’t beat a lot more of them and push for back-to-back promotions! The club really want to use the promotion as

a chance to grow the club. We want to push recruitment and have a consistent 2nd team as this will only help the 1st team progress even further. We all know next season will be difficult, so it’s all about growing the club and taking it one game at a time.

The club is just a big family. Everyone supports one another, in all our teams. This is the best the club has ever been, on and off the pitch. New faces are always welcome and are quick to settle in. Everyone in the club understands that they have a job to do and they are happy to do it, which helps the club run so well and why it is such a great place to be!

Local hero - Martin Roberts. He is our juniors head coach and head coach

of our ladies. He has done so much to help the club grow. He recently won a volunteer of the year award at the England volunteer of the year awards. He was also asked to coach the NLD girls u15s team. He’s had a fantastic season as a coach and deserves a lot of recognition for all his hard work.

CHRIS THOMPSON

Chris Thompson is a current coach at Gainsborough Rugby Club as well as being a sponsor with his business Lincolnshire Embroidery and his partner Samantha Frost`s business Fun Printz, he recently told Rugby Club Mag:

I played rugby from a young age, starting on the wing and typically, as I got older, ending up in the front row; as a prop no-less! I decided to join the Merchant Navy as i reached adulthood and 11 years ago I moved to the local area with my fiancée; the rest is history as they say! I am a current coach of the clubs U`11s where my son Tyler plays and as he becomes older he will most

like play In one of the forward positions. My daughter Falon has also played for the club but for the time being is no longer involved.

Our 1st XV enjoyed a great season just gone and now that our ladies team is up and running this will add an extra and positive dimension to our club.

Everybody at Gainsborough Rugby Club are really one big family where there is great integration amongst the senior and junior teams.

As we enter the new season I would like to wish all our teams and players, members and supporters all the very best of success for the 2022/23 Season!

MATT NUTTALL, SUPPORTER AND SPONSOR- NUTTALL ELECTRICAL

It was really through my friendship with Chris Thompson that I decided to become a club sponsor. I was aware of the great support that Gainsborough Rugby Club were providing to local people, young and old, throughout our region. It is also great to hear how well the teams are performing

on the pitch and in particular the many young people who are becoming involved in playing and training at the club. Myself and all our staff at Nuttall Electrical would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the members of Gainsborough Rugby Club on their continued outstanding contribution to sport whilst providing a positive and healthy environment for local people. Best wishes to everybody for the new season!

Beckenham RFC

LAURA THOMPSON CHAIR -BECKENHAM RFC

I joined Beckenham RFC around seven years ago as a player in the ladies team, when I moved to the area, having started my playing career a few years previously at another Kent club. In 2017 I joined the small team coaching girls rugby, progressing to take over the leadership of that section and in 2020 additionally taking on the role of Director of Women’s Rugby. I stood down from that role this year and in July was elected as Club Chair. I was looking for a local club where I could make friends, get involved and be part of a community, especially as I was new to the area. In Beckenham I found a welcoming environment within the ladies team and soon got to know the rest of the club.

Clubs like ours are run by volunteers and rely on people getting involved, and I found all manner of opportunities both on the playing and coaching side as well as the wider work of the club - hosting the annual Beckenham half marathon, social events for our members, and generally chipping in to make the club a success. We’re a special club and a successful club and I want to play my part in keeping that going.

Many of the challenges we face are the same as those faced by clubs all over the country - the enormous challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic, a reduction in player numbers in certain sections, increasing costsmost clubs will be entirely familiar with these.

On the playing side, we’ve emerged from lockdown with four senior men’s teams and two senior women’s sides. Both our men’s and women’s 1st XVs hit the ground running at the beginning of last season and achieved promotion, with our ladies 1XV winning their league and now joining Championship 1 South (second tier of English women’s rugby) and the men’s 1XV coming second in their league, now entering Regional 2 South East in the new men’s competition structure. Our men’s 2XV came oh-so-close to winning their league, our 4XV (now 3XV) also won their league and have been promoted, and our increased player numbers on the ladies side mean we’ve been able to restart our ladies 2XV who will now be playing competitive league rugby this season.

We’ve achieved this as a proudly amateur club - we don’t pay our players, focusing

instead on the quality of our offering including great coaching teams we’ve built and refined over a few years, improving our physio offering to players, and focusing on making Beckenham a fun, inclusive and supportive place to play rugby. We’re also hugely proud of our youth section, with fantastic numbers across each age group - girls and boysproviding a pathway for young people to progress to senior rugby and options to trial for representative rugby.

Our club celebrated its 125th anniversary in 2019 which involved a huge round of successful fundraising, which we managed to continue during the pandemic, to put us in a position to improve our facilities still further. We’ll shortly be starting work to extend our clubhouse, providing an improved environment for players and options for our club to increase its revenue, ensuring our financial sustainability.

The ethos of our senior teams is consistent across both our men’s and women’s squads - providing excellent coaching for our players, enabling people to improve and excel, while growing the game. At Beckenham we celebrate difference and respect the unique needs, perspectives, and potential of all our members. Across our senior and youth sections we embrace and espouse the RFU values of teamwork, respect, enjoyment, discipline and sportsmanship. Our youth rugby offering, from minis through to academy, puts player enjoyment and wellbeing at the heart of coaching.

There’s excitement at the prospect of new challenges

for all our senior teams. We know this will be a real test for us, particularly for the teams stepping up to higher leagues, but there’s a real focus across the senior squads on working hard and meeting the challenges head-on. I’m excited for the season to start - seeing the youth back and buzzing on a Sunday morning, the club and bar busy, and the spectators vocal on a Saturday and Sunday afternoon.

Probably our most famous player connection is Elliot Daly who started here at Beckenham as a mini - he’s been really supportive of the club over the years and we love the opportunity to get involved and celebrate his successes for Saracens, England and the Lions.

We’ve also had a number of players play representative rugby, including Worcester Warriors Women’s Akina Gondwe who started her rugby career at Beckenham and has nine caps for England U20s, including against her former Beckenham teammate Morgan Freeman who has been capped for USA U20s. And just last month, one of our academy players Ben Hatfield made his international debut for Jamaica U19s in the Rugby Americas North U19 championships, with the Jamaica team coached by our own academy director Phil Davis.

Ensuring young players can transition from youth to senior rugby in a positive way is one of the big challenges for clubs across the country. The step up to senior rugby can be significant, and can be daunting for players. We manage this by nurturing the links between our boys and girls academy sections and our senior squads, such as occasional joint training sessions, and regular interaction between the youth and senior coaching teams.

Having multiple XVs in both the men’s and women’s squads helps, as it means young players can take their first taste of senior rugby in a lower competition level than the 1XV. Like many clubs, a large number of our 18-yearolds move away for university, and we work hard to keep in touch with them, whether it’s through welcoming them back for preseason training, occasional runouts for the Beckenham senior sides, or supporting them in their rugby activities at their university.

We’ve run informal touch sessions for various age groups and squads over the years, and this is something we want to do a bit more of. I’m also really keen that we introduce a walking rugby offering.

We pride ourselves on being a community club. We have good links with a number of local businesses and organisations, many of whom have been fantastic sponsors and supporters of our club, and it’s great that we can continue to grow the number of local firms who want to support the club’s success. Our sponsors are fundamental to our success - they enable us to keep going and delivering rugby to our members. We’re growing our links with local schools too, and always on the lookout for how we can be more involved in the community - I’d encourage any local organisation who wants to get involved to drop me a line.

We are very excited to be testing ourselves in higher leagues this season. Ready to face the challenges ahead, on and off the pitch, working together with our members to support each other and make a success of the club.

Beckenham Rugby Club have strength across all its playing sections - senior men, senior women and youth - as well as a huge volunteer army of coaches, match officials, grounds staff, and people who’ll turn their hand to anything, and of course some really committed parents and supporters. Each of these groups brings something special to our club, and I think the fact that we have so many people giving their time and effort to make the club successful is something we can take an enormous amount of pride in. I was honoured to be voted as Chair and am committed to giving my all to this wonderful club!

LIAM HAYWARD, SUPPORTER, SPONSOR AND JUNIOR COACH

Yes, I live in Beckenham and when my son James came along and showed an interest in rugby, I took him down to Beckenham Rugby Club and haven’t looked back. James is now playing in the U12`s and loves all aspects of the sport including the contact. We did our best to assist him with his tackling, as he approached the contact side of the sport, by providing him with a blow-up figure for him to practice on! He has just started a new local school which plays rugby and is possibly at an advantage as he has been playing rugby continuously for 6 years now whilst receiving much good coaching and guidance from the club. Although playing positions haven’t been fully formulated yet, James looks likely to be a backs player and probably a scrum half, an effective communicator to teammates and good hands!

Typically, as a dad I got into helping with the coaching, which has been great. As a club Beckenham are not only very friendly but very supportive of everyone who goes there. Both senior men`s and women`s rugby were outstanding last season, gaining promotion with many others teams showing great success; a really good example and motivator to everybody else at the club that success can be achieved here. My business Elmes Homecare have sponsored the club for a number of years now and decided to increase our sponsorship including helping out with kits etc. We feel that as a company we hold the same caring family values that we have experienced down at Beckenham Rugby Club.

As we enter the new rugby season, I would like to wish all coaches, parents, players and members the very best of continued success for the 2022/23 campaign!

We offer a tailor-made service covering all types of personal and companionship care, from help with the day to day running of the household, home help requirements, shopping, hospital visits/collection, meal delivery, domestic and cleaning help and much more. We want to take the stress out of the lives of our clients and their families.

Elmes Homecare is staffed by highly qualified carers from the Health and Social care sector, who bring with them their extensive experience of adult care to the team. Across our whole business, our mission is to promote health, wellbeing and comfort in the home for our clients, and provide peace of mind and support to the families who may already be caring or worried about a family member at home.

Rochford Hundred RFC

Happy 60th Birthday.

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN INVOLVED AND WHAT FIRST ATTRACTED YOU TO THE CLUB?

I have been a member of the club since 1969. I was a raw 16 year old second row, school captain and had played for the County. My PE teacher was captain at Rochford Hundred at that time so he asked me to attend a trial game sometime in August. It was my uncles wedding that day so my dad was not that pleased I wanted to play rugby instead, but he let me go. Walking to the ground I met a bear of a man, asking me where the ground was (it was about 100 meters away) but I just said, oh I know, follow me.

During this game, which turned out to be 1’s v 2’s, I was in the 2’s, I found myself ball in hand on the wing and this bear hit me. Don’t recall much after that. I then remember being in the Clubhouse with a pint. Turned out the bear was the first team long standing second row who had no intention of giving up his place to some young upstart. It worked, after examining what pubic hair I had left and how many hairs remained under my armpits after the game I decided to give soccer a go for a couple of years.

But the pull of rugby was too hard to resist so I returned and have been there ever since. (As a second row, for my first game for the Clubs 5th team (yes we had grown very quickly back then) I played inside centre with a fly half who had, in his prime, played for England’s second team as they were then. He was also my local pub’s landlord so I knew him quite well. I could run a bit in those days and he just said when I give you the ball run straight and score. I scored 6 tries that day in my one and only game in the backs.) Ray Stephenson Chairman

WHAT WERE THE MAIN CHALLENGES FACED IN NAVIGATING YOUR CLUB/ TEAM/SECTION INTO THE POSITION IT IS IN TODAY?

Money, it is always about money. Money will ruin the

game. For many years as a first team, we hovered around level 8, went up to level 7 for several years and even level 6 only to come back down again. For many years our first team was primarily made up of home grown players who had played mini rugby then youth rugby then Colts rugby for the Club. Something we were and still are very proud of. But it became more difficult to retain a decent level of competitiveness even at level 8 without rewarding those players and for a short period the stream of talent from the Colts dried up a bit and we were a bit lost in our ambition. Then our ex first team captain, who by now was a very successful business man, said he would fund the first team getting in some better players from the surrounding local area and that is what he did. After a season of consolidation, the first team went on a roll of winning league titles in three consecutive years, earning us a place on National League 2 for the first time in our history.

CAN YOU LET ME KNOW ABOUT ANY AMBITIONS OR DEVELOPMENT PLANS ON AND OFF THE PITCH?

The pitches at Rochford were not in as good a condition as they could be pre covid so we discussed this with a local council and together we agreed a plan to restore the pitches during covid. This worked and after two years of serious investment in the pitches they are great condition and we have received many comments from visiting team in Nat 2 about just how good the ground is (I think some of the ‘bigger’ clubs thought maybe we would be out of our depth in all aspects, and we shocked a few! A very generous club member donated the money for us to buy a set of state of the art floodlights for the 1st XV pitch, we then made a deal to buy some fencing destined for a race course somewhere abroad and we now have pitch playing facilities we can all be proud of. We then looked at the provision for our home supporters and visiting

supporters. We had a new path laid around the pitch so you don’t get muddy feet anymore. This month (August) a new 107 seat stand is being put up, we have a new outside bar and BBQ area as we strive to improve what we offer our supporters off the pitch. A new changing room is currently being built which when complete will give us two bespoke self-contained high level changing rooms in addition to the existing 4 changing rooms we already have. They are the main physical developments, but we also wish to strengthen our mini and youth coaching teams, enabling them to be the best possible coaches

they can be. In that it will be easier for our youth and mini players to reach their full potential as rugby players and ‘decent’ young people. We want to continue to grow our women’s team, the Vixens, and look forward to the growth of the newly formed mixed ability team, the Rochford Hundred Roosters.

DO YOU HAVE A SENIOR AND JUNIOR COACHING PHILOSOPHY AT THE CLUB?

As we begin to think about next season and what we might be doing with our youth and mini players preseason we are continuing with our coaching development programme which we started last season.

We have now got a really experienced Youth Rugby Consultant who has a wealth of experience and will be a great asset to us moving forward. He previously has delivered numerous CPD courses on behalf of the RFU and is well qualified to assist all our coaches in becoming better.

We feel the best way to support our coaches is to give them the tools on HOW

to coach core skills first. That will then give them the structure to deliver their own WHAT to coach.

The issues around coaching the game at Age Grade level as we see it are that our players need to have ownership of their decision making when they play. If we do not expose them to this and simply “tell” players where and how to play, then they will not understand the “problems” the opposition pose to them.

We want to help ensure that our coaches are challenging the players so that they understand the game better and that they can make more effective decisions to ensure they follow the game principles. Coaches must drive the players decision making ability and core skills are foremost at training.

The main topic areas our Youth Rugby Consultant will be focussing on soon include:

1. How to Coach – The Principles of Rugby

2. Session Planning, ensure APES.

3. Language used.

4. Core skills.

5. Club Playbook.

6. Age Grade player development profiling & Age Grade understanding

We believe these are exciting times for all our younger players and as coaches they can make a real positive difference to how rugby is coached and played at Rochford. We are very

confident that as we progress with the development programme not only will our coaches become better they will also enjoy it all a lot more and so will our players.

COULD YOU PROVIDE A POTTED HISTORY OF YOUR CLUB?

Rochford Hundred was the brainchild of John Roden and Ernie Mills and was first discussed in November 1961 when the two met at the White Hart in Hawkwell. John had played at Ilford Wanderers and Ernie was an Old Tottonian so both were keen to play on their own doorstep. The inaugural meeting was held on the 4th January 1962 at the Bull Inn, Hawkwell, and was attended by a small group. The club now needed a ground and the assistance of County Councillor, later Alderman, Bill Wright was sought. He was appointed Chairman of the Club and very quickly secured the use of Rocheway School which had been closed due to its proximity to Southend airport. This of course gave the club changing rooms and rugby pitches immediately. To get players, an advert was placed in the Southend Pictorial and no less than 45 replies were received. Old Westcliffians had seen the advert and invited the new committee to a beer and cheese evening at the Gables.

From this Rochford secured a fixture and an introduction to the London fixture Exchange. The first fixture was in fact against Billericay and not Old Westcliffians however. The name of the club had been suggested by John Roden

after he saw a poster by Rochford Hundred Licensed Victuallers Association in the White Hart. Rochford Hundred was after all the name of the district.

The club also managed to secure a clubhouse in the car park of the Horse & Groom thanks to Mrs Innell, the licensee, and quickly set to work to make it ready for use for season 1962/63, although it was in use from March 1962.

It is worth noting that the first games were played in March and April 1962 and that Bob Light was captain. Bob was Head of PE at the local comprehensive school and brought along many pupils from the school to play for Rochford.

In Season 1962/63 the club fielded 2 senior teams and a Colts team which is remarkable for a first full season. It is recorded that over 70 fixtures were arranged for this first season. Tony Davies was the 1st XV captain in this season. The Colts team was made up of a number of players from Rochford Comprehensive School (now King Edmund), Rayleigh Secondary Modern School (now Fitzwimarc) and Sweyne School. Indeed David Allen (founder of DHL) (then a 16 year old) remembers being at one of the formation meetings at the Bull when he was still at school.

The first few years were not particularly successful but things changed when the likes of Mike Treasure came onto the scene. He was captain in 1965/66 and 1966/67 and was our first full Essex cap. His team went unbeaten for 18 months and were one of the highest scoring teams in the country. He was fortunate in having players of the calibre of Peter Coster, who was a great centre.

With playing success there came a desire to move to our own ground and in 1968 Jim Sowter, who used to write

a column in the local press, printed a story that the club wished to purchase a field in the Rochford district big enough for pitches and a clubhouse. He received a letter from the lady secretary of Southend Manor Football club stating that they had an option on 10 acres of land in Magnolia Road. They were unable to raise the money to proceed and suggested that we might like to take over the option. Jim arranged a meeting between her and Ernie Mills and Ernie liked what he saw and took up the option. The land cost £3,200 and the purchase was completed in March 1969. The Rugby Football Union provided a loan of £2,100 towards the purchase.

The lengthy process of obtaining finance, building the clubhouse and preparing the pitches could now be started. In September 1970 a grant of £5,592 was offered by the Ministry of Housing and Local Government and this was supplemented by grants and loans from the Essex Playing Fields Association and the National Playing Fields Association. In July, 1971 the Club gave the go-ahead to Muggleton’s to start building based on an estimated cost of £11,320 of which we had raised only £8,000. The clubhouse was officially opened by Dickie Jeeps in April, 1974 when the 1st XV played against a strong Eastern Counties XV.

In 1971/72, when Malcolm Fleming was captain, there were two memorable games both in the Essex Senior Cup. The first game was against Old Bancroftians when Dickie Kent, who played scrum half for England, and Howard Waller, who was a renowned sevens player for Richmond, were in the Bancroft side. Rochford won 21-6 in a tremendous match and demonstrated that they had joined the top echelons of Essex rugby. The next round was against Barking Park Modern Old Boys at Rocheway and a pulsating

match was finally won by Barking 14-12. To those who were present these were two of the finest matches played by Rochford at that time.

For the men’s 1st XV, in our first season in Nat 2 we were satisfied in the end. Yes, we finished third from bottom, but even with relegation, we would not have gone down as we were a lot of points ahead of the last two teams.

Our men’s seconds had a hard time but out 3 and 4’s hardly lost a game all season and our 3rd’s won their merit

table league. The Vixens went from having played to playing several games and actually started winning games, whilst having a fantastic time doing so. Our youth teams all acquitted of themselves very well, the U14’s reached the Essex Cup Final, several U15 and U15 played for the County and are now members of the Saracens Player development programme. Our mini’s continued to grow and really enjoyed their first end of season tour since pre covid.

The pitches in those early days at Magnolia Road were frankly dreadful but over the years there has been considerable work done on them and the 1st XV pitch is now one of the best plating surfaces in Essex. In the late 1980’s and early 1990’s the clubhouse was expanded substantially with new changing rooms a gym and a new clubroom and kitchen. Floodlights were also installed to one of the pitches.

Our youth section started in 1991 has gone from strength to strength and provides players for our 1st XV and other club teams. In past seasons our 1st XV has been almost entirely made up of former youth players. We have a strong and growing ladies team, the Rochford Hundred Vixens and girls section. The club is currently playing in National League 2 South and we can look back on 60 years of activity with

considerable satisfaction. Rochford 1st team played a lot of its rugby from the turn of the century in the London Leagues, dropping up and down from London 1 to London 3. Around this time the Essex Senior Cup was the major trophy to win and up until 1999 Rochford had never won it. In that year Rochford reached the final and played Basildon at Westcliff in front of huge crowd, Rochford were triumphant that day to record their first ever win of the Essex Senior Cup. After that Rochford reached many Essex Senior Cup Finals and before the Cup lost some of its glamour they won it a further 6 times.

In 2017 Rochford were playing in London 2 when it was decided to have a concerted push for promotion. The 1st team then went on an incredible journey and they went on to take London 2 title by storm without losing a single league game with every game being a 5 pointer and knocking up 1384 points in

HOW WOULD YOU SAY LAST SEASON HAS GONE FOR THE CLUB ON THE PITCH?

the process. Promotion to London 1 was even better against stronger opposition but Rochford went on to take this league with a run of 27 consecutive wins all, once again, with maximum points and scoring 1480 points. Promotion to the London and South East Premier League saw Rochford claim their 3rd promotion as Champions in consecutive years. Promotion was sealed when the team put in a tremendous performance away at Guernsey in what was a winner takes all game. We won and, although not completing the final few games because of covid ,we were awarded the league title with Guernsey also being promoted as runners up. We now find ourselves for the first time in our history playing our rugby in National 2 South. Somewhere we hope to stay for a long time.

HOW’S THE GENERAL MOOD DOWN AT THE CLUB AT THE MOMENT?

This year sees our Club celebrating our 60th Anniversary and we are all just

glad to be back after covid. The buzz is good. The mini section, over 120 of them, all went on tour at the end of the season for the first time in three years, our women’s team, the Rochford Hundred Vixens are now in a league

and can’t wait for the season to start, our youth teams are all back training and looking really sharp with new players seemingly joining every week, we will run 4 senior men’s teams every week next season

ROCHFORD HUNDRED RFC GO ON RECORD BREAKING RUN

It all began on Saturday 9 September 2017, our first game of the season in London 2 North East. It was an away game to Sudbury in Suffolk and we won 40-29. A bonus point win.

and we will have genuinely competitive second team, so it is all looking good.

Two members joined the Club back in 1962 and both are still actively involved in the Club. To celebrate this both were presented with specially made Honours Caps at the 60th Anniversary Dinner, you can Dennis’ Honours Cap below.

DO YOU HAVE ANY SUCCESSFUL PLAYER CONNECTIONS THAT HAVE COME THROUGH OR PLAYED FOR THE CLUB OVER THE YEARS?

We don’t have anyone who has gone onto to play for England or any other home nation. We have players represent ‘smaller’ countries such as Malta and Croatia and a few who have gone onto play what is now the Premiership, such as Wasps, Sarries and Exeter.

HOW DOES THE CLUB ENSURE THAT YOUNGER PLAYERS ENJOY A SMOOTH TRANSITION INTO THE SENIOR GAME?

We have and continue to invest in the coaching for our Minis and Youth teams to ensure they have the best rugby experience as they move through the age groups and continue to enjoy playing the game.

We acknowledge the potential challenges in retaining and transitioning players from Youth through to the senior game, which have been exacerbated by Covid, and have actively sought to address this with

Season 2017-18 (London 2 North East)

Played 22 Won 22 Bonus Points 22

Total points 110 Points scored 1280 Points conceded 188

Season 2018-19 (London 1 North)

This began a run of 54 straight wins, all with a bonus point, so maximum points taken, a record that still stands in the English leagues. The run cam to an end with a sloppy home loss to Wimbledon on 19 October, 2019. Just over two years without ever losing game and bonus pint wins for scoring 4 tries.

So three promotions in three years. London 2 North East, London 1 North and the London Premier League.

Played 26 Won 26 Bonus Points 26

Total points 130 Points scored 1409 Points conceded 261

Season 2019-20 (London Premier)

Played 22 Won 20 Bonus Points 18

Total points 98 Points scored 753 Points conceded 305 " We now find ourselves for the first time in our history playing our rugby in National 2 South. Somewhere we hope to stay for a long time.

the establishment of an U18s Academy in 2018. Its primary aim is to develop a successful Academy focussed on team performance, player development, engagement and enjoyment but this is coupled with a very clear ambition to aid preparation for and transition into Senior rugby.

We do this with a closer integration across the Academy coaching team with Senior coaching team and exposing the Academy players with the Senior coaches and players. We also ensure we align on coaching language, game structure and patterns of play so that when they do step up, be that into the 3rds, 2nds or indeed the 1st XV, not only do they know the coaches and players, but they will know the calls.

This is a big priority for the future of the Club as well as the development of the player pathway into Senior rugby. This also means that we will have a large number of the Senior teams who have graduated through Minis and Youth into the Senior teams and ensures that even at Nat 2 level, we have a core of local players in the 1st XV.

As evidence of its growing success this coming season 6 ex Academy players have been

awarded 1st XV squad contracts to join those already there.

CAN YOU TELL ME A LITTLE ABOUT WOMEN`S RUGBY AT YOUR CLUB?

WHAT ABOUT TOUCH OR WALKING RUGBY?

It’s not the first time Rochford has had a women’s team –there was a team formed back in the early nineties by Dennis Shead after a Charity game. They ran for about three years and played friendlies against local sides, but back then the player pathway from the youth girls was not like it is today and unfortunately the team folded.

Our journey started back in 2019 when a few of the Mums wanted to get fit while their daughters played rugby. We started learning some skills, tackle technique and fitness drills. There was just five of us at the time, but we enjoyed it so much that we talked about starting our own team. Stewart Aungier kindly offered to coach us and so we ran an Inner Warrior event to invite more ladies to get involved.

A month later in October, we had our first official training session as Rochford Vixens.

We trained over the winter and were just about to arrange our first friendly when Covid hit. We worked hard throughout lockdown to keep in touch and took part in

online training sessions which focused on HIIT workouts that would help in rugby – lots of core strengthening, burpees, and squats. Luckily when we came out the other side, we still had good numbers and continued to keep growing, mainly through word of mouth but also via social media.

In September 2021 we entered the Inner Warrior Series and started playing our first competitive games. It was a great achievement to have a women’s side up and running again and it couldn’t have happened with the support of the club; both in terms of funding and advocacy.

A year on and we now have around thirty women registered to the team. It’s great to see so many women who have never played rugby before, giving it a go, and realising how much they enjoy it. The Vixens recently represented the club in their debut tour at Worthing and have been taking part in the Essex Touch Cup during the off-season. Some of the ladies have also been involved with the Roosters Mixed Ability Tag Rugby sessions for six- to eighteen-year-olds, which have recently started at the club.

Rochford Vixens are excited for the upcoming season, which sees us joining the NC3 South East (East) League and makes us the first women’s

team in Rochford’s history to enter a league. We’re looking forward to developing our game and the team, and we can’t wait to see where we’ll be this time next year! Krissie Thomson Rochford Hundred Vixens Manager.

WOULD YOU CONSIDER YOURS TO BE A COMMUNITY CLUB AND IF YES HOW DO YOU ENGAGE WITH LOCAL PEOPLE/ BUSINESSES ETC?

Yes, we are part of the local community, but our rural location means that a lot of local residents do not know about us or where we are. We tried rectifying that by allowing local groups to use our facilities free of charge. We also place adverts in a local magazine telling people we are here. We try and buy local wherever we can and look to support local business as best we can.

HOW IMPORTANT AND VALUABLE ARE YOUR SPONSORS TO YOUR CLUB?

The men’s first team in particular but the Club as a whole can’t survive without them. They give us much needed money to help us achieve our objectives, whether that is a player pathway programme to help players

GARY NICHOLLS, FORMERPLAYER, SUPPORTER AND SPONSOR. (SWIFTCLEAN)

When I was at school many of my PE teachers were Rochford Hundred players so naturally, they encouraged myself and my friends to go along to the club and watch them play. I’ve been involved with the club from around the age of 16 up until the present at age 60. I have also been a club sponsor for over 30 years now and started playing as an 18-yearold, usually in the number 7 position, for the 2nd and 1st XV squads as well as playing some counties U21 rugby. Although I don’t play anymore, I still have my gumshield and boots to hand just in case!

These days with work and family commitments I only manage to get down to the club three or four times a season and usually sponsor one of the club lunches

sometimes the one before Christmas. I am always very impressed when I hear how the club still puts out 4 senior men`s teams, which is unusual throughout rugby these days and testament to all the hard work carried out by the many unsung heroes the club is lucky to have. The national leagues offer a very high standard of rugby and Rochford has proved that they are well able to hold their own at these higher levels. Mini & Junior players are the life blood of rugby and coupled with the contribution made by our women’s team the club are definitely on solid footing!

I would like to wish everyone at Rochford Hundred Rugby Club the best of good health and happiness, not just for the forthcoming season but for many more years to come!

HOW DO YOU AND THE CLUB FEEL ABOUT THE CHALLENGES OF THE 2022/2023 SEASON?

I feel anxious and optimistic. The men’s 1st XV I am sure will give a very good account of themselves in this, our second season in National league 2, but it is going to be tough, especially as there is promotion and relegation this season. We will not win Nat 2, but we will not be bottom either and I think a mid table finish is where we will be come the end of the season. Our other three men’s teams will, I am sure, all go well this season as they have a great mixture now of youth and experience in all the teams.

The women’s team, the Rochford Hundred Vixens, are playing their first season of league rugby and we are all looking forward to it. Our Boys academy has a new look to it this season coaching wise and we are all very hopeful that this will have a very positive impact on the Academy players. We are investing a lot of time and money into all our mini and youth coaches so that they can become the best possible coaches they can be. That will help ensure our players can then go on to be the best possible players they can be. Our ambition is that in three years time at least 30% of the men’s 1st XV are “home grown” players.

ROCHFORD BEGIN MIXED ABILITY RUGBY.

Rochford Hundred R.F.C. is community rugby Club for everyone interested in playing rugby whatever their age, experience and ability.

In June, 2022 we were very proud to start The Rochford Hundred Roosters rugby squad who are the first mixed ability rugby side in South East Essex and we are now also a Saracens Foundation Squad for mixed ability rugby.

Our players ages range from five to sixteen years of age and take part in noncontact fun rugby sessions twice a month from 9.30a.m. till 11a.m. on Saturday mornings and we were recently involved in a joint training session with Harlow RFC, the only other mixed ability rugby team in Essex. Our goal this season is to increase our Squad numbers and hold the first mixed ability rugby festival at the club towards the end of the 22/23 season inviting Teams from North Essex, Kent,

Hertfordshire and also launch an over 18’s Squad.

We are so very proud of The Roosters and their commitment to training sessions but this success would not have been possible without the support of our volunteers consisting of Club Coaches, Managers and players from across our mini and youth squads who make the sessions that much more fun. We are also probably the only squad with a Team baker namely Andrea who provides homemade cakes and cookies at the end of the sessions.

Lastly, we have very generous sponsorship from the Rochford Rotary and Essex Freemasons whose donations have supported The Roosters.

If you would like to know more please contact us at Roosters@rochfordrugby. com Or visit our Website or Social Media pages. Alan Harvey, Roosters Head Coach & Club Coach Co-ordinator

ROCHFORD HUNDRED MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS PROGRAMME

Your mental health, just like your physical health, doesn’t stay the same. It can change as your circumstances change and as you move through the various stages of your life. As we came out of the shadow of Covid-19, it became apparent that poor mental health was becoming more of a problem for more people than ever within our own rugby club.

While we all have times

when we feel down or stressed or frightened. Often those feelings pass. But sometimes they develop into a more serious problem, and we recognised that We wanted to give out the message that this could happen to any one of us. We wanted to let our members know that if it should happen to you, remember, you are not alone.

Regrettably, there is a stigma attached to mental health problems which can mean that people feel uncomfortable talking about their thoughts and feelings, and so mental illness is left unspoken about. Sadly, it is the biggest killer of young men aged 22-42 in the UK. The desire to do something about tackling this stigma is what prompted LooseHeadz being chosen as the charity to be promoted by the 2022 Minis Tour. The LooseHeadz posts appeared on the Tour shirt and, from the start of the 21-22 season, on the sleeves of the 1st XV as well. As a Club we are proud to support LooseHeadz in this way.

The LooseHeadz foundation aims to support grassroots Rugby Clubs in starting the conversation that tackles the stigma around mental health. Of course, there are a number of other organisations that have a similar goal; but LooseHeadz is focused on the Rugby community; not just the players, the whole Rugby family.

Increasing numbers of club members reaching out for support showed the need for a

wider initiative to support our Rugby family here at Rochford. Our aim is to nurture a culture at Rochford where members feel safe to talk about how they feel and know that there are people out there who will listen to them, offer no judgements, but will signpost them to the support that they need. And this is why Rochford has recently affiliated with JOCA (Just One Click Away), who are a charity that believes that, as far as mental health is concerned, no one should try alone.

As we prepare for next season on the pitch, work continues off the pitch to get our support network in place to help those that need it. To raise awareness of mental health issues and the support that is out there in the Club as well as in the wider community.

It’s healthy to recognise how you’re feeling and to talk about it. Remember, it’s OK to not be OK. Nick Yelland, Head of our Mental Health Awareness team.

StreathamCroydon RFC

HOW’S THE GENERAL MOOD DOWN AT THE CLUB AT THE MOMENT?

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN INVOLVED AND WHAT FIRST ATTRACTED YOU TO THE CLUB?

I joined the club in 2016 after moving to the area. After finding the nearest club to me was SCRFC, I went down to a session in pre-season, and made to feel right at home after being welcomed. At that point, the mens 1st XV were in Surrey 2, following a promotion the year before. We had a strong squad who were challenging towards the top of the league and it was an exciting year for the club with many young players in the team.

Unfortunately, quite a few of the senior squad either retired or moved onto other things which led to a difficult period, with the club suffering two successive relegations. Truth be told, it could have been much worse without the captaincy of Adam Barnes ensuring we could at least field a side every week.

The COVID pandemic represented a difficult time for many of our members. We decided that a reset of the mens 1st XV was needed, with a change of head coach (Jesse Mackewn) and leadership team. After recruiting well and creating a positive, feel-good environment around the mens squad, we bounced back strongly and secured a league and cup double, being promoted from Surrey 4 and winning the Surrey Bowl, only losing once during the entire season.

We go into 2022/2023 with huge optimism and ambition to continue growing as a mens squad.

WHAT WERE THE MAIN CHALLENGES FACED IN NAVIGATING YOUR CLUB/ TEAM/SECTION INTO THE POSITION IT IS IN TODAY?

We operate in a very busy area in London with many other rugby clubs, so sadly the player pool to recruit players has become spread quite thin. However, we pride ourselves on our decorated history and ambition, which we use in our recruitment efforts.

CAN YOU LET ME KNOW ABOUT ANY AMBITIONS OR DEVELOPMENT PLANS ON AND OFF THE PITCH?

As a club that owns its own grounds and club house, over the last few years that we have been able to fully renovate our facilities, including our club house, changing rooms and even building a stand.

So we can continue to grow, we plan to build further facilities to accommodate 4 more changing rooms, which will allow us to play mens and women’s games on the same day, should we choose to.

DO YOU HAVE A SENIOR AND JUNIOR COACHING PHILOSOPHY AT THE CLUB?

The most important and fundamental approach to training at SCRFC is ensuring our players are enjoying it. At the end of the day, we play rugby because we love the sport. Of course we want to enable every individual the platform to improve as rugby players, but ensuring players have an outlet to run around with their mates is crucial. Although some fitness work is always inevitable!

Specifically, our head of junior rugby, Femi Oresanya, philosophy is to provide our players with the core skills to play rugby in any position. At such a young age, it is important for our players to play in a number of positions so that as they grew and their body shape changes, they will easily be able to adapt.

There is a real sense of excitement across all our squads - mens, ladies, minis and juniors.The ladies are embarking on a big season for them after a successful season last year, and the minis continue to go from strength to strength under the guidance of head of junior rugby, Femi Oresanya. A few of the colts players are now filtering into the senior squads which has been a long-standing ambition for some time.

DO YOU HAVE ANY SUCCESSFUL PLAYER CONNECTIONS THAT HAVE COME THROUGH OR PLAYED FOR THE CLUB OVER THE YEARS?

In recent times, there have been two standout connections currently playing international rugbyGrace Moore played for Streatham-Croydon ladies at wing and centre from 2016-2018, winning player of the season in 2017-18 season. She made her Ireland Women’s 7s debut at Dubai 7s in 2019. She was selected to train in the Ireland Women’s 15s programme in 2020 making her international debut at the 2021 Women’s Six Nations vs Italy. She currently plays at All-Ireland League side Railway Union Conor Oresanya who played for Streatham-Croydon minis is in the Harlequins Senior Academy Squad. Having represented England u19 earlier this year, he was selected in the u20 squad

for the six nations summer festival taking part in Verona and Treviso.

Further back, we have also seen Alia McCarthy, who plays for Exeter Chiefs, come through the club

HOW DOES THE CLUB ENSURE THAT YOUNGER PLAYERS ENJOY A SMOOTH TRANSITION INTO THE SENIOR GAME?

Last season we created a colts academy squad for 6th form players so that there is a pathway not only to the seniors but also hopefully into county squads. We moved their training sessions to align with the seniors so that they can warm up together. As they turn 18 years of age, in addition to their own age grade colts games, we will start involving them into our second team. Some of our first team have graduated to the first team like Max McCarthy and Ibrahim Campbell.

CAN YOU TELL ME A LITTLE ABOUT GIRLS & LADIES RUGBY AT YOUR CLUB? WHAT ABOUT TOUCH OR WALKING RUGBY?

Ladies rugby started at SCRFC in 2015 and the team has grown significantly to the extent that the women are a critical part of the lifeblood of the club now. They play in National Challenge 1, regularly finishing in the top three, and have aspirations to continue this growth by getting a second team into a league next season. The Junior Girls section is relatively nascent but

Freddy Green, Streatham - Croydon Rugby Club.

growing fast and this year we welcome our first two graduates from u18s to senior rugby. At the end of last season we had 15 registered players across the age grades. In the coming season, we hope to grow and form mixed aged grade teams.

HOW IMPORTANT AND VALUABLE ARE YOUR SPONSORS TO YOUR CLUB?

Our sponsors are incredibly valued by SCRFC. We have both long-term partnerships with established local businesses, but also enjoy building new partnerships with smaller businesses associated with the club.

NOTABLE PLAYERS

John Sharland of Streatham toured with the 1904 British Lions to Australia and New Zealand, playing in seven matches. W V Butcher, capped seven times for England between 1903–05, also playing cricket for Surrey, played for the Streatham club. England prop, and later RFU committee man, Jeff Probyn played at Streatham for a number of seasons in the late 1970s before moving to Wasps and gaining his first England cap. Super League player Will Sharp, played for

We try to offer a range of ways to partner with the club, ranging from shirt to corner flag sponsorship.

HOW DO YOU AND THE CLUB FEEL ABOUT THE CHALLENGES OF THE 2022/2023 SEASON?

As an ambitious club always striving to improve both on and off the pitch, we look to build on our recent success in the minis, ladies and the mens teams.

PLEASE FINISH OFF BY TELLING ME WHAT MAKES YOUR CLUB SUCH A GREAT CLUB TO BE PART OF?

I have played at many rugby clubs in my time,

the 1st XV, before signing his first professional contract with Harlequins RL in 2007.

Celebrity chef Antony Worrall Thompson played for the club’s Colts side from 1969–71 before touring France to learn his trade. Former Prime Minister James Callaghan played at lock for Streatham in the 1939 season. Peter Horton, Colts and 1st XV, emigrated to Australia and played hooker 19 times for Australia between 1974 and 1979, gaining his first cap against New Zealand and his last one against Argentina.

but Streatham-Croydon is a special club. Its welcoming atmosphere, strong community bonds, fantastic facilities, celebrated history and exciting future makes being part of the club a unique experience.

CLUB HISTORY

The Streatham-Croydon Rugby Football Club, is a rugby union club, founded in 1871, based at Frant Road, Thornton Heath, in the London Borough of Croydon, south London. StreathamCroydon currently play in Counties Surrey 4. The club’s teams play in cardinal shirts, white shorts and cardinal and white hooped socks.

Streatham’s heyday was arguably during the late 1960s, and 70s, when 9 senior teams and 4 colts teams were active, combined with an extensive fixture list against top clubs such as Richmond, Bath, Sale, Saracens, London Welsh, London Irish and others. The professional era and the impact of the new RFU Courage League structure through the late 1980s, and 90s led to a decline in the size of the club as greater attention was paid to the needs of the 1st XV, and Streatham’s membership struggle coincided with its drop down the National and

then London leagues.

Streatham run two senior men’s teams and a senior ladies’ XV during the season, as well as a mini and junior rugby section, and own a private ground in Thornton Heath (close to the original pitches on Streatham Common), comprising two pitches (one floodlit) and a large clubhouse and grandstand, along with several squash courts, which are all in the process of refurbishment and renovation.

The club has been a key factor in the growth of rugby league in South London, having hosted the South London Storm for many years. Frant Road now hosts the Storm’s successor club, Brixton Bulls R.L.F.C. during the summer months, providing training, playing and social facilities.

The club recently celebrated its 150th anniversary, with a special tour to Argentina and Uruguay enjoyed by many of the senior members.

CONTACT THE CLUB Club House, 159 Brigstock Road Thornton Heath Surrey CR7 7JP

Old Caterhamians

JAMES VERNON MINIS MANAGER

Our minis and youth section are very important and a growing part of the club. We offer rugby for boys and girls from 5 to 11 and we have a vibrant girls section for those between 11 and 15. We have a coaching and admin system in place to ensure the players enjoy each session. We pride ourselves as being open to all newcomers and or experienced players whilst making sure that teamwork, sportsmanship and enjoyment are more important than results.

STEVE WAGSTAFF HEAD COACH

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN INVOLVED AND WHAT FIRST ATTRACTED YOU TO THE CLUB?

I first came to the club with my son to play minis 16 years ago. Since then I have run all youth and minis sides and been the Head coach for the last 3 years.

WHAT WERE THE MAIN CHALLENGES FACED IN NAVIGATING YOUR CLUB/ TEAM/SECTION INTO THE POSITION IT IS IN TODAY?

Recognising competition from other clubs at a higher playing level does not mean we are unable to compete against them. We have focussed on pushing younger players into the 1s and as such our average age across both sides is 24.

The challenge of lockdown and the return to rugby presented an opportunity and we were able to foster the importance of being together as a club and as a set of friends. The feeling of togetherness throughout and after lockdown has been infectious (pardon the pun) but the players now love the team ethos and believe they could give most teams in the next division a decent run for their money.

CAN YOU LET ME KNOW ABOUT ANY AMBITIONS OR DEVELOPMENT PLANS ON AND OFF THE PITCH?

We would like to sustain ourselves and be comparative in the London league, and

have a strong 2s team. We also want to support and grow our Women’s and Youth sections.

Off the pitch we are developing a great relationship with Caterham School which drifted for a while. We have two of three lads in the 6th form training with us and this hopefully will be the beginning of us supporting the school and vice vesa.

DO YOU HAVE A SENIOR AND JUNIOR COACHING PHILOSOPHY AT THE CLUB?

Senior is simple, be fitter than anyone else in the league, have the best core skills and smile more than anyone else. Keep it local keep it fun.

HOW’S THE GENERAL MOOD DOWN AT THE CLUB AT THE MOMENT?

Really positive. An unbeaten promotion season, 2s rebuilding and youth coming through and attracting some old timers back.

HOW WOULD YOU SAY LAST SEASON HAS GONE FOR THE CLUB ON THE PITCH?

Undefeated promotion playing some open attacking exciting rugby everyone wants to be a part of.

HOW DOES THE CLUB ENSURE THAT YOUNGER PLAYERS ENJOY A SMOOTH TRANSITION INTO THE SENIOR GAME?

We get them training and slowly give them senior game

time 10-15 mins, at a time and then slowly move them in. They all want to jump straight in but we need them for seasons to come so we are happy to be patient.

HOW DO YOU AND THE CLUB FEEL ABOUT THE CHALLENGES OF THE 2022/2023 SEASON?

Very excited. We have two young coaches. Jack Leach who is heading us up alongside James Hanson who has been with me for the last two years. We need a different voice and both bring energy, drive and are respected. I am able to take a step back and oversee all teams with a real focus on the 2s (I may even get my boots back on!).

PLEASE FINISH OFF BY TELLING ME WHAT MAKES YOUR CLUB SUCH A GREAT CLUB TO BE PART OF?

We have a saying ‘OCTID’ which stands for ‘Old Cats Til I Die’, and a song which reflects this. It does sum up the sense of our passion and really wanting to be a part of this great club!

As a Harlequins affiliate club we have the opportunity to give the players some amazing experiences, whether that be playing at Twickenham during half time in the Big Games or having Quins players visit us. Seeing the men’s and women’s Premiership trophies on Hill Fields was a particular highlight this year!

Being in the heart of Caterham we have forged links with a number of local primary schools in order to introduce more children to rugby. In addition we have free taster sessionsl. These initiatives help us to give more access to the game!

JILL BAKER CHAIR

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN INVOLVED AND WHAT FIRST ATTRACTED YOU TO THE CLUB?

I was first introduced to Old Caterhamians Rugby Club by a work colleague and his wife over 20 years ago. I was immediately impressed by the welcoming, inclusive atmosphere of Old Cats as the club is affectionately known. I was looking for a team sport and I was delighted that Old Cats were starting up a women’s team.

Initially we aimed to field a team for the Easter 7’s tournament that was a regular fixture in the Old Cats calendar but there was such interest and enthusiasm that we were able to field a full 15 a side squad and entered the league structure that September. Through my involvement in this team I have made many lifelong friends and I think of the club as an extended family.

Although I haven’t played rugby for the past 5 years or so I have continued to be actively involved in the rugby cub from those early days. Supporting the men’s and women’s teams with anything from registrations to pitch-side first aid I finally had my arm twisted to become Hon Sec in 2011. Further twisting ensued in September 2019 when the clubs existing Chairman had to step down due to ill health and I took over as the club’s first female Chair.

WHAT WERE THE MAIN CHALLENGES FACED IN NAVIGATING YOUR CLUB INTO THE POSITION IT IS IN TODAY?

The 2019-20 season was not the best time to be taking anything over as we all know.

Although I’d been heavily involved with the senior section, I was keen to get to know and understand the other sections of the club better. I’ve been over-awed to see the commitment and enthusiasm of the coaches, managers and admins of

our minis and youth sections and how they conveyed their enjoyment of the sport to the young players in their care. Unfortunately our senior men had a disappointing season and the early end meant our chances of saving ourselves from relegation were dashed.

2020 was a steep learning curve for everyone but I was heartened to see how everyone rallied round to keep the spirit of rugby alive. Bucket loads of hand-sanitizer, hands-free thermometers and various other surprising bits of paraphernalia were bought to help us manage the challenges presented by Covid. As usual, the Old Cats family pulled together to make sure every opportunity was taken to do whatever style of rugby type activity was allowed.

The break due to Covid gave our seniors chance to take stock, lick their wounds and regroup. Inevitably one of the lasting impacts of Covid has been the loss of some players but with changes to the coaching and management team and a new Club Captain to enthuse and fire them up we have built an enthusiastic squad of passionate young men who took their league by storm and won it without conceding a single game.

CAN YOU LET ME KNOW ABOUT ANY AMBITIONS OR DEVELOPMENT PLANS ON AND OFF THE PITCH?

Our youth section took a particularly heavy hit from the impact of Covid on top of all the usual distractions that lead to a reduction of players in these age groups. Since our minis and youth teams have always been a natural feeder into our seniors section, with over 80% of our 1st XV players having come up through this route or from our connection to Caterham School recruitment for all sections continues to be a high priority. With a very young senior squad we have time on our side though and we will have the opportunity to rebuild and develop this

part of the club. We are also looking to capitalise on the recruitment successes of our girls section and will be looking to ensure a smooth transition for these players into our women’s team as we move forward.

HOW’S THE GENERAL MOOD DOWN AT THE CLUB AT THE MOMENT?

We have a core group of dedicated, passionate volunteers who continue to drive the club forward and are keen to share everything that we all love about being part of Old Cats. We have been working very hard to develop our ‘One Club’ philosophy and integration and inclusivity is at the heart of all we are trying to achieve. We are looking towards next season with excitement. Pre-season training has already started for our

seniors and our minis, youth and girls sections have activities planned over the Summer.

HOW IMPORTANT AND VALUABLE ARE YOUR SPONSORS TO YOUR CLUB?

Thanks to our fantastic sponsors we have been able to invest in various initiatives over the past few years that have benefitted every section of the club. From Old Cats branded gazebos for use at tournaments and events, to portable floodlights to improve training during the Winter months and an artificial intelligence camera to record games and training which can be used to analyse individual and team performance. These are just some of the recent investments that are helping to project Old Cats to the next level.

A POTTED HISTORY OF THE OLD CATS

The Club was founded at a meeting of Old Caterhamians at the Bonnington Hotel, London in January 1928 (on Friday the 13th, as it happened) when a Committee was formed and directed to find a ground and arrange fixtures.

Our history records, therefore, that on Saturday 15 September 1928, the Club burst upon the Rugger world, arrayed in jerseys and stockings of every conceivable hue and pattern, and played their first match.

The opponents thus honoured to launch us on our career were Southern Railway ‘A’, (subsequently, we believe, succeeded by Raynes Park) who, not knowing that history was in the making, had the temerity to beat us 5:0 - (a converted try in those days).

The first season’s home matches were played at Elmers End before the Club moved to Queen’s Park, Caterham where we still retain a pitch, and subsequently to the adjacent grounds of Caterham School where we remain.

The Club grew to 2 sides in the 1930’s, with the first XV winning 20, drawing 1 and losing 1 in 1931-2. After the war, the Club became ‘open’ and for a time used the Dene Field next to St Mary’s Church.

During the 1950’s the club grew to 4 regular sides, which we retained until the early seventies. Our first Clubhouse was erected in 1958 adjacent to the pitch that had been reclaimed from a 9-hole golf course under the direction and using the farm implements of a future Club Captain, Roger Hamberg. Hence the name given to the floodlit pitch.

In 1965 the premises were extended when we bought an ex-army barrack hut from Aldershot for £50. After a bit of

a lull, a resurgence of interest led us to fielding 5 sides on one notable occasion in the 1978/79 season, but 4 sides remained through to the mid nineties when numbers reduced to the extent that 2 sides and the occasional 3rd and Veterans XVs became the norm.

Over the years we enjoyed a growing reputation for the rugby traditions and the friendliest of welcomes to newcomers. We were also noted for innovation, being one of the first ‘junior’ clubs to host an Annual Easter Seven-a-Side Competition that continued for over 50 years. For many years, too, we capitalised on the rugby tradition for song and socialising by initiating an annual (serious) singing competition that was even referred to in the ‘Coarse Rugby’ books of the comic writer, Michael Green.

In recent years, a reduction in the number of regular senior sides has been compensated for by our hugely successful mini-rugby and youth enterprise for both boys and girls and the further innovation of a talented Women’s XV. We have also punched above our weight in providing office holders at county and even National level with the appointment in the early 2000’s of a past Chairman to the central council of the RFU, together with a constant flow of members to refereeing ranks.

Although the entire clubhouse building was rebuilt in 2 stages during the 1990’s it was becoming unfit for purpose. In 2017 a significant investment was made by Caterham School, who own the site, when the building and car park area were replaced by the current state-of-the-art sports facility.

Throughout the clubs history we have retained a reputation for being a welcoming, family centred club with regular and wellattended social events for players, members and visitors.

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN INVOLVED AND WHAT FIRST ATTRACTED YOU TO THE CLUB?

I’ve been involved in the club for a season, having joined the local area last year. I was first introduced to the game back at University and loved it, although I lacked any and all skills! Being part of a club with such a community feel is really important to me and was also a great way of meeting people. I remember being so nervous showing up to that first session but was instantly welcomed and encouraged by the rest of the squadalthough I’m pretty sure I dropped the ball immediately. It’s such a family feel no matter your age or ability. The squad and the coaches are so supportive - you really grow together as a team and a club.

WHAT WERE THE MAIN CHALLENGES FACED IN NAVIGATING YOUR CLUB/ TEAM/SECTION INTO THE POSITION IT IS IN TODAY?

Recruitment is something that we are focussed on for the women. The recent coverage of the TikTok Six Nations and the world-class performance of the Red Roses has given that boost and curiosity and conviction that actually, this is a game for you. The current Inner Warrior League that we have been playing in is a great scheme for getting people to come along, pick up a ball, and give it a go.

HOW’S THE GENERAL MOOD DOWN AT THE CLUB AT THE MOMENT?

Excited! We’ve been working hard behind the scenes with fitness sessions, tailored kicking sessions and a touch tournament over the summer and are now just ready to hit the ground running. This

season we are looking to recruit more players and really build on a ‘one club, many teams’ philosophy. There is certainly a buzz in the air.

CAN YOU TELL ME A LITTLE ABOUT GIRLS & LADIES RUGBY AT YOUR CLUB? WHAT ABOUT TOUCH OR WALKING RUGBY?

We’ve had a women’s team here at Old Cats for many years now. We play fullcontact games and love a good ol’ contested scrum! To help with player numbers, we have teamed up with Dorking and have been playing in an Inner Warrior League – which is all about getting women into rugby who maybe have never played or haven’t picked up the egg-shaped ball in a while. It’s a great way of letting people just having a go. You see players in their first game get a little bit nervous before kick-off, but by half time they are absolutely hooked! (Pardon the pun). Watching women discover that love for a sport and come together as a team really makes Old Cats women special.

PLEASE FINISH OFF BY TELLING ME WHAT MAKES YOUR CLUB SUCH A GREAT CLUB TO BE PART OF?

It’s a personal club - we will do all we can to adapt and support anyone who wishes to play. Our coaches go above and beyond to deliver sessions and work on skills that we want to improve.

I’ve met some of my closest friends in the area both on and off the pitch from a whole range of ages and abilities. From training sessions to pub meets and social dinners, Old Cats has become a true passion of mine and the club is one of the most important parts of my life.

SPOTLIGHT ON THE GIRLS KYLIE FORSHAW GIRLS COACH

Old cats girls section has been growing over the past 3 years. We found many of our girls starting to give up rugby around the u9s, u10s ages; once tackling began. We wanted to retain girls to the wonderful game and also

attract new girls to the sport we love.

At Old Cats girls we offer non contact rugby, contact rugby and we are even starting up touch rugby for the mums, there truly is something for everyone!

It’s a great place to have fun, get fit and make great friends! We have a great bunch of girls from u9 to u16 and we train every Sunday 10–12 from September to May! Please come along and join in the fun.

Ealing Trailfinders

Talking to Simon Sinclair, Chief Operating Officer of Ealing Trailfinders Academy.

From the outside many see Ealing Trailfinders as a successful rugby club that is knocking on the door of the Premiership. If they do make the step up to England’s top table, the long-term success of the club will be heavily impacted by their Academy Partnership with Brunel University and partner clubs through their Places of Development (PODs) programme. We spoke to Simon Sinclair, Chief Operating Officer of Ealing Trailfinders Academy and Women’s Programme, to explain more about their Academy setup.

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN INVOLVED AND WHAT FIRST ATTRACTED YOU TO THE CLUB?

I have been at the club in an official capacity for three months but have been a consultant for a couple of years advising on the academy and a numbere of other areas.

WHAT WERE THE MAIN CHALLENGES FACED IN NAVIGATING YOUR CLUB/ TEAM/SECTION INTO THE POSITION IT IS IN TODAY?

We are working hard to build sustainable and longterm foundations for all areas of the club. We want to be at the forefront of the professional game, with industry leading programmes. The challenge is fun and there’s plenty of opportunities to do things differently.

CAN YOU LET ME KNOW ABOUT ANY AMBITIONS OR DEVELOPMENT PLANS ON AND OFF THE PITCH?

We are building a men’s and women’s programme that want to compete in the top level of University

rugby and provide as many players as possible to the senior squads. With this we have the opportunity to look further afield to attract the most talented athletes from different countries and grow our brand. The girls and women’s programme is super exciting as we are building a programme from scratch. It is all about giving girls a pathway to succeed and our priority is supporting and investing into grassroots rugby which we see as high important areas.

DO YOU HAVE A SENIOR AND ACADEMY COACHING PHILOSOPHY AT THE CLUB?

We have a clear overall philosophy across the club which everyone at Ealing Trailfinders buys into. This goes for everyone, from the men’s first-team, women’s and academy programmes, to our coaches and staff.

HOW’S THE GENERAL MOOD DOWN AT THE CLUB AT THE MOMENT?

We are incredibly excited for the season ahead. We have fresh faces throughout our playing squads and we have welcomed a number of new coaches and staff. Ultimately our aim is to achieve promotion to the Gallagher Premiership, develop an elite and high performing women’s programme and see our university teams achieve promotion to the top tier. We are ambitious but these are now very real goals and we feel the quality and depth of our club-wide programme is at an all-time high.

HOW WOULD YOU SAY LAST SEASON HAS GONE FOR THE CLUB ON THE PITCH LAST SEASON?

The 2021/22 campaign was hugely successful for the club. Our men’s first-team won the Championship league and Cup double and our academy squad at Brunel University secured promotion.

HOW IMPORTANT IS YOUR ONGOING CONNECTION WITH COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES?

This is our real selling point and something we pride ourselves on. We are in already in partnership with Brunel University where we

are investing financially and supporting the programme to give students a great opportunity to study alongside their rugby. We have also partnered with several feeder clubs as part of our PODs (Places of Development) programme to help create pathways for young boys and girls to progress from playing for the minis at their local clubs to playing at a higher level.

HOW DOES THE CLUB ENSURE THAT YOUNGER PLAYERS ENJOY A SMOOTH TRANSITION INTO THE SENIOR GAME?

We are giving the younger academy players an opportunity to develop

with the first-team squad by training and playing in certain games. We also have transition coaches that will work closely with the players in the academy to make sure the transition into the firstteam setup is as smooth as possible and they understand the demands when they step into that environment.

HOW IS WOMEN’S RUGBY AT THE CLUB PROGRESSING?

We are currently developing a pathway that work with local clubs PODs (Places of Development) to help improve and grow the game through grants and access to our coaches. This then leads into a pathway of university rugby and then potentially to the professional game. Our investment in all these areas is really important as we want to grow the participation levels and encourage them to progress through the different development pathways.

PLEASE FINISH OFF BY TELLING ME WHAT MAKES YOUR CLUB SUCH A GREAT CLUB TO BE PART OF?

Having the support and investment is helping us to be ambitious and give opportunities not only to those with high potential but also to give local communities a great facility to use during the evenings and weekends. The atmosphere and excitement at the club for what lies ahead is really positive and the combination of this and working with good people who are all driving towards one goal makes it a really great environment to work in.

Southend RFC

JOSH WARD DIRECTOR OF RUGBY

I’m now entering my sixth year at the club, fifth as Director of Rugby. Southend Rugby Club is one of the oldest rugby clubs in World rugby, established in 1870, to have an opportunity to join such a prestigious club was one I could not turn down. It was a difficult transitional time initially, but one I perceived as a positive opportunity to implement an innovative framework on and off the field to help us begin to make on field strides back to the National leagues. The club proudly puts out 5 senior men’s teams a senior women’s side, Southend Saints, and an ever growing mini and youth set up. We lost 90% of our senior squad in one off-season just before I joined. The club was in a difficult on field place, with 10-15 seniors training weekly there was a lot to do, starting with regaining an identity, implementing a positive holistic club environment and culture where members, sponsors, players, staff, and volunteers felt valued, part of our project and began to enjoy spending their time at the rugby club again. We began to see positive change very quickly.

Training numbers over recent years haven’t dropped below 28/30, our off-field model took off where we saw players families attend events every 6-8 weeks, our internal coach education programme kick started showing connectivity throughout the club and a real investment being put into our

people and Mini & Youth, our Women and Girls programme has become a pivotal part of our club (Southend Saints), and of course match day attendances began to grow with the improved quality of rugby on show at Warners Bridge. We have implemented a full-time community department working from the club in partnership with the Community Group Ltd, engaging with local schools, further educational establishments, striving to

cater for many and assist in supporting the immediate needs and requirements of our local community.

The ambition for us as a club is to return to the National leagues. When you are part of such a big club those expectations will always be present, the main thing is that everything we do is sustainable. We have progressed over recent years, before and after COVID, and we are now entering the 2022/23 campaign with

a real desire to compete for promotion. I feel we’re in this position to compete because of the hard work that has been put in by so many over the past 5 years on and off the field, this has led us to this position. We of course have ongoing aspirations to strengthen our Mini & Youth age groups, the players and coaches, supporting the growth of our women and girls set up which we are extremely proud of at the club, they’re a fantastic group. Off field we intend to continue positively impacting our local community through our community department (in partnership with the Community Group Ltd), engaging with all ages, supplying opportunities for all using sport and specifically rugby to assist in positive change. As of September 2022, we are starting our ‘SouthSEND’ programme lead by Ally Gavin, a truly inspirational clubman, supplying rugby opportunities for all.

Our coaching philosophy is very straight forward and that is that we want to create an environment that encourages players to explore and express themselves freely whilst problem solving through different constraints and scenarios that are put in place. Collaborative learning. We don’t want robotic players nor players that fear mistakes, this I feel has worked well for us and through our internal coach education programme is beginning to filter down through the club to our age groups.

Southend Rugby Club has a

long and proud history dating back to 1870 a year before the Rugby Football Union itself. In that year Admiral Charles Barstow Theobald gave a set of ‘By-laws and rules’ to lads playing football at the local Milton Hall sports ground. So the club was formed.

Southend’s fixtures in the years leading up to the great war included among other Wasps, Blackheath, Saracens and Harlequins, to whom they lost on their first visit to Twickenham in 1913 by 25 points to 6.

The club reformed in 1919 under the captaincy of Billy Williams a local schoolmaster and entered a period of considerable growth and success.

Between the wars many Southend players achieved representative honours with Eastern Counties. The club played at Priory Park and reports say some games were watched by upwards of one thousand spectators.

Minutes from club records show a recurring theme was the concern to entertain visitors properly. It appears this was done with considerable success despite the fact the club did not have its own clubhouse until 1957 eighty-seven years after its formation.

The clubhouse was an old works’ site office from the Mobil Oil Refinery and was purchased for £85. It was brought to Southend and situated in the grounds of the town’s professional soccer club. It served admirably for 42 years during which time the Club’s annual dinner and Easter Festival, the latter organised with Old Westcliffians RFC, became legendary in rugby circles of the day.

British Lion and England international Fran Cotton referred fondly to the festival in his autobiography and in the centenary year of 1970 Terry O’Connor the rugby correspondent for the Daily Mail wrote “Speak to any rugby man who has visited Southend Club and it is certain he will recall the magnificent hospitality and fantastic dinners”.

Some 15 presidents of the home unions have been dinner guests plus two New Zealand presidents and a host of international players from the British Isles and abroad. Those who attended both festival and dinners over the years will remember them as truly remarkable social occasions.

As the reputation of the club grew so did the playing membership and the late sixties saw eight men’s XV’s and two colts sides taking the field on a Saturday. Southend produced many talented players among

whom were the 1961 sevens team who defeated Harlequins, Loughborough College and Leicester in the Oxford sevens before losing to Wasps in a final played out in front of a of ten thousand crowd.

There’s a fantastic buzz at the club, a real connectivity throughout the club that continues to grow and strengthen and with that a real sense of optimism with hopes for on field success this season. The rugby club is a social hub for a lot of people, players past and present, family and friends, members, and volunteers. Having experienced a tough few year that included a couple of relegations, it is fantastic to now see a lot of smiles on faces returning throughout the club.

Successful player connections that have come through or played for the club over the years:

• Josh Hallett- Saracens

• Emmanuel IyogunNorthampton Saints

• Kris Chesney- Saracens/ Toulon

• Jamie George- Saracens (loan)

Last season was a real rollercoaster, one that left us feeling a sense of ‘what if?’. On our day we were outstanding, and both beat and challenged the top two away from home, however, our lack of consistency ultimately cost us a real promotion push. Progress? absolutely, we played some fantastic rugby, several club members

referenced ‘it was some of the best rugby we’ve seen in the last ten years at the club’ which of course is great to hear and testament to the staff and players’ hard work. We have a highly qualified staff body who have links within the elite game, allowing us to welcome guest coaches in for sporadic sessions to assist player development once again but also give our staff CPD opportunities. Everything we’ve achieved so far has taken time and is a result of a solid infrastructure that has been built. We now feel we are in a great position to push on and add to our club’s prestigious history.

Ensuring that younger players enjoy a smooth transition into the senior game is essential to any club, showing our young players the pathway that we want them to follow and end up transitioning smoothly into the senior set up. As a unique club that puts out 5 senior sides, it is clear we cater for all ranging from social rugby right the way up to our competitive

1st XV. We have a Saxons Development Pathway Programme in place, similar model to an academy, where the coaches are supported by senior coaches and player appearances throughout the season to support their growth and align them to the senior set up, making transition as smooth as possible. We have seen some of our young players make their senior debuts, most recently in the Essex Cup Final last year.

Our women’s programme at the club is outstanding. We have a terrific group of girls who are incredibly welcoming to new members and tight knit off the pitch.

The growth of the setup has been great to see, their coaching staff are incredibly committed and work incredibly hard to supply the women with the best possible experience. Again, we look to support with senior coaching staff and player appearances to assist their sessions and help share ideas. The Southend Saints, who are our senior women’s team, regularly see training numbers of 25, with new members always welcome. We also run clustered age group sessions and fixtures for the girls which is an active priority of ours to continue growing and bettering. On Wednesday evenings we run social touch rugby, open for all to attend where we see a wide variety of personnel ranging from the senior social sides through to our Pathway players. Through our partnership with the Community Group Ltd, we look to cater for all ages within our local community and one way in which we look to do this is by delivering a walking rugby programme. Another fantastic way in which both some of our older members and members of the community can keep fit, maintain social engagement, and play rugby!

Implementing a full-time community department was one of my main aims when I joined the club. The local community play a big role in whether your club is successful or not. Monday to Friday we are actively present in the community, delivering programmes in local schools, putting on sessions at the club for the public to enjoy and running camps throughout the school holidays to support youngsters living and enjoying an active lifestyle. We engage a lot with local businesses and companies through sponsorship, dinners, and functions that our clubhouse is available to rent out for private functions.

Our sponsors are pivotal to Southend Rugby Club. Their support each season is something that we are incredibly grateful for and assists greatly in our ability to continue running and supplying the best possible product for our beneficiaries. I would especially like to acknowledge and thank our main shirt sponsor of many years now, Paul Robinson Solicitors LLP. They have continued to support Southend Rugby Club for which we are incredibly grateful.

We’re really excited for the year ahead. There is a lot of optimism and expectation within the senior set up, but as mentioned this is natural at a club of this stature. Our Mini & Youth registration day was swamped, a fantastic picture of both current members and new male and female members wanting to sign up and get going with the 22/23 season. We’re looking forward to seeing our Women & Girls programme continue to develop, backing up the excellent off field work and on field performances from last year. Here is hoping for little disruption and we can see rugby up and down the land played regularly again.

Southend Rugby Club is more than just a rugby club. It is a community, a hub, full of fantastic people who care greatly not just for the club but for one another. It has given

a lot of people, me included, a real sense of belonging, a feeling of care and connectivity, a prime example being during the pandemic, members, organised by Nathan Strange, calling older members who were more isolated at home for a chat, reaching out. It is an incredible place steeped in history as one of the oldest clubs in World Rugby. Our rugby model aims to be unique and professional, with a fulltime community programme, some innovative approaches within our senior set up to look after and engage players families as well as delivering an internal coach education programme to name a few pillars of our framework.

Southend Rugby Club caters for everyone, and I am extremely proud to be a part of it.

Newbury RFC

LOUISE GOODALL CLUB CHAIR

I came to NRFC in 1998 from Overton to play at a higher level and have been a playing member for 20 years. In between that time, I left to play at premiership level (Henley) but returned to Newbury RFC after having my first child. I joined the committee initially as Women’s Chair, then

committee Vice-Chair, then Chair and latterly over the last 4 years NRFC Club Chair.

The single most challenging periods, outside of the financial pressures that all clubs face, has been the COVID pandemic and the impact that has had, not only on club finances, but also on the wellbeing of the club’s membership who couldn’t meet up or participate in

their sport, which for so many is a real balancer in their busy lives. We navigated through by committing to regular bulletins and updates to members, making sure that if anyone needed support of any kind, the club could respond. Management was carried out wholly through electronic software so that decisions could be timely and communicated quickly. The

Club was able to support community initiatives e.g. food bank and ambulance service, by offering up the club house as a facility. Because of the work and dedication of the wider management team, the club came through stronger as a result. Its membership has not faltered and when play resumed, they pretty much all returned.

As a result of our approach during COVID, changing some of the traditional ways in which we do business and communicate, returning to play has meant that future plans have been quickly put in place. Examples of this has been the launch of a Coaching Development Programme headed up by two previous Head Coaches, which will support transition from young players into senior squads; an aim of the rugby committee to agree to support and develop at least two teams from each senior section (men and women) playing each week; adopting a new business model which is more focused on income generation and which has resulted in the appointment of a Club Manager to deliver the drivers agreed, without compromising rugby.

We have adopted and embedded the RFU Core Values of Teamwork, Respect, Enjoyment, Discipline and Sportsmanship. Members are enjoying being back playing rugby and keen to be involved with a stronger emphasis and value on recreation time and the importance it has for mental health.

We are considering last year as a transition year, coming back after the pandemic we have used it to get players back into the game. We have had great success in our junior squads and numbers have increased across the youth sections (girls and boys).

We have a strong women’s section established in 1997 which includes a 1st XV, 2nd XV and Development/Social Team. We have a strong

Touch Section who train twice each week and invite all genders to participate. Our ambition is to establish a walking rugby section and are pursuing this currently.

NRFC considers itself a strong community club, who offers rugby to a wide network of community groups and schools. We have a large supporter group who attend both home and away games in good numbers. Our supports represent the wider community in which we are based along with different businesses who actively support the club through sponsorship schemes.

Our sponsors are highly valued and invited to attend home match pre-lunches where they can also invite their own guests and are mentioned in our match programme regularly and are provided with opportunities to be promoted in our club literature.

Newbury is a large inclusive rugby club who currently run 21 teams across all sections including minis, juniors, girls, colts, women and men. They have club facilities which are second to none and which the membership actively support, not only through rugby but for other social and family events. Our members are committed to the success of the club, some of which are long standing over many decades. Despite its size, Newbury has a family feel both from members and supporters, and a dedicated leadership team who support its continuing success.

DAVID JONES CLUB PRESIDENT

I Joined the club in 1983 as a player, and being new to area, it was a good way of making friends. I played first team rugby, then more social rugby and then onto the committee firstly in 1986 and then in 2006. I have also coached the junior teams and was a Trustee in 2012 and President in 2017.

Some of the challenges we have faced included clearing a huge hangover debt from our semi-professional days when we spent a year in the championship before a number of relegations as money ran out and we started re-establishing a community ethos to the club.

Our ambition is to have a self-sustaining facility (inclusive of community clubs, functions, multi sports use and events) serving local community with a desire to continue to promote a strong women’s, men’s, colts, juniors and mini section; all playing rugby to the very highest standards that can be achieved, as an amateur rugby club.

Qualified coaches are at every age level whose development is overseen by the club’s Coaching Co-ordinator. The club is at a real high point having come through a difficult 20 years financially with a very positive vibe experienced all around the place! Now, fully sustainable, we want to continue to develop the community side of the club.

In recent years Jonathon Joseph, Will Joseph, Tom Croft, Ollie Hasell all came through the Junior section while Fiona Sims represented Scotland.

Our senior Men remain in Level 6 and played great rugby last season, regularly attracting crowds of 350 plus. The Ladies have performed brilliantly rebuilding their squad and the colts, Juniors and minis are all well supported with a section of over 380 members at their level.

HOW DOES THE CLUB ENSURE THAT YOUNGER PLAYERS ENJOY A SMOOTH TRANSITION INTO THE SENIOR GAME? Is a good question! It’s Never easy and an area we are always looking to improve on. Colts train on the same night as the Seniors and integrate

very well which is necessary and as appropriate.

Our Women’s section is buzzing and has a great attitude towards the playing and social side of the game. The women are taking an increasingly big role in running the club which is very welcome. There is a very popular Touch rugby group available to all which plays twice a week now.

We are definitely a community club. Pre-match lunches are held at every men’s home game; and you don’t have to be a member. Regularly get people coming to celebrate various events, church group and others coming to watch the games. We run lots of small community events from the club including charities. And hire out the facilities. Our community is an important and central feature of our vision for success going forward.

Club sponsors are Incredibly important and hugely appreciated. We understand that they need to get value for money, and we promote them as much as possible through the program, newsletter, social media and our onsite promotional lunch.

We are looking forward to a very exciting season ahead, at all levels with two new head coaches for men & women and a desire from everyone to really engage as one club!

Newbury Rugby Club is very friendly, inclusive community orientated. We have an amazing facility with a one club philosophy. The last few years have seen an incredible turn around in the club as we have cleared the debt and the opportunity has been seized to re-establish a sound sustainable and inclusive club.

Banbury Rugby Union Club

Interview with Matt Goode, Director of Rugby.

MATT GOODE- DIRECTOR OF RUGBY, BANBURY RUGBY CLUB

I am a local boy and went along to the club aged 6 with my cousin who was playing there at the time. Undoubtedly my mum probably needed me to find something where I could express myself and my excessive energy; having come from a rough background I needed something positive to focus on. Rugby was just the right medicine and I took to it like a duck to water starting playing for the U7`s and now aged 39 a season has never passed me by where I haven’t played a game of rugby! A big thanks has to go to my mum, gran & grandpa who took me all over the country to play the sport that I loved filling an important need I had in my life at the time.

I`m Semi retired now but happy to put my boots on if needed next season as we head into the higher level 5 structure although I will have to lose a few of my 113kg!

We have a really young, but talented, squad at Banbury with 14 out of an 18 squad coming through the club ranks. As well as having a great rugby reputation we are also renowned for our camaraderie which has influenced some new players to want to be part of our new setup. We play, drink and socialise together and when any one of us have hit rough times, which is inevitable, we have all gathered round to support our friend in need. On a few occasions I played 7`s rugby at Northampton Saints and found the ethos of their club very similar to our own at Banbury. The family feel we enjoy has happened organically, not something we set out to achieve but came of its own accord. As one club our sponsors, members and outstanding supporters mirror this attitude throughout all levels and amongst all our male and female players. It is very important to us that everybody at Banbury Rugby Club feels part of the club.

The addition of the professional and international player/coach Soane

Tonga’uiha, 3 times world cup player with Tonga, world cup winner with New Zealand at U19s &U21`s and former Saints prop has had an immediate and positive impact on us all. His credentials speak for themselves, and besides he is a top bloke too. Aaron Hinckley former England U20`s, and Northampton Saints player, has brought his motivation and passion for defence to our coaching team and players. This has been infectious, and all our boys have bought into these new levels of quality they are being exposed to.

At Banbury we don’t just want to be one of theses teams that say we will strive to stay up next season. With the quality, experience and hard work we are putting in we have an expectation, barring injury, to be in the top half of the league towards the seasons end.

I have always really enjoyed being part of this great club they call Banbury RFC and the family and one club ethos it represents. I would like to encourage everyone, especially our supporters, to continue to enjoy themselves by continuing to help make this club such a great place to be involved in!

Exeter University RFC

HOW WOULD YOU SAY LAST SEASON HAS GONE FOR THE CLUB ON THE PITCH?

Exeter University Rugby Club are coming off the back of the most successful season in the club’s history.

The 1st team secured the BUCS National Championship for the first time since 2016 in the final against Durham, whilst the club also secured promotion to National 2 West. This will be the highest

WHAT WERE THE MAIN CHALLENGES FACED IN NAVIGATING YOUR CLUB/ TEAM/SECTION INTO THE POSITION IT IS IN TODAY?

The challenge with all university clubs is making sure that players are able to play rugby at the right standard for them, be that high-performance rugby, competitive rugby for their ability or social rugby, whilst also balancing their studies.

The link with Exeter Chiefs is crucial in allowing those high-performance athletes who have the ability and desire to pursue the sport professionally to do so.

With a club of over 300 men’s players and 100 women’s players, making sure that there is regular opportunity for players to train and play is the most important aspect.

level that the university have ever played at in the English game. The club then capped off the season by securing the Devon Cup for the first time in 41 years, with a high-scoring 54-32 victory over Exmouth.

EURFC boasts 10 men’s teams and 3 women’s teams and is the most successful university rugby club in the country. On the men’s side, the Fresh 1s (second team,) won the BUCS Premier South title, whilst the sixth team secured the BUCS Western 2A title.

The women’s side of the club also created history of their own this season, as the first team secured the BUCS Women’s Premier South title. They also secured promotion back to the BUCS National League and completed the double by securing the BUCS National Vase against Cardiff, going through the entire season unbeaten.

The women’s second team also secured promotion from BUCS Western 2A, completing an unbeaten league season.

A large number of players have graduated from university with professional contracts at clubs such as Doncaster, London Irish, Munster, Cornish Pirates and of course, Exeter Chiefs, whilst second row Christ Tshiunza became the first person to make his

international debut (Wales,) professional rugby debut (Exeter Chiefs,) and BUCS Super Rugby university debut in the same season.

COULD YOU PROVIDE A POTTED HISTORY OF YOUR CLUB?

The origins of the EURFC can be traced back to the old sides of St Luke’s College. The College was founded in 1839 with the first rugby

match taking place in 1860 against Exeter Grammar School. By 1872, Exeter Rugby Football Club had been formed and the club’s inaugural match was against St Luke’s College. By the 1950s college rugby in the United Kingdom had become a major influence upon the game as a whole. In 1957, Devon won the County Championship with St Luke’s providing six members of the team. The 1960s and 1970s witnessed regular fixtures between St Luke’s College and clubs such as Bristol, Gloucester, Rosslyn Park and Wasps. In 1969 annual matches, home and away, against Loughborough College were established. These games proved to be some of the most exhilarating and exciting matches played during this period and ensured that both sides would be remembered as two of the most powerful student rugby clubs of all time.

When St Luke’s College finally amalgamated with the University of Exeter in 1978, the side took on the name ‘Exeter University Rugby Football Club,’ and have continued to compete under the name ever since.

©AlexPrins

CAN YOU LET ME KNOW ABOUT ANY AMBITIONS OR DEVELOPMENT PLANS ON AND OFF THE PITCH?

The club secured promotion to National 2 West ahead of the 2022/23 season. This is the highest level that EURFC will have played at in the club’s history. The goal is to stabilise and be competitive within the league, to allow more high-performance

DO YOU HAVE A SENIOR COACHING PHILOSOPHY AT THE CLUB?

The club is very much aligned with Exeter Chiefs, on both the men’s and women’s sides. On the men’s side, Director of Rugby Keith Fleming is still heavily involved with the Chiefs on matchdays and, with several of the Chiefs staff and players coaching the university sides, the coaching philosophy is one that is fully aligned with the Chiefs. The mantra within the club is ‘striving for excellence,’ both on and off the field. This means that studies and performances on the pitch both have to be the best that a player can put in.

athletes the opportunity to play at a high standard throughout their time at university.

For the 1st XV, the main goal is to retain the BUCS National Championship next season. However, having finished the regular league season in 2nd place to Durham for each of the last two seasons, the goal of securing a league and

championship double is the obvious aspiration for the 2022/23 season.

EURFC, whilst being a university setup, boast some of the best training and gym facilities in the South West, allowing players valuable time in the gym and on the field.

Whilst it is brilliant to see such a large number of players move on into the professional and semiprofessional game after they graduate from the university, seeing people leave with friends and memories for life, alongside a degree is the most important aspect.

HOW’S THE GENERAL MOOD DOWN AT THE CLUB AT THE MOMENT?

With pre-season starting up mid-July, there is a lot of excitement within the club. As is the nature of university sport, a large number of players have graduated and moved on, meaning that the first year students from last year and those others within the club, now have the opportunity to step up and continue where the club left off last season.

There’s a sense that the club are building something really special and an opportunity to do something unprecedented within the university game.

For the women’s side as

well, with the links fostered with Exeter Chiefs continuing to strengthen, there is an ambition to be as competitive as possible next season, back in the BUCS National League.

HOW IMPORTANT IS YOUR ONGOING CONNECTION WITH THE CHIEFS?

The connection is a really important one. Last season, 10 current students represented the Chiefs at one point or another throughout the season, with 1 other playing for Harlequins.

The connection with the Chiefs is crucial in continuing to provide an elite-level programme in Exeter, with Chiefs staff such as Haydn Thomas and Gareth Elliot also coaching the university.

Players that perform well within the university setup are invited in to train with the Chiefs, whilst Chiefs players such as Jacques Vermeulen and alumni Richard Capstick regularly come to university training sessions and coach teams.

For the women’s section as well, the club is coached by Exeter Chiefs Women’s cocaptain Poppy Leitch, with 11 current and former students playing for the Chiefs last season, highlighting how the

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relationship is continuing to grow.

HOW IS LADIES RUGBY AT THE CLUB PROGRESSING?

WHAT ABOUT TOUCH OR WALKING RUGBY DO YOU HAVE ANY, OR PLAN TO INTRODUCE THIS, AT THE CLUB?

The South West is a hotbed for women’s rugby, with Exeter University and Exeter Chiefs leading the way. The club has a rich and successful history in women’s university rugby, winning the BUCS National Championship in both 2018 and 2019.

For the first time in the history of the club, over 100 women’s members joined last season, with a third team playing matches for the first time.

The link with Exeter Chiefs continues to grow, with dedicated staff, S&C programming and training meaning that the women’s section of the club runs in the same high-performance structure as the men’s programme.

Last season, seven current students were part of the Exeter Chiefs Women’s squad, with the Chiefs programme offering a viable pathway into

the elite women’s game for those students who want to pursue this.

WHAT CHALLENGES DOES THE CLUB FACE FOR THE 2022/2023 SEASON?

After a season of so much success in 2021/22, the challenge this year is to back it up. Immediate goals are to be competitive within National 2 West, whilst aiming to win the BUCS Super Rugby league and cup double. In National 2, the challenge will be to adjust to

a higher level of rugby and more travel time to matches.

PLEASE FINISH OFF BY TELLING ME WHAT MAKES YOUR CLUB SUCH A GREAT CLUB TO BE PART OF?

EURFC is a club that welcomes all players of any ability. The connection within the entire club, from 1-300, not just within each team is what sets it apart from the rest. The BUCS Championship semi-final against Cardiff Met in March saw over 500 students descend on Topsham to cheer on the side.

It is a club where students leave having made memories and friends for life. International players such as alumni Sam Skinner still remember their time at the university fondly, despite having now played for Exeter Chiefs and Scotland.

CONTACT THE CLUB University of Exeter Topsham Ground Road Devon EX3 0LY

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Percy Park RFC

With four senior teams, including a Woman’s side playing in the National League, a comprehensive junior setup and celebrating 150 years of experience and tradition, Percy Park is one of Northumberland’s premier amateur rugby clubs.

And to acknowledge that sesquicentennial year of being we were delighted to invite all supporters of the game of rugby and sport in general to join together with Percy Park RFC on Saturday 21st May 2022 where we hosted an Elite and Social Sevens Tournament for men and women to celebrate our anniversary.

Our event sponsored by Wade Financial, PGS Law and GOBI Consultancy attracted many of the top seven’s teams in the country and in the doing demonstrated Percy Park’s standing within the family of rugby throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Founded in 1872, Percy Park has the distinction of being one of the oldest rugby clubs in the country. The side has spent the majority of its 150 years playing on the pitches at Preston Avenue, North Shields making the same its home in 1896.

Percy Park has a rich and entertaining fabric having played the Barbarians on three occasions around the turn of the century and hosting the All Blacks for their game against Northumberland in 1905. Over the years, players such as George Carmichael ‘Tot’ Robinson, Carston ‘Catchy’ Catcheside and Don Rutherford went on to win caps at international level, some representing the Red Rose and others taking part in British and Irish Lions tours.

History is very important but what is relevant is where Percy Park are in 2022. Ten years ago, the club entered a period of transition. Our successful 1st XV handed over the mantle to younger players who struggled to maintain league position culminating in a relegation to Level 7 rugby. That may appear damning but it isn’t as those younger players developed under sound tutelage, enjoyed many a cup success and have stayed together to form an experienced and formidable side. Promotion back to Level six and an ambition to make their way back to Level 5 is on the horizon.

The transition was also within the club itself. New changing rooms, up to date heating system sports bar and a very modern players gym are testament of a club that refuses to stand still.

The appointment of a Club Rugby Development Officer to work within the local schools and community has enhanced the rugby club’s position as a progressive club looking far into the future.

A future that has embraced women’s rugby with a fledgling side making their way in National Rugby and an open LBGT side playing competitive fixtures and hosting numerous tournaments. History being made as Stephanie Cicquel became Percy Parks first ever female County player.

Beyond 2022 the future looks assured yet the mantra within the club remains ‘to stand still is to go backwards’ and that is something Percy Park are determined not to do.

One of the best tributes that can be made about a club cannot be from the inside and is always more impactive from others as Ian Little a local employer astutely summarised when he financially supported our 150 Sevens tournament

“We’re thrilled to be serving as one of Percy Park RFC’s proud sponsors,” says Wade Financial Associate Ian Little. “We are always keen to support local clubs that have an impact on the community, and their focus on junior development from such a young age can only inspire more kids to get in the game. We’re looking forward to continuing our partnership with the club, and hope that it can prove beneficial over the next few years. I hope that all attending today can appreciate the hard work Percy

Park has made in creating friendship through sport

And there you have it friendship through sport. Build on strong foundations and the rest will follow. Our 1st XV are testament; friendship has held them together and they are now reaping the rewards of all their hard work and as they lead others follow, with the next crop of young players enjoying untold success within the Lions side winning their league and cup competitions.

Solid foundations built on community belonging and friendship. Percy Park has identity and that cannot be dismissed lightly.