chairs welcome A very warm welcome to everyone joining us at Oxford Quins as we begin another season, and an especially warm welcome to our visitors from Burton. We hope the players, coaches, supporters and officials enjoy their time with us today. Although, naturally, we hope the journey home feels slightly longer than the journey here!
It’s also fantastic to welcome all of our new sponsors to Oxford Quins. Your support makes an enormous difference to what we can achieve as a rugby club, and we’re looking forward to getting to know you all properly over the course of the season.
This season represents an exciting new chapter across the club.
Our new O’Neills kit is looking superb too. The club certainly looks the part. Now it’s over to the rugby to match it.
For our senior section, this is very much a rebuilding season. There has been plenty of change, and we know that building something sustainable takes time, patience and a huge amount of work behind the scenes. We’re excited about the direction we’re heading and looking forward to seeing the group develop as the season progresses. Meanwhile, our junior section is full steam ahead. It continues to grow and thrive, and seeing so many young players and families around the club is a brilliant reminder of what Oxford Quins is all about. The pathway from our youngest age groups through to senior rugby remains a hugely important part of our future. You may also have noticed that the clubhouse has had a bit of a glow-up. Our new bar looks fantastic, and a huge thank you must go to Nathan and all the volunteers who have given their time and energy to make it happen. We’ve also expanded our food and drink offering this season, so please support the club by eating and drinking loads. Responsibly, of course!
Finally, a massive thank you to our Executive Board, senior leadership team, coaches, staff and volunteers. An enormous amount of work goes into running a rugby club that most people never see, and we simply couldn’t do it without the people who continually give up their time to make Oxford Quins better. There is a real sense of a new chapter beginning at the club, and I’m really looking forward to the season ahead. Thank you for joining us today, enjoy the rugby, enjoy the new clubhouse and, most importantly, enjoy being part of Oxford Quins. Here’s to a great season.
Aoife O’Neill
aoife o’neill
meet your executive committee chair I first arrived at the club as a touchline parent when my son Aodhan was five, armed with a flask of tea and absolutely no intention of getting involved. That plan lasted roughly one season. I soon picked up a coaching whistle, then became the club's first Head of Girls' Rugby, then Club Secretary, and is now Chair. Some call it dedication; some think I am a lunatic. By profession, I am a former Barrister, Attorney and business owner specialising in corporate restructuring, which has proved surprisingly useful for sorting out the club's recent issues. As a lifelong pioneer, a woman, and Irish, I am not your stereotypical Chair of an English rugby club, but somehow it works. My loyalties are only truly tested during the Six Nations and Rugby World Cup. Rugby runs in the family: my son now plays for our U11s, and my daughter plays for her university team in Dublin, making me one of the few people who can shout encouragement from both sides of the Irish Sea.
secretary Stacy has been pitch-side at Oxford Quins for a while! First supporting her husband and, over the past 9 years, watching her son progress through the Mini & Junior ranks which led to her get more involved in the M&J section. After years of volunteering at M&J festivals, serving sausages on Sunday mornings, and supporting the growth of the girls' section, she helped establish our Micro Minis last year. Despite enjoying learning/teaching basic rugby skills to 5-year-olds each weekend, she agreed to take on the role of Club Secretary this season. She still enjoys seeing the Micros train on Sundays and feels honoured to learn more about all Quins playing sections, how the club operates, and helping to build a strong future for all members to enjoy rugby.
treasurer Jenny joined Quins in 2018 when her three boys started playing and has been a familiar face around the club ever since. She's been team admin for two age groups, helped at numerous festivals and has been Treasurer for the past four years, looking after the club's accounts, invoice payments, memberships and payroll. These days, Jenny is much more likely to be found in an apron than a pair of boots! She can often be found in the kitchen, helping to cook or serving up match teas. Jenny is passionate about being part of the Quins community and believes that by working together, supporting each other, and getting more people involved, we can continue to build a strong, welcoming club for the future.
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meet your executive committee youth chair Jamie joined Oxford Quins in 2015 and spent ten years coaching his son's age group before taking on the role of Youth Chair, a post he's now held for seven years, and he still occasionally pulls on the coaching boots when he gets the chance. Alongside leading the youth section, Jamie led the relaunch of the Supporters Club and worked with Club Chair Aoife O'Neill to relaunch the club's community programme with Rugby All Stars. He remains passionate about improving the experience for players and supporters alike, on and off the pitch.
partnership director Paul joined the Oxford Harlequins board as Partnerships Director with a clear aim: to build lasting, genuine relationships with the businesses that support the club, and to strengthen its commercial footing for the years ahead. A CIMA qualified accountant, Paul is Director and co-owner of CFO First Ltd, a UK financial advisory firm, and works in a senior finance role in the data centre sector. He brings that commercial experience to the club's partnerships programme, which this season includes new title sponsors across the Men's, Women's, Girls and Minis & Juniors sections, and the launch of the Player Sponsorship scheme. Paul's involvement at Quins goes well beyond the boardroom. He has coached in the girls' section for four years, and his eldest daughter plays for the Girls U14s this season. He is also an assistant coach with the Oxford University Women's Blues, a role he has held for the past five years.
facilities & development director From Derby to Guernsey and from Canterbury to Brixham, Purch has certainly clocked up the away-trip miles over an 18-year playing career with Oxford Harlequins, representing the First XV across every level from South West 1 through to National 2 East. He has also played seasons at all three of the senior side's home grounds during that time: alongside Oxford RFC at the Botley Bypass, at Marston Ferry Road, and now at Horspath, where Oxford Quins has finally been reunited as a whole club on one site and established its long-term home. Along the way, Purch has captained the side across several seasons and experienced the club's journey through promotions, relegations and memorable campaigns. That history gives him a particularly strong connection not only to the rugby played at Oxford Quins, but to the places, facilities and community that allow it to happen.
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SUMMERTOWN • OXFORD • HENLEY-ON-THAMES • BURFORD
Chair of Oxford Quins Supporters Club Welcome to the start of a new and exciting season ahead for our senior men’s 1st XV. Our first league game against Burton provides the ideal platform for the relaunch of the Quins Supporters Club. On our 30th anniversary year as a club it is time to reset and refresh the Quins Supporters Club alongside the many great improvements we are witnessing in the Clubhouse and our wider facilities. Our aim in the relaunch is to make the Quins Supporters Club an integral part of the club and reciprocally make the club proud of its supporter’s support and encouragement, building a bond for years to come. We hope that you will enjoy the fruits of all the hard work that the club and its dedicated band of volunteers have put in over the summer. The new bar looks fantastic, with a new refreshed offering of beverages, with our thanks to Ashai for all of their support in making this happen. The kitchen and bar are under new management, so welcome Nathan and Alison; the revamped food offering is outstanding and for those lucky enough to be having lunch on Saturday, we hope you will enjoy the refreshed menu. For those not lunching, fear not, Nathan’s new pasty offering available from behind the bar has proved, quite simply, a huge hit over the summer months. Talking of the new bar, we are in the midst, also, of renovations to bring back to the Members Bar, a well-loved space, to be full of our club’s memorabilia and a space for reflecting on the history of the club and its two founding clubs, Marathons and Old Boys – one of our first tasks as the Supporters Club is to help the club finish the work needed to reopen – all offers of professional skills and donations to cover the cost are welcome, together we can achieve something we can be proud of. All of this is part of what we as the Supporters Club and the club working together can achieve, an integrated community supporting each other to provide more a more enjoyable experience on game days, making the club the place to be on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon, renewed and positive engagement between players and supporters in a setting fit for purpose - this is the key tenant of the Supporters Club and as well as assisting to make the club better in respects our subscriptions and fundraising are dedicated to this aim, we use the funds raised to reinvest in the club and our supporter’s experience. If you have ideas, thoughts or a sense of direction that you would like the Supporters Club to look at, please contact me, it’s a team behind the teams !
Talking of community and teams, the Supporters Club is not just there for the senior men’s teams, we are there for the whole club, wanting to build positive support for our women’s teams, driving attendance for their games, making the club the place to watch high quality rugby on a Sunday afternoon, with food and drink and social events to boot; we are there to gather support from and offer assistance to the M&J section of the club, and having coached in that section, I am keen to see us support the Academy and build a relationship, such that they feel a better connection with the seniors and want to support the senior section – we are one club. With all of this in mind I am pleased to introduce you to your Supporters Club committee to drive not only the relaunch but keep the momentum going over the seasons ahead, so alongside myself, we have our well known Roy Khan, as well as Alice Partridge and Monique de Jager, together covering with experience all the sections of the club I write about – we will meet, discuss and put forward to the Executive Committee our thoughts and ideas, and make our decisions on how we support the club and improve your experience. As I say above, contact me, contact us, message us on the Spond App or have a word on the touchline, we want your feedback, ideas and vision. Lastly, on behalf of the Supporter’s Club I would like to give a very warm welcome to our visitors today. Coming from a Bass brewery family on one side, Burton has a special place in the heart, lets look forward to a good competitive game and enjoying the club’s ambience as we celebrate our Supporters Club relaunch and all that is good about this wonderful game of ours.
James Sayer
james sayer
Partnerships Director Welcome back to Oxford Harlequins! If you have noticed a few new names around the ground this season, you are not imagining it. This has been the busiest and most exciting summer in the club's partnerships history, and I want to take a moment to thank every business that has put its faith in what we are building here. OUR TITLE PARTNERS We are delighted to confirm Shaw Gibbs as Title Sponsor of our Men's 1st XV. Shaw Gibbs have supported the club for some time, and stepping up to title partner is a huge vote of confidence in our senior programme. Howden become Title Sponsor of our Women's and Girls' Rugby. As the fastest growing girls' rugby club in Oxfordshire, this partnership could not be better timed, and it will help us keep opening the door to more players every season. Our Minis and Juniors section, home to over 400 young players, will be led by joint Title Sponsors Volare Aviation and Ethical Power. Their backing goes straight into the heart of the club: coaching, equipment and giving every child a great Sunday morning. OUR SPONSOR FAMILY A warm welcome to our newest sponsor, Welbeck Health Partners, and a big thank you to those continuing their support: Freeths, Penny & Sinclair, Sweetcroft Homes and Herbert Webster. Please look out for their boards around the pitches and, when you need their services, give them a call. NEW CLUB PARTNERS Partnerships are not just about logos. This season we have welcomed four partners who make a real difference to club life: Phat Pasties are now supplying the clubhouse with their outstanding pasties. Come hungry. Miele are providing the club with two new washing machines, a gift that every kit volunteer will appreciate more than words can say. Breakthrough Maths are offering Oxford Harlequins members 50% off their private online maths tutoring, ideal for A Level, GCSE and 11+ preparation. Proof Social will be supplying fresh patisserie every weekend. Your Saturday coffee just got a serious upgrade.
TAKING RUGBY INTO SCHOOLS Our biggest announcement is about the community. The club has partnered with Scott Hall and Rugby All Stars to develop a brand new schools programme together. The programme will take rugby into local schools, introducing hundreds of children to the game and its values. We are also thrilled to announce that The Phoenix Comic will partner with us to deliver comics to every school we work with this season, supporting reading and literacy alongside rugby. Sport and stories, hand in hand. HOW YOU CAN HELP With over 1,000 people through our gates every week, the Oxford Harlequins community is our greatest asset, and there are simple ways you can get involved: Sponsor a player. For £400 a season, a business, family or group of friends can sponsor a Men's or Women's player, with your name alongside theirs all season. Get pitchside. Sponsor boards are available around our pitches, putting your business in front of over 1,000 visitors every week. Open a door. Know a business that would benefit from reaching our community? An introduction is all it takes. Back our partners. Buy the pasties, book the tutoring, use their services. Every bit of support strengthens the relationship. Volunteer. Help us deliver the schools programme or support on matchdays. Get in touch at partnerships@oxfordharlequins.org. Let's make this our best season yet.
Paul Evans Paul evans
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We host training every Tuesday and Thursday 7pm-9pm! For more information about joining our women’s teams email us at daisy@oxfordharlequins.org Oxford Quins RFC, Horspath Rd, Oxford, OX4 2RR
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Join us every Wednesday, 6:00pm-7:15pm horspath For Year 5 and above. All experience levels welcome. Email: girlsrugby@oxfordharlequins.org for more info
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girlsrugby@oxfordharlequins.org Can’t wait to see you there! Oxford Quins RFC, Horspath Rd, Oxford, OX4, 2RR
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Welcome to the club Asahi