The history of Hadleigh RUFC
In April 1984, Hadleigh Town Council placed an advertisement in the local newspaper calling for residents within the town to form a Hockey and Rugby club. The council had made land available for pitches and changing facilities at the local school. Arthur Bell, Mike Pattinson, Lance Middleton, and Bob Lambert, from Hadleigh, and Bill Burgess from RAF Wattisham came forward to form the original management committee of Hadleigh RUFC.
Their first fixture was in September 1984, against Clacton 3rd xv, when they arrived with only 12 players to slump to an embarrassing defeat. The remainder of the season proved an inevitable struggle, as young players were frantically recruited and older players were persuaded to come out of retirement, the nucleus of the club was forged with an appetite for enjoyment.
In October 1985, Terry Sands, local businessman and county schoolboy rugby player was recruited and, despite many years away from the game, his love for the sport rekindled to the good fortune of the club. Terry and his brother Tony soon became committee members, using their persuasive powers to recruit and their business skills to assist the club in growing from strength to strength.
In the years leading up to 1991, Hadleigh were able to complete the construction of a brand new clubhouse and, in only their second year of league rugby, they achieved promotion from Eastern Counties Division 6. By 1992 they were running three teams and again achieved promotion as “runners up” while in 1993 they were forced to consolidate, largely due to the changes affecting RAF Wattisham, which had largely influenced the membership of the club. The loss of 18 players was hard to bear but players from further a field were attracted by the success of the club and progressive stance of the management committee.
The 93/94 season was to be most successful. Hadleigh being crowned champions of Eastern Counties division 4 and reaching the Suffolk sevens final. The 94/95 season was Hadleigh’s 10th anniversary year. They consolidated in division 3, finishing 5th and won the Suffolk Plate Final.
In the 95/96 season, Hadleigh’s success proved greater than 93/94. This time under the captaincy of Ex Bedford, Sudbury and Eastern Counties player, Steve Cunningham. Steve also helped on the coaching side, this culminated in another season in which Hadleigh were promoted as champions of division 3. They also reached the last 16 of the National Pilkington Shield competition and reached the quarterfinals of the Amsterdam Sevens, at the first attempt.
With the club having been so successful in such a short space of time, the Hadleigh committee decided that the way ahead for the 96/97 season was to appoint an experienced coaching staff. They therefore welcomed Greg Forster and Neil Prentice to the club with open arms. With Greg Forster and Neil Prentice coaching and Steven Cunningham captaining, Hadleigh’s fairy tale story continued. They walked away with division 2, scoring an average of 60 points per game, won the Suffolk sevens Title, the Greene King Super league and reached the quarter final of the RFU National Knockout Cup. Greg Forster and Neil Prentice have both been instrumental in the clubs success and are to date still involved on the coaching staff at the club.
Season 97/98 saw Hadleigh’s rise of prominence continue as they secured promotion for the third time in a row, suffering only one league defeat throughout the season, but crucial victories over closest rivals Bancroft and Ilford saw them secure the Eastern Counties Division One title with two weeks of the season remaining.
Season 98 / 99 proved to be a bad year for the club as they suffered their worst ever loss but it was not on the pitch. The club lost their clubhouse to a bad fire and along with it much treasured memorabilia. The signs were that this terrible loss would bring the members together but for how long ? A player registration error also cost the club dearly as they lay 3rd in the league with a game left to play they played a player who had a week earlier signed ‘speed registration’ forms with North Walsham. The clubs registration officer expected the registration would take the normal 7 days but as he had been speed registered, he became ineligible to play the day before the match. Hadleigh were deducted 8 league points and went from a possible runners up slot to 3rd from bottom
Season 99/00 was our first year in the London leagues and a creditable 5th place finish was achieved. The one bad point in an otherwise excellent season was the unavailability of Steve Cunningham at fly half. Steve was transferred to Swindon with his job and the club had arguably lost their best ever player. With the clubhouse now rebuilt and the recruitment of South African C.T.DuPlessis as Captain, who had played Currie Cup rugby for Mpumalunga, the club hoped for better things. C.T. commanded great respect from the rest of the team and with ex Hadleigh player Kev Parker on board as Coach with Ex New Zealand 7s player Owen Scrimgeour partnering him, Hadleigh went on to win the Suffolk Cup for the first time in their short history. The semi final win over close rivals Ipswich was particularly sweet and the team went on to beat Bury St Edmunds convincingly in the final. Hadleigh also achieved promotion yet again and would start the next Millennium playing in London Division 3.
Hadleigh’s great season was however suddenly ruined as during the close season the clubhouse was unbelievably burned down for a second time. This situation could have had a serious effect with regards to the survival of the club as many of its members made it clear they could not face having to rebuild for a second time.
The Season 2000 / 01 proved to be a difficult year for Hadleigh. The loss of the clubhouse had caused several players to hang up their boots or move away and club spirit was at an all time low. Players had nowhere to call their own and being forced to leave straight after a game did not help team morale. With C.T DuPlessis and Iain Fraser moving with the clubs blessing, to senior club Norwich, winning games was never going to be easy. After losing the first 4 league games on the trot and lying 3rd from bottom at Christmas Hadleigh’s future was unknown. Just after the festive break the players rallied together and started to show true Hadleigh spirit once more. Some excellent results during the 2nd half of the season saw Hadleigh finish mid table and reaching the Suffolk Cup final for the 2nd year in succession was no mean feat.
The following season was obviously one of consolidation but for 2003/04 we enlisted the help of Ben Butler from 7 Para RHA in Colchester as our Captain and CT DuPlessis re-joined the Club as player Coach. We almost achieved the impossible when at the end of March we were sitting on top of London league Div 3 and were in the Suffolk Cup Final as well as the County Cup Final after beating North Walsham on the way. It was a huge task but the treble was there for the taking. Unfortunately due to injuries and a dip in form at the worst possible time, some 3 weeks later we found ourselves as runners up in both Cup competitions and in 2nd place in the league as we lost an important league game. Next up was having to play St Albans in what turned out to be a home and away play off promotion game. We were victorious in both and now find ourselves promoted in to a very competitive London Division 2 league.
From 2007 the club has undergone considerable changes in fortune. With the demise of form many of the "imported " players left the club and we were forced to move into Eastern counties Divisional rugby to re- assess the future of the club. We went through a difficult time but with considerable efforts by the main club committee and the youth section we have managed to re-emerge. At the present time we are looking forward to 2010 and go into the New Year in 3rd place in the league. It is the 25th Anniversary of the Club and we are all looking forward to the celebratory dinner on May 8th.
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