Liverpool rugby celebrates an historic milestone
Pictured from left to right: Fran Cotton (first capped in 1971), Ray French (1961), Martin Regan (1953), club chairman John Bithell, Brian Williams, Senior Vice-President of the Rugby Football Union and Kevin Simms (1985).
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Roy Rogers and his horse Trigger may remain the most celebrated guests to have stayed at the world-famous Adelphi Hotel, but the Liverpool landmark added another important milestone to its proud sporting heritage recently when it was the venue for another joyous trip down memory lane.
The 150th anniversary of the Liverpool Rugby Union Football Club was the occasion, with over 300 past and present players and members of Liverpool St Helens and the former Liverpool and St Helens rugby union clubs gathering to commemorate an historic day in the annals of this famous sporting city.
The oldest open rugby club in the world was formed on December 19, 1857 when Liverpool lad Frank Albert Mather invited his friend from Rugby School, Richard Sykes, to bring a team to play at Spekefields, Wavertree. Queen Victoria was on the throne, Christmas holidays were approaching and young Mather and his friends were fed up with their normal pastimes of shooting and coursing and in search of a different recreation.
Mather was one of a number of merchant’s sons and articled clerks had been at Rugby school and he wrote to his former school friend Sykes, who lived in Manchester. Sykes was captain of Football at Rugby School and Mather invited him to bring a team to play against a team of players from Liverpool.
Sykes accepted and it is reported that around 50 players took part, many of them members of Liverpool Cricket Club, with the game being played as “Rugby versus the World” due to the large numbers of players from Rugby School. As for the game itself it is best described in Dick Daglish’s 125 year history as follows: “The game, described as a pleasant one, was played very much as a trial, not of players but the game itself. The important decision was that the players’ verdict on the game was favourable and that the Liverpool Football Club was there and then formed.”
Tony Onslow and John Sturgeon in their book “Dogs and Ladies Not Allowed - The 200 year History of Liverpool Cricket Club” record that immediately following the game “The rugby players were now to form a strong link with the cricket club as the popularity of the game began to increase. They could be seen, during the winter months, playing their matches on the Spekefield ground”.
Daglish sums up the situation as follows: “A large proportion of what we know about the events of that December day in 1857 comes from the letters written by Richard Sykes. Writing from California in 1910 to A.G. Melly, Sykes recalled in great detail those events and the names of those who had taken part. Melly in turn corresponded with other survivors and a consensus was reached that the club had indeed been formed there and then, on that December day on 1857” – which supports the proudly held belief in the club’s longevity assertion.
Sykes went on to help form the Manchester Club, three years later in 1860, thereby giving Liverpool their first known opponents, the first recorded result being in 1867/8 when Liverpool beat Manchester at Manchester by one goal to nil.
That historic link with Manchester RUFC was acknowledged at the 150th celebration when Maurice Parker, Immediate Past President of Lancashire and a stalwart of the Manchester Club, responded to the toast on behalf of the guests.
The club’s contribution to England rugby was also reflected at the gala dinner by the presence of former internationals from four different decades in Martin Regan, Fran Cotton, Kevin Simms and LSH President Ray French, who underlined his status as one of rugby’s finest ambassadors by adding the icing to a fine celebration cake with his closing address having arrived hot-foot from a Rugby League International TV commentary assignment in Wigan.
Issued by Tony Simpson, RFU North Press Officer (07764 336708) - November 12, 2007
Bolton RUFC celebrate national award
Bolton’s most famous rugby union son, former England player and RFU President Malcolm Phillips was the perfect choice to do the honours when the club was presented with its RFU President’s XV award today (Wednesday, June 27, 2007). The award, one of 12 handed out nationwide in recognition of special work by clubs in specific areas, went to Bolton for their work in developing rugby in schools within the town and was received on behalf of the club by the man who has done so much to drive the various initiatives, Club Chairman Clive Nightingale.
The presentation was especially appropriate in that the Chairman will shortly be leaving the club and the community to start a new chapter of his life in Austria and this RFU recognition was perfectly time for a man who has piloted the club so successfully during his tenure in office. Caption: Picture shows Clive Nightingale (left) collecting plaque and cheque for £500 from Malcolm Phillips.
A rugby injury resulted in him being propelled into the chairmanship rather than a place in the first team, but that accident of fate has clearly been a major blessing in disguise for the club. “Bolton are very worthy winners of the award,” says Greater Manchester Rugby Development Officer Tom Mapp. “The work they’ve done over the five years since I’ve been in post in bringing you people into rugby union and the club environment has been absolutely fantastic. They have 15 schools playing every week in an Emerging Schools League and they run regular tag rugby competitions. The result of that is that from a base of around 50 young people being involved in the junior section they now have more than 300. They now have two development officers in place funded by the club and local sponsors and Clive Nightingale has been instrumental in steering the club through what has been a very exciting time, especially now that some of the youngsters are starting to play at senior level.”
There was obviously a deep sense of personal satisfaction for Chairman Nightingale. “It’s a fantastic achievement for the club,” says than man who has been directing operations for a dozen years. “I’ve put a lot of hard work into putting in place the development team – there aren’t many clubs at our level who have both a Development Officer in Steve Watson and a Community Rugby Coach in Gary Kos.
“We got the funding together from a range of sources and put it into this development pot. Now we have the two of them out in the community and in the schools doing the work that has got us to where we are today and which has earned us this award. We applied for support via loads of different schemes – Primary School tag tournaments, Emerging Schools League, social inclusion work with the Somalian youngsters in the area, work with disabled groups and summer camps – and we’ve geared all our efforts to the projects we pledged to do when we got Sportsmatch backing. We’ve had a great response from the schools to our input. We’ve a vested interest. We wear two hats. One, we like to go out and promote rugby and get the sport out to the kids and let them enjoy and make informed decisions about whether they want to play rugby or follow football. If they’ve never tried rugby they’ll never know, so we’re giving them that option.
“Secondly, we’ve been working on the exit strategy from this situation and that should be that these kids are coming to us and other rugby clubs.
We want youngsters to see that the facilities we’ve developed are very good and that club offers a warm and friendly environment. Hopefully that helps when they come back on a Sunday with their parents. When we heard that we’d got the award it brought tears to my eyes because it meant that all the hard work that has been put in had been seen by the wider community. When you get a top accolade for the work you’re doing in schools, it makes all that time and effort definitely worthwhile.”
Malcolm Phillips may have represented the RFU ‘top brass’ at the presentation, but he also provided in-depth awareness of what has been achieved by rugby men in his town. “They started from scratch 20 years ago on what had been a derelict mill site,” he says. “Now they’ve got three pitches, two training areas, a fine clubhouse – and all this in an area which is soccer mad. I think it’s remarkable. Clubs like this are the heart of the Rugby Union game and to be one of only 12 clubs in the country to win one of these awards is a terrific achievement.”
Issued by Tony Simpson, RFU North Press Officer (07764 336708) - June 27, 2007
Members give go ahead for Vale’s ‘visionary, realistic and affordable’ £2million future.
In what was billed as a crucial meeting for the future of Vale of Lune rugby club, members voted to go ahead with ambitious £2million plans to build a new clubhouse and changing rooms at Powder House Lane.
The 100 or so members at the meeting gave the club the go ahead to seek planning permission for the complex, which will be built on the site of the current stand and changing rooms.
Chairman Brian McCann described the plans as being vital for Vale’s future. “They are visionary, realistic and affordable”, he said. Mr McCann and the development committee agreed to another meeting with members once the plan had been approved and the finances agreed.
Members were able to to study the plans before being given a more detailed brief by the architects. The plans will now be submitted to Lancaster City Council. Although no firm details are in place, if everything went according to plan, work could start in April 2008.
Source: Lancaster Guardian newspaper. Image: JMP Architects
Ambitious plans for Fylde RFC
Fylde Rugby Club have embarked on a £450,000 development project which will transform the traditional rugby club at The Woodlands into a modern regional centre providing not only first-class rugby facilities for all ages and abilities, but also a variety of different sporting/athletic activities embracing schools, clubs and other groups.
The first part of this transformation, which began in 2003, resulted in the building of the new clubhouse and its opening in the winter of 2005. The second major phase involves the redevelopment and extension of the external sporting and fitness facilities.
The club is aiming to establish itself as a ‘beacon club’ in the region and in that role is employing its own Sports Development Officer and coaches whose remit is to support local and regional schools, colleges, rugby clubs and other community groups.
The thrust of this new development phase is two-fold. Firstly, the construction of a 3rd generation, floodlit all-weather pitch. This will have a rubber crumb surface suitable for contact and non-contact sports including rugby and football and will be made available to local schools, community groups and youth organisations.
Associated with this development is the laying of an illuminated all weather training circuit around the perimeter of three of the four pitches at the Woodlands.
The second major element is the extension of floodlighting to enable these facilities to be more extensively used during winter months. Apart from lighting the new all-weather pitch, it is planned to improve the current lighting of the grass training pitch as well as installing lights for the main pitch.
Funding for the estimated £450k development will be sought from a variety of public and private sources.
Click on the photo for the Fylde website article
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