TYNEDALE RUGBY FOOTBALL CLUB LIMITED Founded in 1876 at Hexham
Registered under the Co Operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014 (Register No. 29666R)
President Ian Lewis
Management Committee Chief Executive N. Foster Secretary A Cuthbertson Treasurer R M Jones Chair of Governance J Austin Chair of Commercial M Robinson Chair of Senior Rugby M Fieldhouse Chair of Youth Rugby {13 and Above} J White Chair of Youth Rugby {13 and Below} K Dryden Chair of Female Rugby N Oliver
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING (PART 1) 2019
Notice is hereby given that the Annual General Meeting (Part 1) of members of the club will be held at The Clubhouse, Tynedale RFC, Corbridge, NE45 5AY at 7.30pm on 7th October 2019
AGENDA Meeting Chaired by Chief Executive {Rule 7.2}
1. Apologies for absence
2. Confirmation of the minutes of AGM (Part 3) held on Monday 13th May 2019, and Minutes of AGM (Part I} held on the Thursday 30th August 2018.
3. To receive and approve the Annual Report (see enclosed).
4. To receive and approve the Financial Statement {deferred to AGM Part II}
5. Election of:- ▪ The Officers of the Club, in accordance with Rule 8.1.4 ▪ The President of the Club in accordance with Rule 8.1.5. ▪ Members of the Management Committee in accordance with Rule 8.1.7
Nominations for Officers and Management committee members should be sent to me as Secretary, to my home address, Corfield, Stagshaw Road, Corbridge, NE45 5PB,5 9QU, not less than 7 days before the Annual General Meeting, as prescribed in Rule 8.3.1
6. Any other business of which due notice has been given, sent to me as Secretary, as prescribed in Rule 8.5.
7. To hear any other relevant matter for the consideration of the new Management Committee (Rule 8.1.12)
A J Cuthbertson Secretary
TYNEDALE RUGBY FOOTBALL CLUB LIMITED
ANNUAL REPORT FOR SEASON 2018-19
CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S REPORT
GENERAL OVERVIEW
I have no wish to steal the spotlight from the comprehensive, informative reports which follow in this Annual Report so I will simply summarise and leave you to review. I am embarking on my fifth and final year in role of Chairman, or Chief Executive as it is rather grandly titled, and would like to take this opportunity to reflect on matters which I consider of greatest significance to the ongoing vitality of Tynedale Rugby Club. At the very headline level, I firmly believe this vitality will be secured by pulling together as one club, pursuing common objectives and, being a valued part of our local community. First and foremost, participation in rugby at all levels. In this respect the club occupies a comparatively enviable position. Countrywide, the diminishing number of male adult rugby players is of concern but with the invaluable support of Chris Lynch, Simon Allan, Colin Scullion, Martin Hastie and John White were are regularly turning out three teams and competing at the top of our game at first, second and third team level. Elsewhere, as the following reports attest, we have a vibrant and diverse youth section with growing numbers and improving representation in both boys and girls rugby. We are starting to see the long-term benefit of Richard Cramb’s highly valued coordination role between Youth and Colts, with an increasing number of Colts playing through into our senior sides and providing the bedrock for future Tynedale 1st XV success. The Tynedale Ladies sevens team was successful, winning their inaugural league, for which grateful thanks must go to Annie Lees and Craig Johnston, amongst others, for their support and enthusiasm. Off field, the new management team structure is proving hugely beneficial. We have experienced and committed heads of Youth, Senior and Girls rugby, each taking care of and responsibility for their area of playing operations. Below this pyramid fans a magnificent team of volunteers, parents and supporters who all make delivery of rugby both pleasurable and possible for so many. John Austin has defined the new role of Chairman of Governance to such an extent that external eyes are taking a keen interest in our structure. Andrew Cuthbertson and Marcus Robinson are respectively leading the maintenance and evolution of our facilities to safeguard the club for future generations and, Richard Jones has brought and experienced eye to our financial affairs (more of which to follow). I am conscious that we don’t want our management team to feel the equivalent of ‘corporate’ burden but I do believe that we have a ‘board room’ which could take on an empire well beyond the current remit. Thank you one and all. So, all set fair you might assume? Unfortunately not. Whilst we have participation, management structure and a strategic outlook to the future this all requires one key ingredient which has been diminishing in recent years, and that is revenue. The Treasurers Report provides the detail but, in a nutshell, in order to continue providing rugby for a diverse range of participants we need to boost our income. RFU funding is in freefall and, to give you a flavour of the problem, this no longer covers even the basic cost of coach travel to away matches for the first team, let alone any of our significant additional travel costs and overheads. As we grow on the field, we need to grow revenue streams off it. Without a sustainable 25% increase in our receipts, the reward for the effort and energy invested by so many volunteers is in danger of being extinguished. That sober note brings me neatly to the elephant in the room, aka redevelopment of the Clubhouse. This hasn’t been forgotten nor are we suffering from indecision or lack of direction. Delivering the original plan, to build above the existing clubhouse, would have committed the club to over £2m of debt (and or protracted fund raising) and it was unanimously considered this was a step too far in context of both the facility we require to operate as a rugby club and the burden to amortise such borrowing. Careful consideration has been given to alternate proposals and, with the valued assistance of our professional advisers, we are close to submitting a revised scheme based on a viable cost budget and balanced with the safety of a capital raising plan. I look forward to seeing this unfold over the course of the season ahead. Thank you all for your continued support at every level of Tynedale Rugby Club. MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE
The committee held 10 meetings in the year. The Year being defined as Sept 18 to June 2019 to Attendances were as follows: -
I. Lewis (President) 9 N. Foster (Chief Executive) 7 A. Cuthbertson (Secretary) 9 R Jones (Treasurer) 7 J Austin (Chair of Governance) 10 M. W. Fieldhouse (Chair of Senior Rugby) 8 M Robinson (Chair of Commercial) 8 J White (Chair of Youth Rugby 13 and Above) 9 K Dryden (Chair of Youth Rugby 13 and Below) 8 N Oliver (Chair of Female Rugby ) 9
The Rugby Sub-Committee and Commercial Sub-Committee also met regularly throughout the season and their respective reports are included below.
NATIONAL DIVISION 2 {NORTH} FINAL TABLE 2018/19
Team P W D L F A Diff LB TB Points HULL IONIANS 30 23 0 7 837 647 190 3 18 113 CHESTER 30 21 1 18 748 542 206 4 19 109 SEDGLEY PARK 30 19 0 11 883 641 242 6 19 101 HUDDERSFIELD 30 19 1 10 806 664 142 7 13 98 TYNEDALE 30 17 2 11 848 724 124 3 21 96 FYLDE 30 18 1 11 808 583 225 4 15 93 PRESTON GRASSHOPPERS 30 16 0 14 796 676 120 9 17 90 WHARFEDALE 30 16 0 14 676 622 54 6 12 82 OTLEY* 30 17 0 13 646 643 3 3 14 81 HINCKLEY* 30 15 2 13 729 680 49 4 13 81 STOURBRIDGE 30 13 1 16 868 860 8 6 17 77 LEICESTER LIONS 30 13 1 16 706 711 -5 8 13 75 SHEFFIELD TIGERS 30 9 1 20 728 780 -52 13 11 62 MACCLESFIELD 30 7 0 23 631 973 - 6 13 47 342 SOUTH LEICESTER 30 7 1 22 664 1112 - 4 11 45 448 PETERBOROUGH LIONS 30 4 1 25 497 1013 - 3 7 28 516 *Points Deducted as a result of a Breach of League Rules.
LEAGUE CHANGES Missing from National Two (North) next season are five teams :- Hull Ionians who were promoted to National League One, the three demoted clubs, Macclesfield, South Leicester and Peterborough Lions, and Leicester Lions who were transferred across to National Two (South). The five replacements are:- Luctonians, Caldy, Hull, Scunthorpe and Loughborough Students.
Since Leagues were introduced in 1987 in England Tynedale’s 1stXV’s league record is:- P W D L HOME 355 253 10 92 AWAY 356 141 14 201
Win ratio at home 71.3% Win ratio away 39.6% This season (2018/19), with 6 away wins from 15 matches, the percentage is about the same (40%).
Our home fixtures at Tynedale Park this season has continued to show a recent trend of strong win/draw percentage with some particularly entertaining and high scoring matches.
Our away form has maintained a 40% win/loss ratio and shows a consistent performance which is reflective of the culture and coaches/players efforts.
THE START OF NEXT SEASON – 2019/20
Pre-season training started 02 July 2019
Pre-season matches: Tuesday 13th August Tynedale 1st XV squad v Morpeth (A)
Saturday 17th August Tynedale 1st XV squad v Darlington Mowden Park (A)
Friday 23rd August Tynedale 1st XV v Billingham (H)
Friday 30th August Tynedale 1st XV v Blaydon (A)
Saturday 31st August Tynedale Raiders v WB Rockcliffe {H County Cup}
League Programme Commences Sept 7th 2019 with a Home Game v Luctonians.
OBITUARIES
ANTHONY CYRIL CURTIS (Tony), A longstanding member of the club, ex-Chairman of House & Bar, Director of Property and member of the club’s Management Committee for many years died on 1st September 2018 aged 77years. Tony’s experience in the electrical and various building trades, and his jocular manner and ability to get on with people meant he was ideally suited to the various roles he held within the club. For years he dealt with the caravanners and other Summer users of the club’s land; then in 2002 he served as Chairman of the House & Bar sub-committee when, in those days the club, under his auspices, employed a Stewardess and ran the bar and catering facilities. It was during this period that the first clubhouse flooding took place, in January 2005. Tony acted as the club’s project manager alongside the professional Chartered Surveyor and builders to such good effect that the changing-rooms were restored to full usage within a week, and the rest of the clubhouse was officially re-opened on the 30th April that year. His contribution was immense. Tony then took over responsibility for the Tynedale Park grounds as well as the premises as Director of Property, continuing to serve on the Management committee in that role until 2011. Ill health then caused him to retire from active participation in the club, but he continued to follow the club’s activities with great interest. Even though suffering poor health Tony retained a keen sense of humour and an enthusiasm for story-telling and he will be sorely missed by his many friends at Tynedale.
PETER THORBURN A back-row forward/ scrum-half and ex-Captain of the Tynedale1st XV died on the 20th September 2018 at the age of 75 years. Peter was a Cumbrian, and had played for Keswick RFC before his company moved him to the north-east of England. He then played for, and captained Darlington RFC before joining Tynedale in1970, when he turned out for the 4th. XV against Border Park (away) on the 14th November, and although Tynedale lost that match Peter scored a try, and scoring tries became a feature of his very aggressive playing style. His second match was for the Tynedale 2nd XV on 21st November v Durham University, and his first 1stXV appearance was against Ryton at home on 5th December 1970. Tynedale won 23-3 that day and Peter scored two tries. For the rest of that 1970/71 season he fluctuated between the 1st and 2nd XV’s. The back row was where the Tynedale squad were particularly strong with excellent players like Justin Smart, Roger Dinning, John Scott and Wallace Cousin vying for places. The change came at the start of the 1971/72 season when Peter began playing at scrum-half, where he excelled. By the following season, 1972/73, he was captain of the 1st XV and the club and a fixture in the side, partnering Alan Stokoe for much of that time in a very successful half-back combination.
HAMISH HASTIE Who played rugby for Tynedale in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s died, aged 88 years, on the 23rd October 2018. Hamish was a fine back-row forward, and captain of the 1st XV in the 1959/60 season. Hamish worked in Corbridge until 1964, when he returned to Scotland to continue to practice as a veterinary surgeon. Latterly he lived in North Berwick. His funeral took place on the 7th November at the Pentland Chapel, Edinburgh. His wife Laura pre-deceased him, and he left three children, Calum, Mairi and Niall and five grandchildren.
J.M. (JIMMY) BELL Died in hospital on Sunday 2nd December 2018, aged 78 years. Jimmy played for the 1stXV in the 1960’s, then coached and managed the Colts (The Under 18’s) after he retired from playing. In those days the Colts team travelled up to the Scottish borders to play away matches every other week, and Jimmy provided some of the car transport, along with John Clark and other team managers. As Chairman of the Ground Committee Jimmy worked on the grounds himself, unpaid, and oversaw the work of the various groundsmen at the club for many years, acting as a conduit between the groundsman and the Management Committee. The club recognised all these efforts by making him an Honorary Life Member. Jimmy had been ill for some time, and on the 30th September 2017 he fell at his home in Hexham. and latterly he lived at the Dene Grange Care Home in Hexham – close to the grounds where he played all of his club rugby! (Dene Park and Broad Close in the East end of Hexham were the original grounds of Tynedale Rugby Club until 1976, when the club moved to Corbridge). Jimmy was born on the 31st December 1939 and he and his family were evacuated from Rochester on the Medway in Kent to Hexham in 1940. He attended school at St. Mary’s in Hexham, then went to board at St. Joseph’s School in Dumfries. The school played football, rugby then cricket in the three terms of the school year. It was here that he learned to play rugby, and excelled, representing the South of Scotland at U18 level. After school Jim started work for the National Provincial Bank , now the Nat West in Newcastle, but, tiring of office work, he went to work for the Forestry commission after four years. Later he joined the staff at Brownrigg Camp School, Bellingham, where the emphasis on sport and outdoor activities meant that he was in his element. After sixteen years teaching at Bellingham he moved to Haydon Bridge where he taught until he retired. Jim joined Tynedale RFC in 1959, playing in the back-row, mainly as a No.8, and he played for the club right through the 1960’s. His last 1st XV game was at Kendal in October 1971. As a rugby player his style of play reflected his general character - quiet, unassuming, and a dedicated team man. But, under that benign exterior lay a fierce competitor and an awesome tackler.
WILLIAM ANGUS RUTHERFORD Passed away in Johannesburg on 26th March 2019. Angus, as he was known, was actually a cousin of the numerous Rutherfords who played for Tynedale over the years: Walter, William and Hector and, through marriage he was also related to Bill Dinning. Other more current relatives who have represented the club with some distinction are Roger Dinning, brothers Will and Johnny Rutherford, Roger Rutherford and more recently Peter (Bullet) Southern. Not a farmer like the others, Angus played for Tynedale prior to moving to South Africa in 1954 with Pearl Insurance There he married and had three children and went on to have a very successful insurance career. He was always very interested in the club from afar and had fond memories of his past involvement.
JOHN HERBERT GEORGE SAUNDERS Who died on the 25th April 2019 aged 81years was President of Tynedale RFC from 1992 to 1994 and also President of the Northumberland Rugby Union in season 2007/08. Born in Berkshire, John was educated in Suffolk before moving on to Cambridge University where he gained a masters degree in archaeology. He married Faye in 1961. They had twins, Edward and Claire, and there are three grandchildren. John started a career in the gas industry following his time at Cambridge and that brought him to the North-East, working for British Gas. His son Edward began playing mini-rugby and John was persuaded by former Hexham Courant editor Mike Sharman to coach youngsters at Tynedale Rugby Club. John then moved on to the senior club, serving on many committees, and his involvement with the rugby club lasted right up till his death. When he was President of Northumberland Rugby Football Union in 2008 the county pulled off a great shock by defeating Cornwall at Twickenham to win the County Championship Shield. While well-known for his involvement with rugby, John was also a very capable musician, able to play many musical instruments, and a keen fisherman and he was Hexham Courant’s angling correspondent for many years. His funeral service was held at St Andrew’s Church, in Corbridge, followed by a reception at the rugby club. The church was packed. Fifteen ex-Presidents of the Northumberland Rugby Union attended, showing the huge respect paid by the County and so many others in the local rugby fraternity.
MEMBERSHIP CATEGORIES
The website includes the facility to download the Membership Application/Renewal Form and lists the following:- Full Club Membership Single £130 Joint £240 Social £50 Adult Player Male £120 Adult Player Female £120 Family/Youth Membership £85 1 child + parents/guardians (£50 discount for 2nd child, £55 for 3rd, 4th free)
INTERNATIONAL TICKETS The RFU have changed their rules regarding the allocation of Tickets to member clubs. Whilst the rules are complex the outcome is straightforward. This means, we will receive a lower number of tickets for each Home Game. Additionally, regarding away games, the rules are even tighter, and it is unlikely we will receive more than 4 tickets per game for England Away International Fixtures. In order for a fair and equitable application for tickets, we will be introducing the following application system this year: • Any Request must be supported with proof of payment of a Full Membership of the Club. • Any Application must be accompanied with Payment. • Should an applicant be unsuccessful, their payment will be immediately refunded. • Only BACS Payments will be accepted. Please see the Tynedale RFC Web Site and Social Media for Ticket Prices {when they are available in Autumn 2019}. Applications will be processed on a strictly 1st Come 1st Served basis. All Applications to be made directly to the Secretary, at [email protected]
ANDREW CUTHBERTSON, Secretary
HONORARY TREASURER’S REPORT It is my pleasure to present this finance report summarising our 2018/19 season. This report is based on indicative numbers as we have not yet finalised the club accounts for last financial year (which runs from 1st July 2018 to 30th June 2019). Once the accounts have been prepared and reviewed by an independent accountant, we will present them to members for approval later in 2019. On the face of it, overall the club is in very good financial health. We ended the year with total cash balances of £295k with a breakdown as follows: £’000 1. Senior club account £6 2. Youth account £30 3. Touring accounts (balances to be used for future tours) £3 4. 100 club accounts £5 5. Capital account £251 Total cash balances £295
Below the surface however the fact is that TRFC is not generating enough income on an annual basis to cover its costs. Our total cash balances fell during the year by roughly £35k which reflects that deficit. Unless we can contain our costs and at the same time expand our ability to generate income, we risk eating into the funds set aside for capital projects in order to cover ongoing annual running costs. Income The shortfall in 2018/19 was mainly down to a fall in total revenue of 8% from £258k to £237k. Whilst income from non-rugby related activity rose from £57k to £67k, as we hired out the facilities for more events than in 2017/18 this was more than offset by lower income elsewhere including lower sponsorship and rental income lower membership income after taking account of the costs of servicing membership benefits. As noted elsewhere we also received a lower RFU contribution towards first team travel costs than in previous years. I would like to extend my thanks for the donation at the start of last year of £5,000 from the Corbridge WI and earlier in 2019 from the Corbridge Lions of £1,000 towards new facilities and floodlights respectively. These amounts have been transferred into the capital account since the year end to ensure they are properly ring-fenced for the capital projects intended when the donations were made. I would also like to thank our club and other sponsors who are mentioned elsewhere in this report and we again saw several sponsors assisting our Youth team tours last season.
Cost base Overall, our cost base has remained broadly in line with prior years. Whilst there were savings in some areas these savings were offset in particular by higher costs of catering and of kit when we changed suppliers at the start of the year. For the first time last season we were grateful for the support of the Youth Committee which agreed to contribute towards the overall running costs for the club, which traditionally have been funded out of the senior account, with monthly funding contributions from the Youth section. This important support continues into the current season.
Capital account As noted above our ring-fenced capital account at the end of the year was £251k and this represented the unspent balance of the insurance monies received after the flooding a few years ago. The capital account further increased to £257k once the funding contributions from the WI and Lions were included after the year end. These funds provide a healthy cash reserve to help fund future projects.
GOVERNANCE REPORT The role of Chair of Governance was established during this season as part of the constitutional changes that were proposed last season’s AGM. This change aligns us with the RFU’s preferred structure and that of Northumberland RU. The new constitution was formally adopted at the AGM part 3 in May. Many thanks to Johnny Marshall and Marcus Robinson for their work on this important project. Northumberland RU is keen to see this model rolled out across all clubs in the County. To this end, I made a presentation to a full County meeting on our new structure. It has been a huge learning curve that will continue into next season but much progress has already been made. This report outlines the areas that I have been involved with over the season. The first significant issue that faced us was an outbreak of MRSA. Our Senior Physiotherapist, Jojo Maddison, coordinated our response to the outbreak in conjunction with the RFU and Public Health England. As a result, we have established systems that are now deemed to be best practice by both the NCA and Northumberland RU. I must record my thanks to Jojo for the enormous amount of work that she put in to resolve this problem and establish the way forward. Rugby Safe is an important part of our duty of care for players at all levels. Jojo Maddison and Guy Wynne-Jones have been leading this across the Club. They have established an effective team that protects our players. Regular meetings are being held that are continually improving how we approach injuries, in particular, concussion. I am satisfied that we are following all the necessary protocols and reporting that are required by the RFU. Safeguarding is a key area, particularly in the Youth Section of the club. Laura Sykes continues to cover this role with great expertise. Thanks to Laura’s efforts I believe that we are fully compliant with our policy on Safeguarding. After a short gap, we have re-established the role of Community Rugby Coach (CRC). Larry Mew was appointed in June and has already established good links with many of the local schools. His initial target is the Middle Schools where we feel we have a membership gap. From September he will be working with all age groups to encourage the greater playing of rugby. There will be a series of camps over the summer to promote sport and rugby in particular. The floodlights on the training area, near the Cricket Club, have been in place for over 30 years. Unfortunately, some of them are now obsolete and we cannot source parts. A scheme has been put together to replace these lights with a set that we obtained from another club last year. At the same time, we will extend the floodlit area to help cope with the large numbers that we have training in the evenings, a great problem to have! A grant of £17,000 has been secured from Sport England and a number of other, smaller grants have been also secured. We are close to being fully funded and are in a position to start the project. Planning consent has been applied for with the expectation that the work will be completed in September, in time for the darker nights. A busy first year and the expectation that the second one will be just the same!
John Austin
SENIOR RUGBY REPORT Tynedale first team ended the season 5th in National 2 North after a strong second half to the season as well as a formidable home record scoring 848 points, the third highest in the league, more than three of the four clubs above them. However they also conceded 724.Interestingly they also scored 21 try bonus points the highest in the league. Having said a fond fair well to Scott Lawson who left with the clubs heartfelt thanks for both his coaching skills and general inclusive approach to the players and other coaches It was a pleasure to be able to secure the services of Ben Woods, Ex Falcons and Leicester back row as his replacement. With the continuity of Lawson's existing team of Tom Wilkinson and Matt Fieldhouse to support him, pre season appeared quickly and was fairly short. The early season fixtures looked challenging, against Hinckley followed by recently relegated Hull Ionians plus old Foes Stourbridge then Fylde, Huddersfield and Sedgley Park in quick succession. Faced with a number of key players having moved on or retired the replacements had to be integrated quickly. They included five 18 to 19 year olds from the Falcons as Dual registered players. The early games gave false cause for concern. The first wins came against Fylde and Sedgley at home but the signs had been positive up to that point and from October to Christmas they were unbeaten at home and also picked up a couple of away wins. A couple of games were postponed for weather and due to the MRSA scare. In the second half of the season having suffered a close reverse at Hull Ionians the home recorded remained intact save a 1 point defeat by Huddersfield with the highlight being a 35-5 score line against high flying and eventual losers of the play off Chester. Games were lost away from home that restricted any real movement up the league table. Tynedale played their usual attractive brand of rugby and it was not a big surprise that the top try scorers were wingers Passman and Pike. This was ably supported by Chris Wearmouth who not only gave a steely edge in second row but had and eye for the line scoring 10 tries .Matty Outson led the side and appeared in all 30 games quickly followed by the departing prop Richie Elliot 29 and hooker Dave Batey 28 The contribution of the Falcons contingent was significant as the season went on with Winger Morgan Passman ending up as the highest scorer and would surely have broken the league record had injury not cut short his season early. Rob Farrar ,Tom Marshall and Will Montgomery unsurprisingly attracted the attention of age grade selectors and Cam Nordi- Kelemeti growing in confidence with every game. We wish them all well with their future rugby careers as they move on and hope that Tynedale has introduced them the senior rugby in the best way possible. They know they will always be welcome back. It’s difficult to single out individuals but safe to say the stalwarts of the last few years Graeme Dunn and Johnny Cousin had a combined 50 appearances and were an example to all young and aspiring players in terms of commitment and passion. The Raiders had a solid season winning the Northern Pilot league with a notable win at Wharfedale and a close loss in the First team cup to Alnwick. the Centurions also narrowly lost in the Candy league final. Special mentions should be made of Simon Allan and Colin Scullion with the Raiders and Martyn Hastie and John White with the Centurions who continue who work hard not only in coaching but also attracting new players
MIKE FIELDHOUSE, Chairman of Senior Rugby YOUTH RUBGY REPORT
CHAIRS OF YOUTH RUGBY – ANNUAL REPORT JUNE 2019 We are pleased to report that during the 2018/2019 season, Tynedale RFC had one of the largest youth sections in the North of England again, with a total number of 447 registered players (382 Boys and 65 girls). These players are educated across a total of 58 schools. The Youth Section consists of 15 separate age grade squads of youngsters, aged between 5 and 18 years. Age groups U6 to U12 youngsters play mixed sex rugby. The girls (Tynedale Panthers) have separate squads at U13, U15 and U18 (Nick Oliver is providing a separate report for the Girls). We would like to thank Alison Cessford for her support this year in Player Registrations. It was her first year in the role and she has done an amazing job. The transition to Colts Rugby was positive this year, with around 40 registered players. They have enjoyed a full fixture list in the Border League and Cup. Despite the early exit this season from the National U18 Cup, confidence remained high and they went on to claim victories in both the 15’s and 7’s County Cup Competitions. In December, they were awarded Sport Tynedale Youth Team of the Year Award 2018 in recognition of their extremely successful 2017/2018 season where they reached the final of the England National U18 Cup. A fantastic achievement. It has been encouraging to see several Colts players make the transition into Senior Rugby, playing in the Club’s 3rd, 2nd, and 1st teams this season. Next season looks promising with more players moving up from U16 into the Colts. Richard Cramb is stepping down at the end of this season as Lead Coach for the Colts. He has been a huge asset to the lads and he will be greatly missed. He will still be involved in the Club ensuring the positive link between Youth and Senior Players, helping to make the transition smoother and keeping more players in the game, at Tynedale or elsewhere. We wish Richard all the best for the future and thank him for all his effort and commitment he has given to the youth section. Older age groups (U13+) both girls and boys, have been very well represented in Northumberland County teams, Developing Player Pathway squads and the Newcastle Falcons Academy. It was great that the U8’s, U10’s, U11’s, U13’s, U14’s, U15’s, U16’s and junior Colts were able to tour this year following the ban imposed on the Youth Section last season. All tours were very successful and we hope to see everyone off on tour again next season. We have been supported by an excellent team of volunteer coaches this season as well as valued Committee Members. We would like to thank each and everyone of them for their help and support this season. Their contributions need to be recognised, as they give up their free time, for the benefit of the club and young players. Our treasurer, Dave Hewitson, is retiring at the end of this season after volunteering with Tynedale RFC Youth Section since 1993 where he started coaching on Sunday mornings. He then refereed for 2 years and finally took over as Treasurer in 1995. Some 24 years later, Dave is still keeping an eye on the funds for the Youth Section and we cannot thank him enough for his time and effort spent on this. Sadly, the time has come for Dave to step down and spend more time with his family. He has recently become a grandad to Emily and we know the ‘extra time’ will be spent with her. He will also have even more time for his love of travelling with his Wife, Di. We wish him the all the very best in his retirement and thank him very much for all his contributions to the Youth Section at Tynedale over the past 26 years! Thanks also to Peter Simpson for keeping the grounds immaculate at Tynedale Park and doing his very best to allow us to play on Sunday mornings, even when the weather has been against us. We have been very fortunate this season and have not needed to cancel many sessions. We would like to acknowledge the contribution of the U9 parent team for organising the Tynedale Festival (Nichola Hall and Alison Cessford) and the U15 parent team (Claire Aitkenhead, Kate Combe, Kira Bayne and Mandy Sharman) for organising a very successful end of Season bash at The Hexham Mart. Both events were a huge success and raised funds for the Youth Section. Thanks to Laura Sykes for her continued support as our Safeguarding Officer. Laura does a tremendous job and happily there were no safeguarding incidents which required escalation to the RFU this season. Once again, we have been very grateful for the medical support and coverage at youth sessions and fixtures. We have a duty physio present every Sunday morning at Tynedale and during home Colts fixtures on a Saturday. The youth physio clinic continues to run fortnightly and many players received treatment during the season. Thank you to Jojo Maddison and the physio team for helping us and ensuring continued player welfare and safety. Our Community Rugby Coach, Jed Kirkin started with us and then sadly moved on. He has now been replaced by Larry Mew who is assisting with coaching of several age groups, as made contact with various Schools, is organising summer camps and happily, Larry will be with us next season too. We would like to thank everyone who has supported us during our first year as Chairs of Youth Rugby and we look forward to another season of great rugby at Tynedale.
Karen Dryden and Janine White
TYNEDALE YOUTH SECTION END OF SEASON REPORTS – JUNE 2019
Under 6’s The 2018-19 season was another successful introduction to rugby at Tynedale for the U6s, with over 50 registered boys and girls from the reception and year 1 school years. Numbers at Sunday morning training were regularly in the thirties, with 5 or more coaches. All sessions placed a focus upon enjoyment first and foremost, with an emphasis on listening as an enabler to getting the most out of every session. Coloured bibs were invaluable to provide structure to sessions and to introduce a sense of 'team'. All sessions ended with a review of key skills, elicited from the players, a "team of the week" award and a customary "three cheers". The highlight of the season was having over 20 of our U6s at the Morpeth festival, proudly representing the club. With the majority of players and coaches progressing to U7 next year, we look forward to the next wave of new recruits in September and another enjoyable season ahead! Will Allen
Under 7’s PLAYER/COACHES NUMBERS Players: The start of the season saw approximately 35 players attending consistently over the first 3-4 weeks. Over the course of the season this number reduced to around 25-30 players attending each week. The group consisted predominantly of boys, however we had 3 girls registered who attending most sessions this season (with one of the “Star” players coming from the girls). Coaches: Simon Wood, Ryan Maughan, Marc Donkin, Mark Warland, Michael Coll and myself. I’m not sure that all the coaches have attended the “Rugby Ready”, “Head Case” and/or other coaching courses, although two have done the First Aid Course. We have another parent interested in joining the coaching team again next year. Whilst I have liaised with Nick Oliver on getting some of the Panthers down to help out on a Sunday morning, this has not really materialised. I think it may assist to get more girls involved if this was to happen. We feel in the U7s (soon U8s) it as too male orientated (all dad’s coaching, too few girls participating) and would like to change this dynamic if at all possible. If we could perhaps organise, with Nick, a “getting girls into rugby” session some Sunday (alongside our ordinary training) with involvement from panthers that may up the numbers?
SEASON HIGHS Visit from the 1st Team (and possibly Falcons – sorry can’t remember if they made it, certainly not when I was at training) to the training session was a great experience for the kids and the coaches. It would be nice to see something similar arranged for next season. Good “friendly” at Consett RFC on their 5G pitch in later September. Durham School also had about 25 kids there and we had about 15, so another great morning’s rugby was had. April 2019: Morpeth Mini Rugby Festival, we had a great turn-out for this (about 16+ kids, so x3 teams) attend this event all the feedback was really positive. For example; Northern coaches came to try and arrange a friendly as our teams had given them such good competition. So, all very encouraging. The kids had lots of fun and were able to experience a little of what to expect for next season when we start travelling for matches. In addition, the coaches were able to pick up and share new games and training drills which were great for the last few weeks of training this season. Also, the coaches have made some good contacts up at Morpeth for games and potential joint training session. SEASON LOW Nothing really. We’d like to get more kids down playing this year before we get into full contact next year. Can youth section agree that we can get some flyers out to local schools at the end of term / start of next term – for ALL children to come down on a Saturday morning? As noted above, we’d like to get more girls into the game too (including coaches!).
SUCCESSES/VALUABLE CONTRIBUTIONS Agreeing sessions in advance worked well this season and the kids have developed loads. We found the cards given by Steve Mullins didn’t really apply to our age group. That said, we have made use of the on-line coaching videos for ideas on new games / training techniques etc. Towards the end of the season we started to introduce “silent coaches” for periods of games with other clubs [i.e. coaches/parents weren’t allowed to speak – only the kids and the referee, usually for 2-4 minutes of the 10-minute games]. It was hugely successful and the other teams, in fairness, really embraced this. It was amazing to watch the kids just get on with it and that they knew exactly what they needed to do!! Running our own end of season awards was a really nice way to end the season. For our age group in particular it worked really well, allowing the coaches to reward all the kids for their efforts with certificates and bags of sweets that we’d put together. Allen Marks
Under 8’s The Under 8s have had a great season this year, the move up from the Under 7s is a big one and they have made it seamlessly. New, more challenging coaching and game play has been embraced and the entire team are showing great skill and ability. The main emphasis in coaching has been to build on children’s confidence, enjoyment, understanding of the game, sportsmanship and principles of play. The team have surprised their coaches with their respect, maturity and gamesmanship. The aim at the beginning of the year was to practice running forward with ball in hand, passing and catching and support play. The season has ended with all players incorporating these skills into gameplay. The team have learned throughout games to defend when not in possession of the ball and are understanding the offside rule. We have enjoyed the company of between 15 and 30 children each week. The games they have played against other teams have shown Tynedale put forward a very strong performance from keen eager kids with excellent skills but more impressive has been their attitude. The coaches take great pleasure and pride in the team wherever we have played and when hosting. Even towards the end of the season, we have added new players to the team, some entirely new to the game. All have been accepted and encouraged by the team members who support their learning. The parents have been fantastic this season and must take some credit for such a great team. All parents have bought into the philosophy of playing for fun instead of playing to win. We ended the season with a fantastic tour in Edinburgh where we saw the togetherness of the team and the parents really show and the coaches were once again exceptionally proud of the kids, not only their skills and sportsmanship but their behaviour too. Next season we will be working further on this season’s skills and introducing tackling in the Under 9’s next season. We intend to achieve this again with small sided games and skill zones on the sidelines. Keeley Wilkie-Smith
Under 9’s The under 9’s have had an extremely successful season. We had 35 players registered with consistent attendance of about 28, although numbers did drop off slightly towards the end of the season. We are also very pleased to have three girls in our age group, all of whom have been brilliant this season. We are also grateful to Chris Gillie who has come forward and volunteered as an additional coach this year. Without exception all the children have embraced the season with enthusiasm and have been excellent in a year where full tackling has been introduced for the first time. It has been particularly rewarding watching the confidence grow in some of the more hesitant children. All children can now tackle safely and confidently. We have had some great fixtures and festivals this year. Highlights include an excellent season opener at the Falcons friendly festival and a superb fixture against Northern at Tynedale where the standard of rugby from over 60 children was a pleasure to see. We even managed to take players to the Alnwick festival at the end of the season as well as fulfilling our responsibilities of organising the under 10s-12s Tynedale Festival which was on the same day. A big thanks must go to all the parents, particularly Nichola Carr and Alison Cessford, who helped to make the Tynedale U10-12s Festival, held on 28th April 2019, a huge success. We had approximately 400 players across 34 teams from our region, great weather, and fantastic, fun rugby. Thanks also to the efforts of all the coaches and we look forward to next season. We have a great bunch of children which bodes well for future years. Mark Jarvis
Under 10’s The under 10s went from strength to strength this season building on the good work of last year. We started rucking this season and the kids took to it straight away. Focus in training has been on creating a fun environment for the kids to learn the game and training sessions always had games going on with a skill zone on the side. The season started well with 3 teams performing great at Percy Park, we went to the Falcons Festival with 2 teams losing only to Whitehaven and had some great matches with local sides. After Xmas the team really kicked in, we had a great festival at Alnwick, a well-run and very successful home festival and a very enjoyable first class tour to Edinburgh with the u8s. Highlight on tour giving Currie U11s / U12s a game while we waited to play our team and despite losing narrowly we gave them a good game. We had 4 or 5 socials through the year to raise tour funds which were well supported and helped bring parents and kids together. We ended the season with 39 kids registered and a regular turnout of over 30. Last day we had a fun session with an award for every player there, the players voted Joshoe Gibson as players player and the Coaches selected Martha Coan as their player of the year. Andrew Neal
Under 11’s The under 11s have enjoyed another superb season which has seen all players develop. Through games in both training and against opposition, each player has continued to overcome each problem they have come up against. Each player has set themselves challenges throughout the season and worked hard to achieve these, players also helped to coach and develop others to achieve their goals! A real team effort throughout the whole season! As with all other seasons the biggest emphasis has been on the players having fun! This was the first season we took the squad on tour. We had a great time taking in the sights of York, playing bubble football and playing against Northallerton and Roundhegians over 2 days. The rugby was great however what was even better was the behaviour of the kids as commented by a number of opposition parents and the way in which all the squad on tour bonded. Roll on the next tour! We unfortunately lose 3 players this season but it has been an absolute pleasure to have Jess, Tilly and Emilia as part of our squad over the years but our loss is definitely Panthers gain! Good luck girls we will be supporting you all! We as coaches are already looking forward to starting the new season when we go again as Under 12s. We will see you all in September. Dan Gray
Under 12’s This season the team took significant strides forward, both in the style of running rugby and in how they enjoyed the physical challenge of the game. We had enough players to run two teams throughout the season and entered a number of festivals at which the lads performed very well, overcoming the opposition by some margin in several games. The mid season was interrupted by some of our lads spending time in France with school, however the squad adapted well and it allowed other players to challenge themselves, resulting in new talent coming forward. The season ended with three key festivals, the Land Rover Cup, Waterfall Festival and Tynedale Festival. The mixed ability teams we turned out played very well and competed well with some A teams, finishing the season strongly. Huge thanks to the grown-ups for being supportive of the lads and for those who have given up their time helping with raising money through the raffle and at the festival. Also, to the coaches, including Richie Pearson, Linz Phillips and Jack Peter who are now all Level 2 coaches and the support of the club. We are now already finalising fixtures and training for next season to ensure that we have another successful year. Finally, thanks to the lads for their commitment, team spirit, intensity to the game and enjoyment they bring to each and every session. Well done. Bart Milburn
Under 13’s It has been a highly enjoyable year to coach the U13s and the lads have made great progress through the season, peaking at the end of the season where they won the Four Counties Challenge event featuring Durham City, Westoe (County Durham), Harrogate, Ripon (Yorkshire), Carlisle, Upper Eden (Cumbria) and Alnwick as the other Northumberland team. The season was capped off by a mini tour to the Lakes, which the boys all seemed to thoroughly enjoy (as did the parents/coaches). Team spirit has been outstanding this season – a close knit and very welcoming set of lads. Numbers have been tight through the season, with 18 regulars at matches/training. This has been a perfect number when everyone has been available, but for a couple of games we had a few unavailable and 3 out injured, so ended up with no subs (13 a side). Numbers are a concern for next season when we move to 15 a side and we are trying to recruit a number of new players who have shown promise in school rugby sessions at HMS. As it stands for next year, we are losing one of our regulars as he starts Boarding School, but hope to welcome another player back from season long health complications following an operation. We also have one player who has recently moved to Corbridge intending to join from another club and 3 interested prospects from HMS, which could give us up to 22 players. More players would certainly be welcome, as there is always the risk of losing players (hopefully not!). Andy Wilson
Under 14’s The serious stuff started this year, low voices and everything!!! The Boys to Men Season!! Registered Players were around the 34 mark with a good 22-28 regulars. Rockliffe Festival opener went well in October with 1 teams entered holding their own well, it’s very early in the Season and everyone is a bit rusty!! Fixtures, including Waterfall Cup: 14 Home Fixtures 11 Away Fixtures Highlights of the Season were: Away fixture in January against Morpeth, we took a healthy squad of 26 players with all playing their part, the game culminated in a victory for Tynedale with players taking on unusual positions and adapted well to take a hard-fought win. Three fixtures against Ponteland, extremely competitive games with Tynedale coming out on top throughout. Gosforth away, Gosforth not being the strongest of side were bolstered by a number of Tynedale players for the 2nd half. The game was a good test for the remaining Tynedale players, a good test resulting in a win of fine margin. A great example of what we are all striving to achieve in the Youth structure. Our final County away game against Northern was a game played in very good spirit with so many boys on both sides knowing each other well, Tynedale performed extremely well coming out on top, finally!! Our final County home game against WBR, the boys first experience playing on the 1st Team Pitch with a commanding performance with a 49-12 win. Waterfall Cup - Well there appeared to be some confusion from some of the opposing sides particularly Northern, we advanced through our group with wins against Blyth and Wallsend (bad grouping). This pitched us up against Northern for the next round, the fixture was played at Tynedale for which we fielded and played all available players in the spirit of the Youth format. Northern however fielded a depleted squad leaving 14 “at home to train”. Predictable Tynedale lost the tie but in my opinion won the moral victory!! We then advanced to Finals Sunday hosted by WBR with a heated but significant victory against Ponteland. The climax to the Season was our Tour to Leicester in early April for our first 2 nighter, visiting Loughborough RFC for our fixture. We overnighted in Derby attending a morning training session at a club affiliated to Leicester Tigers followed by attending a home at the Tigers ground against Bristol. Sunday morning travelling to Loughborough on the Sunday for games against our hosts and Beverley RFC, both were good teams showing their strengths and providing tough opposition. Tynedale teams split in to two side with 2 draws and 2 wins, Loughborough were fantastic hosts. We are blessed with a tremendous group of boys many of whom have been with us from the outset 9 years ago, adding to this over the years we have been joined by guys who wanted a taste of the game and have become key performers to date. Two more Seasons to go!! Looking forward to seeing the boys develop further next year and hope for similar successes in the coming Season in September. Mark Souter
Under 15’s Another positive season. Plenty of good rugby being played by all the squad. Some good wins along with losses but all in all, the matches have been a good learning curve for the future. Good numbers throughout the season with a few more in the pipeline to attend next season (must be the coach & coaching), bodes well for the future. A good number of Tynedale players represented Northumberland rugby this year with a couple being accepted into the Falcons academy. Scott Ferguson
Under 16’s This year we saw a nice intake of new players at the start of the season that would help bolster the squad for the busy season ahead, which would see us play teams from Northumberland, Co-Durham and Northern Ireland. With squad numbers sitting healthy, the first big highlight came with the Tynedale Junior Colts tour to Northern Ireland at the back end of October. This was to be a full on, action packed tour that would bring the players confidence loads as we faced two strong Northern Irish teams in Down High School and Ballynahinch RFC in what would prove to be two epic games. The result was that tour provided a wonderful opportunity for the lads to bond & play alongside the U17s ahead of their Colt years for which we are in gratitude to the U17 organisers for making this happen. With the tour over we were straight back into our regular fixtures playing against the likes of Morpeth, DMP, Durham and Barnard Castle before being drawn against Ponteland in the County Waterfall Cup. Despite it being a well fought game and only narrowly missing out on the win, we were able to go and finish our Cup run with 3 wins from 5 games where the player work rate and desire to do well on the pitch could not have been faulted. For these efforts, we would be rewarded at the Northumberland County trials where we would see 13 of our players get selected for the County and go on to represent them against Durham and Cumbria. This was great achievement by all players selected and a real positive reflection on Tynedale as a club.
So to summarise, like most seasons we’ve had our ups and downs but definitely more ups than downs and it is really good to see so many of the players going onto the Colts for next season. As coaches it has been a real privilege to watch these boys develop over the years into the players they are today and we wish them every success in the future. In closing, I would just like to thank Craig Johnson for all his help coaching over the years and being our nominated ref as well as recognising Lawrence Patton, Jed Kerkin and Larry Mew for their contributions this season as well. Finally, I would just like to give a special thanks to Sue Jackson for all her hard work in the background over the years and ensuring everything happen when it needed to, it has been much appreciated. Danny Beatty
Colts A combination of last year’s cup runs and good work from the U16’s management and coaches led to a total squad of around 40 registered players for the Colts this season. The full fixture list in the Border League & Cup, strengthened by the addition of Morpeth and Carlisle the season allowed for plenty of game-time across the season, despite the squad size. As always, several players were only intermittently available for various school/Falcons/other reasons, but they were encouraged to play and train as their commitments and schedule allowed. It has been good to see several players from this season’s U16 age group attending Colts training and being available for matches. Despite an early exit from the National U18 Cup, enthusiasm and confidence remained high and culminated in victories in both the 15’s and 7’s County Cup competitions at the end of the season. It was particularly pleasing to have a large squad of available players at the 7’s such that we were able to loan out players to those teams that were short. Special mention to those who played for opposing teams, as well as Tynedale, and who volunteered their services. It has been especially encouraging to see several Colts players with the desire, confidence and ability to play up into the club’s 3rd, 2nd and 1st teams. There they have joined a large contingent of very recent ex-Colts now playing senior rugby at Tynedale. Richard Cramb
Panthers End of Season Report Numbers of players have been higher than ever this season with full squads at U13 and U15 and almost a full squad at U18. The U18s and U13s were the top team in Northumberland and although the U15s were knocked out of the county cup they did win 7s festivals in consecutive weekends in Northumberland, Durham and Yorkshire. Daisy Oliver, Hannah Carter and Maisie James were all selected for the DMP Sharks RFU Centre of Excellence. 8 Panthers represented Northumberland U18s including captain and player of the season Daisy Oliver. 6 Panthers represented Northumberland U15s. Maisie James and Holly Thorpe who has moved to Loughborough College for the sixth form were both selected for the England Talent Development Group and both made their England U18s debuts in Cardiff. U15s captain Gemma Bell was selected for the Scotland U16s training squad. Ex Panther Charlotte Tweddle made her debut as full back for the British Army at only 17 and Caitlin Simpson has been signed by premiership club DMP Sharks. The Panthers were strong on the coaching front with 5 regular coaches and a couple of occasional coaches. Nick Oliver and Craig Johnston also coached county girls teams. The U15s team were selected as Northumberland (boys and girls) team of the year in October and were rewarded with a trip to St. James Park to watch the European Challenge Cup final. The prospects for next season look great with only Daisy Oliver and Laura leaving the squad hoping to go to strong women’s rugby Universities Exeter and Northumbria so they will play together again. The end of the season saw an influx of young player arriving at U12s and U13s. We are expecting to have full squads at all three age groups. The greatest achievements this season were rising player numbers, the individual commitment shown by players of all abilities and the support shown by parents. We’re all looking forward to next season. Nick Oliver
ASSET AND COMMERCIAL REPORT The Assets and Commercial Subcommittee is responsible for the upkeep and improvement of our grounds and facilities and for the commercial aspects of running the club. It is chaired by Marcus Robinson. The club’s income comes from four sources: • Membership fees (including players’ subs) • Sponsorship and fundraising • Hiring out the club’s grounds / premises: events and rental • RFU (a much reduced and reducing annual payment). This income needs to cover the club’s expenditure, including maintenance of the ground, utilities and insurance, travel expenses and playing equipment. None of the club’s players receive any payment for playing. The club’s income and expenditure are finely balanced and presently we are operating with a deficit hence there is little or no slack. Looking to the future, the club wishes to find ways of generating a small operating surplus without changing the feel of the club. A summary of the main areas of focus of the subcommittee during the last year is provided below.
Clubhouse and Grounds – managed by Andrew Cuthbertson Our pitches continue to be the envy of most, if not all, in our league. We are grateful to Peter Simpson, our groundsman for this, advised and assisted by Andy Purves. We have a ground improvement plan which we will be working through over the next season. This includes new signage and improvements to fencing, the stand, and a hard standing area around the scoreboard. Our catering continues to be provided by Lucy Blaylock. If you haven’t tried a lunch prior to a 1st XV game, it is thoroughly recommended. Good food and good value. We will be looking at increasing the opening hours of the bar next season. Looking further ahead, we have submitted a pre-planning application for a new, flood-proof clubhouse. This is predicated on being permitted to undertake an enabling development on some of our land – land which would never be suitable for rugby use – and using the profits from this to fund the new clubhouse. We will keep members updated on this as it progresses, but suffice it to say, this scheme is vital for the future of our club. The insurance market is closed to the club for flood insurance and we remain exposed to a further flood for which we would need to repair ourselves. We retain the tenancies for Corbridge United Junior Football Club and Corbridge Tennis Club and are actively building better links with both clubs.
Events and Marketing – managed by Steve Hull. Tynedale Beer & Cider Festival – Despite having to cancel our Sponsors’ Evening in 2018 (due to Storm Hector making the marquee unsafe to enter) the club still received £38,500, due to being able to make a substantial claim on the festival’s cancellation insurance. The beer festival is organised and run by volunteers from Tynedale Lions & Tynedale RFC. We are also grateful to those outside of both clubs who come and help us to put on this great event for charity and fundraising. We are always looking to recruit new volunteers to either take on a small role on the planning committee or to help in the set up and running of the event. Please go to the festival web site and email us if you are interested to know more. The Stay Strong Stu 7’s Rugby Tournament, organised by Matt Fieldhouse continues to attract more teams each year and provides a significant donation to the charity. Other events that took place during the 2018 summer were South Tyneside Traction Engine Rally, and the Dragonfly Run. The Corbridge Music Festival wasn’t held in 2018 and the festival organiser took a break for the year. As in previous years we continue to benefit from a significant number of caravan club bookings. This income from this contributes between £8,000 - £10,000 p.a. to the club funds. Tynedale Merchandise. Please help to support your club by purchasing our club merchandise. Andrea Gibson and Eileen Lynch have a table of goodies at most 1st XV home matches. The merchandise serves two purposes, firstly in getting the Tynedale name into the community and in raising funds for the club. Please stop by the stall next season and treat yourself, or a friend! No excuses if you don’t have cash on the day, they can now take payment by card. Clubhouse Events. The clubhouse is available for the booking of private parties and events. If you would like to have your party at Tynedale Park please contact our Bar & Catering Manager, Lucy Blaylock ([email protected]).
Sponsorship and Marketing – managed by Harry Cornforth The club was grateful for the support in the season from our main sponsors: • Harlow Printing Ltd • Meldrum Construction • Foster Maddison • HWM Financial Management • MKM Building Supplies. We also offer other ways of supporting and benefitting from the club – for instance through advertising boards, sponsoring players and sponsoring match day programmes. We have refreshed our sponsorship packages for next season and will be announcing some new sponsors. If you are interested in finding out more about the packages on offer, please contact Harry ([email protected]).
Membership – managed by Tim Tatman The names of all senior members as at May 2019 are listed on the website by category. Youth Section membership is detailed separately under the Youth Section Report. We have worked to harmonise and update membership during the course of the season. In particular, we have focused on: • Better integrating the different sections (Senior, Youth and Female) of the club • Arriving at a more equitable contribution towards the costs of running the club from each section • Enabling all sections to have a say in the running and future direction of the club. From the 2019/2020 season, one parent/guardian of a Youth Section player will automatically become a social member of the club, giving him/her voting rights. The full membership package continues to be an excellent deal, including entry to all home games, drinks vouchers and entitlement to participate in the ballot for international tickets. Our membership is gradually growing. We would love to grow it further and faster. Tell your friends!
Communications – managed by Wallace Cousin Website After evaluating and comparing the current Pitchero offering and the free RFU offering it was decided to stick with the Pitchero hosted site and develop it as best we could. Our objective is to develop and maintain the website so that it is the widely recognised one stop shop where club members, supporters, players, the wider rugby fraternity, businesses and in fact any interested party can quickly and easily access a wealth of up to date club related information past and present. The website has been enhanced over the past several months but there are still many areas which can be taken further. For example, we are currently actively seeking to develop the website in the following two areas:- • Help to illustrate the strength of our club by ensuring that all the Club’s weekend fixtures and their associated results (from U6 to 1st XV ) are posted in timely fashion. Establishing fixtures and results from up to 18 teams is not as easy a task as it should be - reports from matches would be a real bonus! • Tynedale Rugby Club has a rich and interesting history (both distant and relatively recent). Work has started on developing sections of the website to allow public access to a wide variety of information which should help us understand where we came from, appreciate all that’s gone on before and help us understand what Tynedale Rugby Club is all about. Social Media Applications The Club actively participates in three leading social media applications (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram) in a bid to publicise club related information and promote the club and its website. Despite personnel changes over the past year, we have been able to maintain and develop further our use of these platforms. We are continually evaluating what we offer and constantly comparing with our peers in a bid to improve what we provide to our followers.
Statistics (as of July 2019) are as follows: • The Club’s website has 909 members and has up to 420 unique visitors per day • Facebook page followers: 2,330 • Instagram followers: 1,419 • Twitter followers: 3,839
GMS The RFU’s Game Management System (GMS) is a platform and repository designed to support rugby club administration. GMS is hosted by the RFU in conjunction with their partners First Sports International Ltd. Basic membership details of all members of Tynedale Rugby Club are held on this secure database and each member can log into GMS to access their data. GMS also holds details for all the 22 teams associated with Tyndale RFC including fixtures and results. The RFU have introduced a new system for working out International Ticket Allocations for each club based heavily on the number of fixtures on GMS for the club. Consequently, to maximise our ticket allocation, we need to ensure that fixtures and results on GMS are kept up to date for all teams across the club.
Volunteers – managed by TBD. We are actively looking for someone to coordinate volunteers. Our volunteers are arguably the most important group of people in the club – without them the club would not exist and would not be able to run. The Club is fortunate in having a host of volunteers. The following list is not exhaustive – apologies if you feel you have been missed out – but covers most of the main functions. • All of our Committee and Sub-Committee members from our Chief Executive, Neil Foster, down are volunteers. • Chris Lynch does a wonderful job as 1st XV Team manager, a role which demands a huge personal commitment. • The volunteers who man the gate on 1st XV match days and welcome our visitors. • Andy Purves, who lends the club ground maintenance machinery and offers his own ground maintenance services at cut price. • The ‘Friday Morning’ volunteers who help tidy the clubhouse and its surrounds in preparation for the weekend. • John Rowland, the Parker family and others from the farming community who provide vital machinery whenever it is required. • Robert MacFarlane, 1st XV 4th Official and senior player registrar. • The Coaches and Administrators who are critical in ensuring we field a Raiders and Centurions team. • The team of volunteers who coach/manage the Colts. • The Coaches/Administrators who are vital in the success of our different 11 age groups and the ever-growing Girls rugby section. • Kieran Adams who runs the popular Monday evening Touch Rugby event. • The Ladies who manage and run our Club Shop. • The individuals who run the various raffles around the club. • The various Duty Managers at 1st XV home matches. • Stuart Smales who maintains the plants around the Clubhouse. • Steve Hull, who is vital part in the successful planning and running of the Beer Festival and other events. • The volunteers who help setup, run and clear up after the Beer Festival. • The organisers of the end of season ‘bash’ and other social events. As the Youth Section becomes more integrated into the club, we look forward to welcoming more volunteers into the running of the club.
Marcus Robinson Minutes of the Annual General Meeting (Part I) of Tynedale Rugby Football Club Ltd, held at The Clubhouse, Tynedale Park, Corbridge on Thursday 30th August 2018
I. Lewis opened the meeting at 6.35pm and there were 31 members in attendance.
1. Apologies for Absence were received from J. Austin, J. Giles and F. Saunders.
2. Confirmation of the minutes of AGM (Part 2) held on Tuesday 27th March 2018 Minutes were proposed as approved by M.W. Fieldhouse and seconded by T. Tatman.
3. To receive the Annual Report A. Kerr enquired as to any receipt of acknowledgement and associated progress of works following the donation of £5k for assistance with development of medical facilities. A. Cuthbertson confirmed that written thanks had been sent and the that the works are part of the ongoing programme of improvements (in line with overall clubhouse development and that the money would be spent on the medical / physio room). N. Foster gave an update on the clubhouse development which had not been included within the annual report with 3 main points for the stall on progress being: 1. The initial cost estimate was well- over any projected budget or investment benefit, 2. The most significant funding aspect (permitted development) is directly linked to the proposals so is required to make the project viable, 3. The temporary solution has been very well received and takes some of the urgency away from an immediate need to develop. N. Foster explained that early stage plans have been drawn up for a smaller free-standing new facility which is being costed and should gain some traction over the next 6 months. There will be further consultation meetings with members once the designs have been suitably progressed. The Annual Report was proposed for approval by D. Hamilton and seconded by J. Saunders.
4. Approval of amendments to the constitution of the Officers and Management Committee in accordance with Rule 12.1 and as described within this report. This, together with relevant updates and amendments to the Rule Book. N. Foster gave a brief explanation of the reasons for the change. T. Tatman asked what the split was between required changes and optional changes. N. Foster explained that the Safeguarding aspects are a requirement and the revised Governance reflects this with the remaining changes driven by good / improved administration for the running of the club. J. Clark queried the wording in the proposals and it was confirmed that any of the new (and existing) roles could be fulfilled by either male of female members. A. Thompson recorded congratulations to the management for the forward thinking and movement of the club in this direction. N. Foster suggested that large thanks were due to M. Robinson and J. Marshall for the work that has been done in the background to review the structure and assist in the future alignment of the club management. M. Robinson confirmed that the club will need to register the changes with the FCA but these will not need approving. D. Hamilton noted that there have been 2 previous resolutions to the club Rule Book and to ensure that these changes are incorporated at the same time. J. Hindmarsh enquired why there is representation of youth at both U13 and U18 on the management committee. I. Lewis noted that each will have its own sub-committee as they have different needs. N. Foster also recorded that the Youth Section is such a large entity and responsibility and this is why it has been broken down to assist with administration and resource. J. Clark enquired about the implication of membership and potential ability to ‘influence’ the decision making of the entire club. I. Lewis noted that this had been considered as part of the proposals and all memberships will be considered and the overall membership continually monitored. The Amendments were proposed by G. Robson and seconded by J. Clark. The Proposed Amendments were also put to vote and a majority was carried on this.
5. Election of the Officers of the Club, in accordance with Rule 8.3 and Members of the Management Committee in accordance with Rule 8.4. Officers: Chief Executive – N. Foster Secretary – A. Cuthbertson Treasurer – R. Jones Governance Officer – J. Austin Proposed by T. Tatman and seconded by G. Sinclair. Management Committee: Chairman of Asset & Commercial - M. Robinson Chairman of Men’s Rugby - M. W. Fieldhouse Chairman of U18 Rugby - J. White Chairman of U13 Rugby - K. Dryden Chairman of Female Rugby - N. Oliver Proposed by J. Saunders and seconded by J. Robinson.
6. Any other business of which due notice has been given, as prescribed in Rule 8.5. None Received.
7. Any Other Relevant Matter for consideration of the new Management Committee as prescribed in Rule 8.1.12. J, Saunders asked that consideration be given to the archiving / cataloguing of club papers and articles stored at both his and D. Hamilton’s residences. I. Lewis agreed to pick this action up directly with both J. Saunders and D. Hamilton. P. Robertson proposed that all members of each sub-committee be made available by each Chairman so that this assists with visibility, recognition and contacts. This was agreed as an action for each Chair of the sub-committees. T. Tatman enquired about the banking of all senior membership subscriptions, N. Foster confirmed that CI Accountancy should be kept in the loop with all of these transactions. A. Kerr recorded members thanks to both G. Killmister and S. Allan for their contributions whilst in post as Treasurer and Secretary respectively. J. Hindmarsh asked that the club look to recruit more volunteers to assist with the grounds up-keeping, A. Cuthbertson noted that this would be looked at to bolster support from members in this area. I. Lewis recorded thanks to members for their attendance and the meeting was closed at 7.35pm.
Minutes of the Annual General Meeting (Part III) of Tynedale Rugby Football Club Ltd, held at The Clubhouse, Tynedale Park, Corbridge on Monday 13th May 2019
Minutes
Item Comment Action
1 Present Neil Foster, John Austin, Andrew Cuthbertson, Richard Jones Marcus Robinson, Mike Fieldhouse, Janine White, Nick Oliver. Ian Lewis, Karen Dryden, Douglas Hamilton, Graham Yates Gary Taylor, Graham Sinclair, John Robinson, John Suddes, Peter Walker, Jim Clancy, Tom Wright, Tim Tatmum, Harry Cornforth, Johnny Marshall, Andy Thomson, Alex Kerr
2 Apologies Steve Hull and Peter Robinson.
3 Constitution. Johnny Marshall presented the rationale • Rules have changed. • Regulated by the FCA.
• Registered under the Co Op Benefits Act 2014.
• Corporate Governance is important. • Powers of the Committee remain broadly the same. • President Role is no longer an Officer. • Governance is now an Officer Role. • Honorary Titles removed • Structure, 4 Officers {Chief Ex, Secretary, Treasurer and Governance} • Add 5 additional members to represent all parts of the club to bring all sections together. • Future meeting notices to be published on the web site/social media and via e-mail. • John Suddes raised a question relating to a £100,000 limit for club expenditure without member approval. It was confirmed this hasn’t changed and simply gives the committee flexibility to use it if necessary, without convening a meeting. • John Robinson asked if we have a premises licence which allows the club to serve anyone, thereby negating the need for a signing in book. It was confirmed this is factual.
The rule changes were put to a vote of members and it was passed unanimously
4 Club House Marcus Robinson presented the rationale • Proposal made using presentation to show the plans for the Clubhouse. • Confirmed Pre Planning has been submitted and
Council have confirmed receipt. • Full Planning {hopefully} Sept 19 • Put work to tender early 2020. • Build over 12 months hopefully completed for Season commencing Sept 2021. • Andy Thomson asked about Changing rooms and it was confirmed the RFU have been approached to assist with planning and implementation. • Alex Kerr asked about money donated for the Medical Room and it was confirmed the money has been allocated for this. • Concern expressed from the floor regarding multi use of the premises for multi sport use. It is accepted to maximise funding and provide a community facility it was necessary to proceed with this course of action. • Andy Thomson proposed a vote of thanks to Marcus and Neil for work so far which was acknowledged from the floor.
Sign Off Meeting Closed at 8.30pm
Andrew Cuthbertson Completed 18th May 2019
Management Committee nominations to the AGM for appointment as Officers of the club, and members of the Management Committee, for season 2019/20:
President J Eustace
Vice Presidents G. Sinclair, R. Cramb, G Taylor, G Yates
Management Committee Chief Executive N. Foster Secretary A. Cuthbertson Treasurer R. Jones Governance Officer J. Austin Chairman of Asset & Commercial M. Robinson Chairman of Men’s Rugby M. W. Fieldhouse Chairman of U18 Rugby J. White Chairman of U13 Rugby K. Dryden Chairman of Female Rugby N. Oliver
Sub Committees would welcome nominations and/or volunteers. Any proposals should be made to the Head of each Section accordingly.