Gate Post No.116 November 2020

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Harrogate Rugby Union Football Club Founded 1871

Gate Post No. 116 November 2020 This newsletter is sent to all the supporters, current and past members of Harrogate Rugby Club for whom we have an email address. Your contributions would be most welcome along with your feedback. Queen's Birthday Honours List - MBE for Colin Gibbs, President of Tewit Youth Band in Harrogate. Colin Gibbs, President of Tewit Youth Band and long time supporter of Harrogate Rugby Club was awarded a British Empire Medal in this year’s Queen’s Honours List. He dedicated the award to all the members of Tewit Youth Band, past and present, plus all the musical directors. He paid tribute to all the parents, sponsors and patrons who have supported the band through thick and thin over many years. Colin has done so much to support and encourage young musical talent in Harrogate and steered the Tewit Youth Band to success in the National Brass Band Championships. He has been involved with the band for 39 years and President for 29 years. On Saturday 12th December 2015 at the HRUFC Touchline Internationals annual Christmas Lunch a very special part of the proceedings was the presentation to Colin Gibbs of a medal for his army service during the Suez Crisis in 1956. Colin was one of many service men whose contribution to this incident was not officially recognised at the time. No League Rugby in 2020/2021 Due to Coronavirus The following announcement appeared on the club website in October 2020: ‘Following the ballot of all clubs, which was against a 15-match league season (the vote was 11-5 against in National One alone), the NCA executive met on Monday 19th October 2020 and agreed that due to potential local lockdowns, player infection and travel restrictions, it would be difficult to operate a meaningful season. One option being considered, as has been reported, is a cup competition specifically for the National League clubs, with finals at prestige locations. “This would give players and spectators incentives, but also encourage commercial partners to remain involved throughout the second half of the season,” said Inverdale. Full details can be found on the NCA website. Xmas Raffle The March 2020 lockdown ended the income we used to make from the Saturday Raffles at 1st Team home games. This makes the 2020 Christmas Hamper Raffle even more important than normal to raise much needed funds for the club. There will be five £1 tickets in a book so it only needs each member to sell two books @ £10 to boost our funds by £4,000. The Prize Hampers will be on display at the club from early December when tickets will also be available. Lucy Barnett has already started to put her fabulous hampers together and we’ll be really grateful for any donated items to make them even better than normal. Please bring your donations to the club on any weekday or Sunday morning. Thanks very much for your help. Jo Finnegan

1 Who’s Who Elford, John. Yorkshire Colts U17’s, 1997. Elgey, Eric, V. (Died in 1971) Eric Elgey was a wing threequarter in his playing days. He first appears on a team photograph for the 1938/1939 season. He was the Treasurer of HRUFC from 1949 to 1953. Ellis, J.N. First appears on a team photograph for the 1924/1925 season. Secretary HRUFC 1945/1946 and 1st XV Vice Captain in the same season. He proposed a vote of ‘no confidence’ in the committee in 1946 and his membership was revoked. Ellis, Kevin. Kevin managed the club website for the 2009/2010 season and operated the club shop until 2011. Elshaw, Heather. Heather became the club’s first female physiotherapist at the beginning of the 1981/1982 season and continued until 1986. Elshaw, John. (Born 1940 - died 6/9/2009) John was Officer in Charge of the Ground at the rugby club in the 1985/1986 season. From 1989 to 1991 he was the Secretary for the Colts and Junior section of the club. From 1991 until 1993 he was Harrogate Rugby Club's representative on the North Yorkshire Committee. He took on one of the least glamorous jobs in the club from 1993 until 2002 when he was responsible for looking after the club's shirts, keeping them laundered, repaired and ready for use every Saturday. John will be remembered by many for his comments from the touchline on match days, which were not always complimentary. He was also a founder member of the Touchline Internationals and was voted TI of the year for 2000/2001. His funeral was held at the West Park United Reformed Church on Tuesday 15th September 2009 with club member Sue Langley as minister for the service. Emmerson, Matthew. First team Coach 2006/2007. Englefield, John. John was Chairman of Selectors 1975/1976 and Chairman of HRUFC 1979/1980, President from 1988 to 1994 and Chairman of Selectors. In the 1996/1997 season he was the membership secretary. He was a founder member of the Touchline Internationals. Played for Blackheath, the Army, Waterloo and Lancashire. John died on 30th September 2001. His initials; J.A.E. are engraved on one of the bricks which helped to fund the extension to the Claro Road clubhouse in 1972. Enston, Andrew. (Date of birth: 01/01/1984) Flanker. Played his first game for Harrogate against Halifax in September 2005, lost 8-9. For the 2006/2007 season he was appointed as Club Captain. He was also assistant coach. Previously he had played for Leeds Tykes (2002-2004) and London Welsh (2004-2005). He also played for England U18’s and Yorkshire U20’s. One of the highlights of his rugby career was playing in a winning Yorkshire U20’s team at Twickenham. The low point was spending nearly 3 seasons out of rugby with an injury. Erven, Mark. Joined HRUFC in 2001/2002. Position: Hooker. He made 147 appearances for the First XV. He played in the Yorkshire Cup winning team against Wharfedale 15/4/2002 and against Doncaster 14/5/2003. In the 2002/2003 and 2003/2004 seasons he appeared in every match. League points scored: 70 (14 tries). Highest number of tries in a match: 4 v Dudley Kingswinford in the Powergen Cup 20/9/2003. He played his final game for Harrogate in 2008. Everson, Alan. Back row forward. Alan began playing for Harrogate in the 1970/71 season and was 1st XV Captain 1974 - 1976. For the 1984/1985 season he captained the Panthers. Farrar, Mark. (D.O.B. 27/7/1968) Scrum half. Born in Leeds in 1968 he was educated at Allerton High School and Leeds College of Building where he qualified as a plumber. He played for Yorkshire Colts from 1985 to 1987. In 1988 he played for Moortown but moved to Otley in that season and stayed until 1993 when he converted to rugby league with Doncaster. He transferred to Dewsbury in 1995 before arriving at Harrogate in 1996. His first game for Harrogate 1st XV was against Lydney 19/10/1996. He prefered to play scrum half but was equally capable at wing or full back. Whilst playing for Otley he once scored 4 tries in a game against Askeans and repeated the feat for Harrogate in the game against Preston Grasshoppers on 6th April 2002 which was a club

2 record in National League games. He made 142 appearances for Harrogate and finished playing for the club at the end of the 2003/2004 season. Faulkner, Robert, William. (D.O.B. 4/4/1977) Loose head prop. In his junior rugby days he played at Plymouth Albion and at the age of 17 moved to Bath where he played for the Bath Colts 1st XV for two seasons. He graduated to the Bath 2nd XV. He played for Devon at U16, U18 and South West U18. The highlights of his rugby career included training with Bath 1st XV, playing in the Devon Colts Cup Final and playing for the North U21s against New Zealand U21s. Following a few games with Nottingham he moved to Harrogate at the end of the 1996/1997 season. Played for the North of England U21’s and Yorkshire in 1997 and again for Yorkshire in 1999. He moved to Henley in 1998 and for the 2004/2005 season he was Captain of Newbury. Fawcett, Frank. Appears on the team photo for 1875. Fawcett, Frederick. Played for Yorkshire v Durham in 1873 and 1874. He appears on the Harrogate FC team photograph for 1874/1875 season. Ten years Ago 2010/2011 Club Officials: President: Mike Cowling, Hon. Vice President: Jon Callard, Chairman: Paul Barnard, Secretary: Bill Barrack, Treasurer: David Wheat, Chair of Rugby: Graham Siswick, Chair of Junior Rugby: Des Cullen, Commercial Chair: David Belward, Fixture Secretary: Bill Barrack, Membership Secretary: Clive Wright, Ground Secretary: Frank Carter, Bar and Clubhouse Secretary: Donna Stevenson, Club Doctor: Dr. Jim Woods, Head Coach: Mike Aspinall, Forwards Coach: Ryan Peacey, First XV Captain: Ed Smithies, Georgians Captain: Nick Beaumont, Head of Academy: Peter Lancaster, Club Historian and programmes: Brian Forshaw, Yorkshire RFU representative: Trevor Kent-Jones, Security Officer and Jerseys: Stuart Young, Administrator: Sandra Tinker, Webmaster: Peter Kitching, Fourth Official: Bill Lowe. Harrogate Pythons Officials: Chairman: Jon Godfrey, Secretary: Neil Summersall, Treasurer: Jim Saynor, Commercial: Simon Rodham, Pythons Manager: Jon Ford, Pirates Manager: John Monaghan, Panthers Manager: Mark Dawson. Change of 1st XV Players for 2010/2011 Players leaving: Ben Sowrey -prop - Wharfedale. Danny McGee - centre - Keighley Richard Boyle - lock - Tynedale Jonathan McMillan - prop - Rotherham Titans Maxwell Lewis - No. 8 - Hull Harry Hannan - hooker - Otley New players arriving: Steven Maycock - hooker - Rotherham Titans Ben Innes - prop - York Alex Rieder -flanker - Leeds Carnegie Academy James Rothwell - wing - Sheffield Tigers Ali Chalmers - wing - Bradford and Bingley Mark Tampin - prop - Richmond Jeff Watt - flanker - Darlington Rob Almond - wing - Bradford and Bingley Harry Key - fly half - Market Harborough Peter Lucock - centre - Moortown Gareth Lodge - lock - Darlington Mowden Park Ben Weaving - hooker - Otley 1st XV Playing Record 2010/2011: won 15, drawn 1, lost 14, points for 889, against 721. Finished 6th in National League 2 North. Leading try scorer Jamie Broadley with 28 tries. Leading points scorer: Jamie Broadley with 145 points

3 Player Appearances 2010/2011 Ed. Smithies 25 James Rothwell 11 Jamie Broadley 25 Kyle Dench 23 Rob Almond 14 Mike Aspinall 18 Phil Wickham 12 James Browne 24 Ben Weaving 5 Andy Fraser 17 James Spencer 6 Jacob Brady 30 (Played in every game) Alex Rieder 19 Tim Heaton 20 Chris Wilson 12 Peter Lucock 4 Ali Chalmers 4 Andrew Enston 4 Ben Innes 5 Ben Reaveley 1 Steve Maycock 23 Chris Harris 1 Dan Harland 16 Noel Minikin 3 Nick Beaumont 7 Mark Tampin 13 Tom Bugge 17 Jeff Watt 7 Rob Johnson 6 Gareth Lodge 15 James Audsley-Beck 1 Wood 3 Rory Carmichael l9 Ryan Peacey 10 Andy Rock 1 Sam Bottomley 21 Richard Davies 4 Tom Harvey 2 Aarin Yorke 2 Toby Quarendon 11 Arnie Ellison 3 Going 1 Luke Edwards 3 Matt Roberts 1 E. Millar 1 Mike Bradshaw 2

4 HRUFC Golf Day 2010 88 golfers in teams of four competed for the ‘Slade Trophy’ in a Stableford Competition at Oakdale Golf Club on 1st September 2010. As ever, the course was in excellent condition and this year the weather was ideal. The teams were competing for the Frank Slade Trophy – ﬁrst played for in 1925. The Trophy, originally named the ‘Harrogate Old Boys RUFC Golf Challenge Bowl’, was donated to the Club by Frank Slade in that year. Doug Kendall (Centre), the organiser of the Golf Day has guest speaker Martin Fish sitting on his left. The winners of the Trophy and the ﬁrst prize with 95 points (two scores from four to count) was the team from Oakdale Golf Club made up of Club Captain Charles Birchall, Vice Captain Phil Ireland, Secretary Mike Cross and 2008 Captain Peter Bell. In second place with 93 points was team ‘Omni Design’ David Harvey, Iain Esplyn, David Gill and John Langley(Horsforth). The team representing Black Sheep Brewery were in third place with 93 points. Their team was made up of David Croft, Mike Kearnall(Oakdale), Simon Midgeley and Richard Metcalfe (Pontefract). Just missing out in fourth place with 93 was Howard Illingworth’s team from Northern Energy. In the photograph former Harrogate Rugby Club player John Carter receives his prize from club coach Mike Aspinall with Master of Ceremonies Simon Croft sharing the fun. John, playing for Oakdale, won the nearest to the pin prize at the 9th hole. Playing with HRUFC President Mike Cowling, John put his tee shot some 72 inches from the hole. The winner of the prize for nearest the pin at the 18th hole after two strokes was won by Iain Esplyn. Paul Rider of Britannia Developments won the Putting prize for the second year running. The players received their prizes from HRUFC Captain Ed Smithies and Head Coach Mike Aspinall. Golf was followed by a superb dinner in the Oakdale Clubhouse that was attended by all the golfers taking part with many other guests and celebrities. Many former players were present including Simon Croft (who acted as Master of Ceremonies and Auctioneer), Bob Booth, Johnny Thompson, Norman Hesp, Eddie Cook, Paul Barnard, Tim Clough, Simon Corner, Terry Crystal, Brian Forshaw, Gary Irvine, David Croft, John Carter, Stuart McCulloch, Mark Keith, Mike Moseley, Gus Dunlop, Andy Simpson, Mike Cowling and Team Manager Graham Siswick. We also had the pleasure of the company of Leeds United Soccer Legend Eddie Gray. After dinner the guests were treated to an entertaining presentation from Martin Fish. HRUFC President Mike Cowling closed the evening with some encouraging words for the development and success – at all levels – of Harrogate Rugby Union Football Club. The sum raised on the day was in excess of £5,000.00.

5 Harrogate 1st XV Squad before the game against Loughborough Students 16/10/2010 (above) Back row left to right: Ryan Peacey (Player Coach), James Rothwell, Andy Rock (Player Coach), Kerry Wood, Andrew Enston, Steve Maycock, Andy Fraser, Alex Rieder, Jimmy Browne, Gareth Lodge, Jacob Brady, Jeff Watt, Rory Carmichael, Ben Weaving, Grahame Tasker (Coach), Mike Aspinall (Head Coach and player). Front row left to right: Dan Harland, Jamie Broadley, Tom Bugge, Kyle Dench, Ed Smithies (Captain), Sam Bottomley, Rob Almond, Phil Wickham, Ali Chalmers, Graham Siswick (Manager).

Saturday 4/9/2010 Harrogate 39 - 17 Nuneaton The photo shows action from the ﬁrst game of the 2010/2011 season against Nuneaton when Harrogate won 39 - 17. The players from left to right are; Tim Heaton, Ed Smithies, James Rothwell, Jamie Broadley (with the ball) and Kyle Dench. Record Score Harrogate 99 - 7 Rugby Lions On Saturday 30th October 2010 Harrogate defeated Rugby Lions by a club record score. Bill Barrack wrote the following match report: Although, Harrogate comprehensively outplayed a young Rugby side, the visitors tried to compete throughout the game. Harrogate ran through their range of attacking moves and strong tackling snuffed out Rugby’s occasional but spirited counter attacks. The dynamic Tim Heaton, who’d been switched to No.8, scored the opening try after four minutes and this was shortly followed by another from his back row colleague, Alex Rieder, after a powerful run from deep. Andy Rock, in his ﬁrst game for over a year, made a half break from the wing before delivering a scoring reverse pass to Jamie Broadley.

6 A Rugby defensive mistake then led to loose ball which Broadley quickly snapped up to score a 30 metre try and earn Harrogate a bonus point after 16 minutes. Rob Almond got the next try after a sniping Tom Bugge run created space for him in the corner. Another Harrogate try seemed inevitable but a handling error spilled the ball and Rugby’s Gareth Clarke made a midfield break which was well supported for a try by their ex Harrogate winger, Ian Renard. Alex Stajka’s conversion made it 31-7. Rock then again created space for Broadley’s 3rd try who then took his turn at setting up an Ed Smithies try. Concerted driving mauls on the Rugby line then resulted in a Jake Brady try to make it 52-7 at the interval. From the restart, Rieder snapped up a loose ball and slipped it to replacement centre, Sam Bottomley, who raced 40 metres to score. Almond had taken over the place kicking duties and landed the first of what was to be seven successful conversions, some from very wide out. Replacement flanker, Chris Wilson, scored the next try before another Bugge break led to yet another Almond try. Brady’s second try followed sustained forward pressure and resulted in a minor dust-up between the two packs. Rugby’s “never say die” spirit led to a good combined attack but Harrogate turned over possession in their own 22 and a counter attack led to another Smithies try. Another attack from deep led to a converted Kyle Dench try and, in the last move of the match, another break out from defence led to Bottomley scoring in the corner. Almond’s narrowly missed conversion spoiled his 100% kicking record and prevented Harrogate from hitting the ton. Harrogate Team: Smithies, Almond, Dench, Broadley (Rock 40), Aspinall (Carmichael 35), Bugge, Browne (Watt 42), Maycock (Weaving 40), Tampin, Brady, Lodge, Rieder, Beaumont (Wilson 29), Heaton. Rugby Lions Team: Mayland, Dowsett, Clarke, Young, Renard, Stajka, Shore, Nuttall, Spokes, Shipway, Grimmett, Tucker, Davies, Munro, Walton Referee: Trevor Fisher (RFU) Harrogate’s Man of Match: Rob Almond Harrogate Scorers: Tries: Heaton (2), Rieder (4), Broadley (10,16,30 & 42), Almond (25 & 56), Smithies (35 & 75), Brady (42 & 63), Wilson (51), Dench (77), Bottomley (83). Conversions: Aspinall (10,16,25,30 & 35), Almond ( 42, 43, 51, 56,63,75 & 77) Rugby Scorers: Renard (Try 27), Staika (conversion 27)