Rugby Football Club

Walsall v Saturday 22nd February 2020 2.15pm Kick off Vice President’s Sponsored Match

Midlands West 2 North - Round 16 Welcome to Walsall RFC Good afternoon and welcome to all members and visitors to Walsall Rugby Club. I hope you enjoy today’s game and the traditional rugby hospitality in the club and at the bar!

We continue this season in (North), renewing old rivalries with Longton and welcoming Burntwood and Oak to Delves Road for the first time in the league. For 2019-20 Geraint Tilllott as DoR and playing Head Coach Jon Ford continue in their roles, supported by Mark Gilbert and Rich Henwood. On the pitch Captain Roger Weston continues in his role supported by new Vice- captain Tom Aston. I’m sure you’ll join me in wishing them all the best for the season.

We have also made significant strides regarding the club infrastructure. The de- velopment plans have been accepted by the RFU and planning permission has been granted. The funding plan has been outlined for seeking grants and fund aid from the supporting organisations, but importantly also members. Please take the time to look at the plans and where possible can I encourage you to support the fund raising effort, either financially or if you are have ideas or are prepared to spend time helping as part of the house, development or other committees please get involved.

Finally, to all those who volunteer and help at the club in any capacity, thank you. Without your time and commitment the club would not be able to function and provide the excellent sporting and social base for a game that I, and I’m sure you all, enjoy and love. Here’s to a great season, a great day, a great game and win or lose, an enjoya- ble drink or two with a few friends. Cheers, Tim NB: You will notice the asterisk against our points total in the league table. We have been deducted 5 points due to a change in the RFU regulations in the ap- proval of 17 year olds playing senior rugby.

This is because of a clerical error over the holiday period. We failed to process the correct paperwork in the timeframe necessary which lead to us play an ineligible 17 year old for which have disciplined us and given a five point deduction.

Follow us @WalsallRFC Club News: Walsall RFC Secure Cycle Grant from Combined Au- thority We welcome all players, officials, members and spectators to Delves Road this afternoon where our 1st XV will play Shrewsbury and the 3rd XV play We have received confirmation that we have been successful in our application on the bottom pitch. for grant funding to enable us to establish a cycling hub at the Club. The grant, Our Under 10’s, 11’s, 12’s and 16’s are guests of the 1st XV today, we hope which is yet to be received, is for the sum of £20,000 and is to be used to they and their families have a great time this afternoon. provide cycling related facilities based at Walsall RFC.

We’d like to thank the Vice President’s of Walsall RFC for sponsoring today’s We are currently working with Cycling UK and the Walsall Bike Hut Project on a match. Hopefully the lunch is fantastic and you have a good day. number of objectives which are to: · Provide an office/workshop base for the Walsall Bike Hut Project. WBHP re- This will be only the fourth occasion that we have played Shrewsbury in a cover discarded bikes, repair them and then make them available for communi- league game. The first was back in September 2016. So far, Walsall have ty use as well as delivering a range of training courses such as managed to win all the encounters. It is still a testing period for the 1st XV repairs, maintenance and cycling proficiency for beginners and experienced cy- squad with injuries having a real effect on the performances and consequent- clists. ly the results. · To provide a secure covered area where visiting cyclists can leave their bikes. · Provide a tarmac surfaced area in front of the stand that can be used as a So far 38 players have been involved in 1st team action this season and there beginners cycle training area. is still another seven games to be played! · To hopefully provide a link up with Wolverhampton University in order to make use of their unused bottom field for trials bike cycling. · To ultimately create a Cycling Club based at WRFC. Our Referee this afternoon is Phil Marris from North Midlands Referee Society for the 1st Xv and Jagir Singh for the 3rd XV. Hopefully they will enjoy the With regard to the last point, we would like to hear from any members who would be interested in getting involved. Bar Membership Cards To register your interest, Please let Sara Taylor know if there are any problems with your bar card and e-mail Dave Rogers on [email protected] she will update it for you, promptly. Please have your bar card ready when ordering drinks at the bar, it will help the bar staff and speed up service. Thank you Club Events Branded Plastic Glasses The Club has purchased branded plastic glasses so that drinks can be taken Steak Night Every Thursday evening. Call Heather to book your place on outside during matches. They will be available from behind the bar from 2pm 07581 156720 onwards for a deposit of £1. Please return your glass to the bar to get your deposit back. Six Nations All the Six Nations Matches will be on TV in the Club. Please do not take any glass bottles or glassware outside. End Of Season Ball –Tickets will be on sale from the beginning of March. Entertainment Committee Meeting - Tuesday 25th February at Please book your table with Liz, Jo or Sara. There will be a fantastic 4 course meal with a live band to dance the night away with. To celebrate the club, St 6.30pm Georges Day, VE Day and anything else we can think of! The Entertainment committee are meeting at the club and would like to extend an invitation to anyone who would like to get involved with put- President’s Day—Sunday 17th May ting on events, organising a night or two or if you just would like to give us some ideas. It’s very informal and you might even be bought a drink! Presentation Weekend—12th-14th June Please come along, bring your ideas and have a good time! Natwest Rugbyforce Weekend—27th and 28th June Thank you

Club Development #WeareWalsallRFC Work is ongoing behind the scenes in developing our bids ready for submission to potential funding bodies. A lot of this work has been sub- stantially completed and our first application, which was to the RFU for an interest free loan of £100,000 was submitted end of August. We have recently been advised by them that we have passed the first stage of their approval process and we now move onto the final stage which involves amongst other things, the requirement for us to obtain competitive quotations for Project (Phase) 1 works. The other funding bodies to which we will be applying for grant assis- tance are Biffa, Veolia, Enovert, Sport and the Big Lottery. Tim- ing of our submissions to these organisations relies partly on us being able to show that we have secured financial support from the RFU but also each funder seems to require evidence that another funder is also on board with us – a classic case of them all hopefully being prepared to put the final pound in the pot but none of them will put in the first !! To advise and guide us through this challenging process the Club con- tinues to retain the services of Rachel Scott of RMS Sports Consultants. However, the success of our applications with all of the above funding bodies is also highly dependant on the Club being able to show that we have generated a substantial financial contribution ourselves through a dynamic fund-raising campaign which leads us onto - Fundraising We are aiming to raise a total contribution ourselves of £160,000 which is to be generated through an energetic fundraising cam- paign comprising: • Regular ‘One off’ sponsored Club events - please look out for information about these on social media, the Club web-site, the matchday programme and the notice board. • The 10-year Pledge Plan - We are aiming to get at least 100 people signed up for a 10 year period with the aim of reaching the sum of £100,000 at the end of the 10 years so please sign up to this if you can. If you are unsure about commiting for 10 years then you have the option to specify a shorter time period to suit your circumstances. Monthly payments start from £8 which you can top up with Gift Aid if you are a UK tax payer. Application leaflets are available on the notice board. If you require further information please speak with Sara, Martin McCluney or Dave Rogers. • Crowdfunding - Through Crowdfunding donations, we are hoping to raise the sum of £50,000 as a contribution toward our overall target. If you prefer this method of donating then please use the following link: Please help us to deliver our ambitious and much needed modernisation https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/walsallrugbyclub- plan by donating what you can. On behalf of Walsall Rugby Club - THANK YOU helpfundourimprove- Age Grade Rugby BEAR FACTS Tomorrow morning the minis are playing at Stoke. The Under 16’s are Leading Appearances of Current Players up to end of last season away at Burton in their re-arranged semi final. (possibly at home due to the weather) Baby Bears, Under 13’s—15’s have training Roger Weston 193, Simon Weaver 172, Daniel Simpson 162, Mike Benson 151, Jamie Hickman 134 The Girls are training at 12.30 and the Colts are away at Bees in a league game, kick off at 1pm Career Records (League)

Mixed Touch Rugby. Most Appearances: Roger Weston - 164 Mixed Touch is on Monday evenings from 6.30pm. All welcome, female and male, Walsall RFC League Record Aged 15+ players, returners, never played before; for fun and fitness. If you are interested please contact Nick Rose on 07920 595291 P W D L F A

Keep checking the website for up to date news, events, matches 664 316 14 320 14614 14453 and reports. MIDLANDS 2 WEST (NORTH) Pitchero.com/clubs/walsall BP PTS P W D L PF PA PD 100+ Club Wolverhampton 15 14 0 1 580 192 388 14 70 Be a part of the 100+ Club and be in with a chance of winning £100,£50, £25 or £10 quarterly with a bonus £250 in December. 15 12 0 3 572 259 313 12 60 £20 paid for the year. Camp Hill 15 12 0 3 520 329 191 12 60 It can be paid in cash annually or £5 per quarter via SO. Leek 15 11 0 4 441 249 192 12 56

Please speak to Jo or Mick Broadhurst and they will be happy to sign you Longton 15 7 1 7 401 336 65 10 40 up! Walsall 15 7 1 7 395 333 62 7 32* Easyfundraising – Tamworth 15 7 0 8 242 329 -87 4 32 Moseley Oak 15 4 1 10 302 418 -116 10 28 When you shop online you could be raising much needed funds for the club, without incurring any cost to yourself! Crewe and 15 5 0 10 302 492 -116 10 25 All you have to do is register with easyfundraising and then Newcastle (Staffs) 15 4 0 11 294 447 -153 5 21 shop as normal. Burntwood 15 3 1 11 289 590 -301 5 19 https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/walsallrufc/ Shrewsbury 15 2 0 13 209 573 -364 3 11

* 5 point deduction Audit/Tax/Advisory/Risk Smart decisions. Lasting Value

Sponsors of Walsall RFC 2019-2020 We thank our sponsors for their continued support of Walsall RFC. We wouldn’t be able to continue to do all that we do without them. If you are interested in sponsoring Walsall RFC please ask Ross for WALSALL RFC SHREWSBURY RUFC

15 Roger Weston (Captain) 15 Will Beddoes 14 Brandon Sayce 14 Jordan Anderson

13 Jack Crowhurst 13 Brett Doughty

12 Rob Angell 12 Johnny Hampson

11 Zach Edwards 11 Ieuen Morris

10 Will Hennessy 10 Jai Crippin

9 Connor Pitt 9 Jack Bevan

1 Dan Poston 1 Craig Jones

2 Luke Pittaway 2 Lewis Jenkins

3 Pete Fitzgerald 3 Rob Sankey

4 Michael Lockett 4 Simon Evitts

5 Mike Benson 5 Jon Bucknall (Captain)

6 George Perkins 6 Liam Deery

7 James Tamilio 7 Nathan Hardwick

8 Hal Gozukucuk 8 Dan Harrison

16 Simon Weaver 16 James Ombler

17 Michael Whitehouse 17 Simon Crippin

18 Richard Clarke 18 Tom Howell Date Opponent Venue Result Score 24-Aug F Veseyans Away W 5-62 31-Aug F Droitwich Away L 29-19 07-Sep C Leek Home L 14-Sep L Camp Hill Away L 50 - 17 21-Sep C Old Laurentians Home L 14 - 16 28-Sep L Crewe & Nantwich Home W 48-15 05-Oct L Leek Away L 44-10 12-Oct 19-Oct L Longton Home W 31 - 12 26-Oct L Moseley Oak Home W 30 - 7 02-Nov 09-Nov L Newcastle Home W 27 - 14 16-Nov L Shrewsbury Away W 3 - 32 23-Nov L Stafford Home L 25-29 30-Nov 07-Dec L Tamworth Away W 11-13 14-Dec L Wolverhampton Away L 33-14 21-Dec L Burntwood Home W 71-11 28-Dec 04-Jan L Crewe & Nantwich Away L 33-17 11-Jan L Leek Home L 17-20 18-Jan 25-Jan L Longton Away D 20-20 01-Feb L Moseley Oak Away L 31-23 08-Feb 15-Feb L Newcastle Away P 22-Feb L Shrewsbury Home 29 Feb L Stafford Away 07-Mar L Newcastle (Staffs) Away 14-Mar 21-Mar L Tamworth Home 28-Mar L Wolverhampton Home 04-Apr L Burntwood Away 11-Apr Easter Saturday 18-Apr L Camp Hill Home 25-Apr End of Season Ball