Welcome to Blyth's Club Pages we hope that you find them of interest. For further details or to suggest changes please contact Dave Grey at dave.grey@bt.com or Stuart Bainbridge at stuartbainbridge@yahoo.co.uk
LATEST NEWS
Welcome win after lay-off The First XV had a welcome return to League action on Saturday after a month of postponed and cancelled games. The team took the opportunity of consolidating second place in the league when over-powering Chester-le-Street to the tune of 82-5 at Plessey Road. For details of the game see MATCH REPORTS on the menu. (posted 21st. Dec 08)
Club Shop now on-line For this season Blyth have linked up with Top Marque Sports to provide a range of club logo-marked kit. There is a link to the Top Marque website on the Club Shop tab on the menu.
The Place To Be Seen ! Blyth may not normally be the place to meet international players but three were to be seen at last Saturday's match. All Black props Joe McDonnell and Carl Heyman who have been coaching the Blyth squad were watching the results of their efforts with the home team whilst on the opposite touch-line Newcastle Falcons colleague England centre Jamie Noon was supporting his former club Whitby. Happily for us it was the New Zealanders who had most to cheer.
Thanks For The Support The club is delighted to have obtained support from Martell Scaffolding and Plessey News. Both organisations are offering us major sponsorship backing this season which would have been very welcome at at time but is particularly important this season given the club's major development programme. We look forward to meeting the sponsors at all of our club events this season.
Girls Rugby Ready for Take Off The completion of the new changing rooms will mean that at long last we have facilities for Girls and Women's Rugby again. We are kicking off with some Tag Rugby and then, at the end of September will set about forming girls teams at U-16 and U-18 levels. Details of both can be seen by clicking on the Girls/Women's tab on the left.
New Changing Rooms almost complete! The long awaited changing room development is on schedule with the new facilities and club entrance due to be ready for use in mid-September. The £365,000 project is set to give Blyth players 5-star changing rooms comparable to any club in the north-east. Each changer, twice the size of the previous rooms, has its own toilet and shower suite which will allow much more flexibility of use including the first proper provision for girls/women's teams. Referees too get their own facilities.
Bright Prospects on the Field As well as looking forward to the openein of the new changing rooms we are keenly anticipating the new season on the field. We were given a great boost at the end of last season when All Black and Newcastle Falcons prop Joe McDonnell committed himself to the job of head coach . The fact that he has been able to call on assistance from fellow New Zealand star Carl Hayman to assist has been an added bonus. The 1st. XV squad has been strengthened by the return of several players who started their rugby careers at Blyth. Not least of these is scrum-half Tony Smithson who returns after a spells with Gosforth and Darlington Mowden Park. A combination of a new training regime and new players has led to a distinct air of optimism for the new season.
Superb Efforts from the Ground Committee The Club Committee recently recorded thanks to Nick Stafford and his team of helpers for the terrific work done on pitch maintenance and site improvement in recent months. Nick took over as Chairman of the Ground Committee during last season and has made an immediate impact. In addition to the work already done, he has a weekly programme for future clearance and improvement . The efforts made so far have greatly improved the appearance of the whole site despite the building work going on around the clubhouse. Hopefully all members will recognise and appreciate the work done and will do their bit in keeping the club clean and tidy. Meanwhile, the pitch looks in excellent condition for the new season.
Club Development took another step forward on July 12th as volunteers got to work on the stripping of the main clubroom. All walls were stripped completely and carpets removed as the 18 bodies, took 3 hours to gut the room. Many thanks to Martin Stephenson, Stuart Browne, James Bostock, Steve Harding, Stephen Danielson, Bailey Danielson, Giggsy, Callum Bradwell, Dean Langdon, Steven Long, Liam Stoker, Craig Turnbull, Andrew Jackson, Dave Hall, Tony Smithson, Stefan Krzysiak, Joe MacDonnell and Jimmy Bell for their hard work.
A Sad Loss Many older members will have been saddened to learn of the premature and unexpected death of Clelland Ferguson in May whilst mountain biking in Simonside Forest.. Clell. joined the club in the mid-1980's. and played for all Blyth's teams at one time or another, mainly at fly-half. He was a steady kicker and often ended up as leading points scorer for the teams he played in. Other team members and referees were never in any doubt as to Clell's opinions on playing matters with his views delivered in his distinctive Scots accent. After retiring from playing he moved to live in Chester-le-Street and turned up on the touchline to watch the firsts in their league game their earlier in the year.
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