President David Miller's message for 2007/8
It gives me great pleasure as Club President to welcome all who visit us at Bower Park, during the season. I hope we will be able to provide good entertainment and hospitality in the long tradition of Aspatria RUFC.
I am very proud to be appointed President. My first duty must be to pay tribute to Past President, Mel Hanley. Mel has worked unstintingly for the club and steered the boat through some rough waters as we readjusted to moving down the league structure. Through his leadership, the club has consolidated its position and is now able to realistically hope for a rise in our fortunes. Mel will continue to serve as a committee man and will no doubt continue to provide us with the benefit of his rugby knowledge and experience.
This season brings a new challenge with the move from North West 2 to North East 2. Pre season signings have been encouraging and we hope to do well - well enough to earn promotion? The going will be tough; we will meet old and equally determined adversaries and make new friends. The travelling is never easy for clubs in our area but at least we will have a change of scenery from the M6.
The Eagles have now competed in the Cumbria League for the past two seasons. They have been competitive and although finishing nearer the bottom than the top in the two starts to date, many games have been close encounters. With the experience gained and the firm hand of Coach Steven Irving, I feel sure a top half finish is achievable in the coming campaign. I also look forward to some of the younger Eagles breaking through into the senior squad. I urge these younger lads to keep the pressure on the senior players. It is good for them and good for the club.
This season also sees the launch of our colts section into a restructured Cheshire/ Lancashire League. This is an unknown quantity for us and a major financial commitment given the travelling that will be required. Colts rugby is a natural stepping stone for our young players to bridge the gap between the highly successful Junior Black Reds and senior rugby. I would like to place on record the thanks of the senior club to all those who give up their time to work with the Junior Black Reds. Work that has resulted in us having one of the best youth sections in the county.
I must also pay tribute to the business community who support the club in so many ways. In this modern age, we simply cannot survive without the continuing commitment of our many friends and supporters. This tribute is also extended to the many individuals and ladies who give there time for free to help run the club. The club that we have is the end product of all this individual endeavour.
Finally, rugby is rightly all about the game. The components are the players, the coaches and of course the hard working officials who are seldom recognised. Gentlemen, I wish you all the best of luck and a successful season. Enjoy your rugby.
David G. Miller
Director of Rugby Mark Richardson's Message
Welcome to Bower Park for the 2007/2008 season of rugby, one that I sincerely hope will be even more exciting than our last campaign. With that goal in mind, my intension is to deliver a competitive and entertaining team, with a positive message to all our opponents that we are playing rugby to win.
We had a blinding start last season because of our improved fitness, stamina levels and a good coaching regime that worked very well. We will be following on with the same formula, except, to a higher standard in an effort to consolidate a position at the top of our new league, North Two East. Additionally, I am well aware that the century is getting older and the Black Reds have yet to put the Cumbria Cup on the trophy shelf. I am determined to improve our performance in this competition and also look forward to making progress in the National competition.
Our captain for this season is Chris Tweddle, a popular choice with all the players and a favourite of our supporters. He shares my determination to compete and succeed on the rugby field. Please give him your support, and hope he has an injury free season.
A welcome return to Black Red colours are two popular forwards. Graham Andrews and David Humes, they will help form a solid platform on which we can expand our game.
When we talk rugby, we tend to focus most of our attention on the first fifteen, however each week the Eagles turn out to entertain us in the Cumbria League. I have been particularly impressed by the fund raising efforts of the ‘£20 Club‘ and can recommend this day out to any of our supporters. In particular, I would like to pay a big thank you to coach Steven Irving who has been an inspiration to all his players.
This year will see the re-launch of our Colts side. They will play a demanding set of fixtures in the Lancashire/Cheshire league. Please give these young lads your support. They are the future of this fine club.
Despite our early summer weather, the playing surface has stood up very well, due in no small part to John Heyworth and his dedicated team. We can only hope that we get some better weather to ease their task of maintaining an excellent pitch.
I would also like to thank all our officials, helpers and staff for all the behind the scenes work that is involved in the running of rugby club and the managing of our finances, particularly, taking care of our sponsors, organizing events and other fund raising efforts. We need your support, so please take part in and give to as many events as you can. Remember it is your club they are making all the effort for and on your behalf.
I would like to take the opportunity to thank all our sponsors without their support both great and small, we would not function at the level we do. Thank you.
Finally, we need your support both home and away to encourage the lads to scale even greater heights than last season. Remember that this season on away fixtures we can be sure of Stotties, Yorkshire Puddings and hopefully a warm welcome.
Can I take this opportunity to remind all supporters that all match officials are treated respectfully. Remember NO REFEREE NO MATCH.
Mark Richardson
Director of Rugby Aspatria RUFC
Chairman’s message 2007-8
On behalf of everyone at Aspatria RUFC welcome to Bower Park. We hope you enjoy both todays match & our hospitality although this may not be extended to the action on the pitch where our objectives are different!
Last season we improved our league position and were confident throughout that, we would be challenging for promotion. Our new coaching team served us well. Unfortunately we did not make the play-off due to a couple of uncharacteristic poor performances and some untimely injuries.
This year we have to do without the services of Robert Miller, our England U18 No 10, we wish him well with his future career at Newcastle Falcons. We have some new recruits, new talent is coming through from the juniors and some old friends have returned. We are playing in a different league, North East 2 where we have little current experience but will renew friendships from pre league days when the Black Reds were regular visitors to the North East.
Last season our second team, the Eagles, consolidated their position in the Cumbria League. The influence and experience of coach Steven Irving played a major part in this and he will be looking to build both quantity and quality in our playing resources.
The Club has continued investment in facilities this year is reduced but we have invested in disabled access & emergency escape routes following recommendations from Allerdale Council. This has been subsidised by grants from both Cumbria RUFC & the RFU via Sportsmatch. We have continued our pitches improvement programme by regular use of the RFU financed Soil Reliever on a regular basis together with over-seeding but without the addition of sand owing to financial constraints. Unfortunately, the pitches suffered considerably because of the “100 days rain” between December & the end of February 2007. You may remember the matches played in the mud. The playing areas suffered severe soil compaction as a result.
Financial sustainability is always a hot topic for the Club Committee; to ensure our continued viability we need to build on the sponsorship we already have and for which we are extremely grateful. The aim is to increase our utilisation of the Clubhouse facilities. To do this we have evaluated extending the kitchen and room used as the Sponsors Bar. This will allow us to accommodate larger numbers and offer its use to the local business community as a conference facility. The estimates for this ran to several hundred thousand pounds .Since we do not have the money to do this and lottery expenditure seems to be going to the Olympics, the idea will be a slow burner.
The Club is in good hands but we cannot stand still if we are to survive. In particular, we need to concentrate our efforts in the fund raising area. We are fortunate in having excellent core strength of volunteers who are much valued but we need more. In particularly we are grateful to our Ladies’ Committee for their dedication and hard work. The Ladies are always looking to recruit new volunteers. If you feel you can help them or with any role around the club, please contact me or other Committee member.
Looking to the future, the club is hoping to arrange a tour of Spain at the end of the season. Touring has become a welcome feature of our social scene after many years absence. Mike Tinnion is hoping to build on our recent conquest's of Sweden and Torquay and I hope that you will all give him your support by assisting with fund raising.
John Heyworth
Chairman Aspatria RUFC
