Dear Touchline
Rugby clubs may be competing fiercely on the pitch but off the pitch most rugby clubs are struggling to make ends meet. Few of us have wealthy benefactors and we have constantly to try ways of attracting new supporters, who hopefully become members, who hopefully become sponsors!

But we only really speak to the clubs we play against, in most cases, briefly over a pint before the game. At Bedford Athletic we have learnt much from our opponents, ideas such as Broadstreet’s Mothers’ Day Lunch, Blaydon’s car boot sale, and Scunthorpe’s successful launch of their 100 Club, to name but a few.

We would like to exchange ideas with clubs outside our league about how to generate support and revenue. Touchline is one very useful tool and the A-Z of Community Rugby is a good start, but there seems to be scope for the RFU to set up a network where we can swap concrete ideas. The Ath would definitely like to contribute to this. These boots are made for talking…so let’s talk!

Svend Elkjaer
Commercial Manager, Bedford Athletic