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Club History

“I was thinking of trying to start a Rugby Club......”

These were the immortal words uttered by Dave Jones to Derek Lyons during a cricket match at the village hall on a chilly May afternoon in 1981.   So the idea was spawned to start a Rugby Club in a developing new town despite the local presence of clubs such as Maldon, Chelmsford, Brentwood, Billericay, Basildon, Burnham on Crouch and, slightly further a field, Southend, Westcliffe and Thurrock.

Some 25 years on, we now have a Club structure and set-up which is the envy of all of our local rivals, and foundations and a playing structure which will stand us in good stead for many years to come.

So how do you turn the idea into reality?  We needed to establish first of all if there was any other interest in the town and so we called an open meeting in the village hall.  We erected notices of our intentions and spread the news by word of mouth.  One of our cricket colleagues, Alan Woolmer, was the chairman of the local Sports Council and we enlisted his help.  The first meeting was held in July and turned out to be well attended, so we made a commitment to form the club, and with the assistance of Ron Bushby who was the secretary of the Sports Council, we drew up a constitution.  A committee was formed on that fateful night in July, comprising Derek Lyons, Andy Turner, Dave Jones, Colin Eschborn and Paul Spencer.

Dave Jones had a been a member at Burnham on Crouch Rubgy Club, and we established in advance of the 1981/82 season that Burnham on Crouch were struggling to field a third team, and to help us get off the ground, we initially started supplying players to their third team and playing under the banner of “Woodburns”, that was in September 1981.  Over the first few weeks of the season, the number of players from Woodham grew, and it was not long before Woodham was providing the vast majority of players to fulfil these fixtures.

At the same time, we commenced negotiations with Chelmsford Borough Council to try and convince them that we were serious about starting a Rugby Club in the town and needed pitch facilities.  Saltcoats Park was given over entirely to football pitches and a hockey pitch.  Again with the support of the Sports Council, we secured a commitment from the Borough Council to lay a rugby pitch at the far end of the ground adjacent to the railway line.  The original Clubhouse was also being sited at Saltcoats Park under the leadership and direction of Alan Woolmer and members of the Rugby Club were actively involved in the building of the original pavilion.

There was still much work to be done in terms of continuing to attract players and members, affiliation to the RFU and to the Essex County Rugby Union, and buying kit etc.  One of the early things we did was to design the club badge which exists to this day.  The badge was intended to represent the fact that South Woodham Ferrers was a developing new town adjacent to the River Crouch.  During the 1981/82 season, all our home games were played at Burnham on Crouch and it always paid to be one of the first in the dressing room as the jerseys which were used by the Burnham on Crouch third team had seen better days and you did well to find one there without numerous holes!

We were also working on a very limited budget, and again were fortunate through the Local Sports Council to be able to apply for funding and a grant.  The original club colours of all black were agreed upon for two reasons, one is that it was more economical to have jerseys of a single colour and secondly it was felt that our opponents seeing a team in all black might be slightly unnerved and intimidated, although it was quickly obvious once the game began that their fears would be totally unfounded!

1982/83 saw our first season using the new pitch at Saltcoats Park, and before every game we had to “walk” the pitch to ensure that there were no stones/sharp objects as the pitch had been newly laid during the previous summer.  The fact that we now had our own pitch and the use of a Clubhouse put us in a position where we were able to push forward and look to expand the club and also to attract the interests of people moving into the town given that there were still a lot of house building and development.  Likewise the William De Ferrers School was expanding and we wanted to be in a position to ensure that as students left school they joined a local club rather than move out of the area. 

Establishing fixtures as a new club was also difficult in those days, there were no leagues, and the majority of local clubs had established fixtures, so trying to break into their fixture list did prove difficult.  However, with much perseverance, and many phone calls, the fixture list gradually took shape as we started to build good relationships with our local rivals.  In 1983 we formed the mini section which was formed as a separate club at that stage in view of the availability of funding and grants from the Local Council, and very much as is the case now, that was built upon the foundation of enthusiastic fathers giving up their time on a Sunday!

In 1984/85 we were able to field a second 15 for the first time, and put together a fixture list, the same season as the club entered the Essex Cup for the first time, drawing East London as a home fixture in the first round.  East London were a very strong club in those days, and were one of the favourites to win the cup.  Woodham put up at magnificent display, losing narrowly in the final stages of the game.  There was tremendous local support that day and that, coupled with subsequent press coverage, meant that we were well and truly on the map and a force to be reckoned with in the future.

Since then, the club has simply gone from strength to strength, and what has been achieved in a relatively short space of time is little short of miraculous, and was crowned in October 2004 with the opening of the magnificent new Clubhouse.

Whilst Burnham on Crouch remains one of our local rivals, we do owe them a huge debt of gratitude for their invaluable help and assistance in the early days of the club.  Over the years, countless people have also dedicated their time and energy to building up and maintaining the club, and to all those who have made such a commitment, we again owe a huge debt of thanks.  We must also acknowledge the tremendous support of our sponsors  Lady Getty for her generous donation which started the Clubhouse project, AON Limited and currently Tulip International and Perception Media - and without their support over the years; the Clubhouse project would not now be complete.  So, as we celebrate our achievements, we also look forward to the next 25 years in the sure knowledge that we have laid firm foundations. 

Dave Parkinson & Pam Parkinson

 

It is with the deepest regret that the Club announces the death of David Parkinson on the 10th November after a short illness. Dave was a member of the Club from it’s very early days, briefly as a player and subsequently as an administrator and committed Vice President. But he was more than just a member. He was the very epitome of a rugby club man – heart and soul – his heart was in the Club and the Club was in his soul. A man of great presence, he provided the backbone of the Club for so many years. His skills and knowledge as a club secretary stood him apart and made him a daunting act to follow. In all he served the club for 14 years in this capacity and for over 20 years administered our International ticket allocation with military style efficiency. Our Saturday afternoons will simply not be the same. His equal concerns for the Club’s success and the fate of his beloved Manchester City made those few after match pints both interesting and enjoyable. We shall miss them.  

His long and illustrious rugby pedigree included Manchester YMCA, Sale and representative honours with Cheshire. No mean achievement considering he was operating in the darkest recesses of the front row. Those great skills were never more evident than in his spell with SWF where he was able to operate as loose or tight head depending on the scrum feed! Eventually his chronic back problem got the better of him and he reluctantly retired from the game he graced for so many years. Always one to want to put something back into the game he spent the next few years refereeing. Being a member of the front row union he also developed a refereeing style of his own and long term mauls became a regular feature of his games! Whilst rugby was his chief sporting passion Dave also played football in his younger days and was also a keen cricketer. Indeed he played for SWF Cricket Club when he first moved to the area. He was an uncompromising batsman, which was no surprise, and never one to be chasing the ball around the field he would find himself stationed in the slip cordon where his catching technique of allowing the ball to hit his ample chest before wrapping his hands around it proved most effective, if a little unorthodox!! Not many however went to ground!   

But his talents went way beyond sport. His thirst for knowledge was never fully quenched and his intellect and all round general knowledge made him an extraordinary quiz contestant - quite without equal amongst those who experienced this phenomenon. He possessed a mental agility to tackle the most challenging of crosswords culminating in his participation a few years ago in the UK Times Crossword Championship in London where he finished a highly creditable 11th. He was also a member of the successful South Woodham Ferrers male voice choir and we all have fond memories of the many sing songs in the rugby club over a few beers. He seemed to know the words to every song. And those of us who were lucky enough to witness it will never forget his contribution to an impromptu rendering of Christmas Carols one year that would have graced many a concert hall!        

Never was he more content than in his favourite city of Paris for a rugby weekend seated in La Cochonnaille restaurant faced with a bowl of their excellent French Onion Soup and a glass of fine claret. If contentment could be summed up in one facial expression that was it. Our great Club would not be the force it is now without Dave’s guiding hand, steady influence and authoritative demeanour, especially in those early and crucial formative years. And he had a wonderful knack of bridging generations.

His catchphrase “it’s not in the constitution” is legendary and will ring many a bell with those who served with him on committees. But they became the bywords for the very way in which the business of the club should be conducted. Even when his health started to fade he would still watch the club at every opportunity, his interest in it’s success never wavering.

It will simply never be the same place without him. Our sympathies and condolences at this time are with Pam”



December 2008

Congratulations to Sean Morris of South Woodham Ferrers Rugby Club
who has been selected to play for Oxford in this years varsity match.
Sean started his rugby career at the tender age of 5, playing under the
tutelage of Barry Gittos till he was 18. In this time Sean received England
caps at under 18. Sean earned a place Somerville College this year to study
Physiological Sciences. As a freshman he has done exceptionally well to
collect a Blue for next Thursday's historic fixture.(11/12 2008)
The Club wishes him every success for the future.


From the Oxford University Rugby Website
 
Sean Morris

Name:

Sean Morris

Date of birth:

6-May-89 in Chelmsford 

School:

 

College:

Somerville

Course:

Physiological Sciences

Height:

5' 9

Weight:

12st 10lbs

Position:

Wing

Blues:

 

Player profile:
South Woodham Ferrers, Barking, Saracens, Essex U14's, U16's & U18's, London & SE U16's & U18's, England U18's

 

email : rugby@southwoodhamferrersrugby.co.uk phone 01245 323955