Funny Shaped Balls

 
You are here: Peterborough RFC
Rugby Club Directory

Peterborough RFC
Peterborough RFC
Map View
Second Drove
Peterborough
Peterborough
PE1 5XA
UK
Main Rugby Club Website
Contact Person: Clubhouse
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Phone: 01733 569413
Fax: 01733 569413
Since moving to Second Drove the Club has had a number of successes being East Midlands Champions three times and winning the Hunts and Peterborough Cup fourteen times. It is almost certainly the biggest sports club in the City with 650 members including 370 players in teams of senior men, senior women, colts, junior boys, junior girls and minis. In the '70s to '90s the club could not accommodate the growing demand for opportunities to play rugby and new clubs were formed at Oundle (1976), Deepings (1983) and Thorney (1992). Nationwide the picture is one now of falling interest. The number of players is declining and clubs are closing or amalgamating. At Peterborough the situation remains very healthy with increasing rather than reducing numbers. To conclude, there are a number of notable local personalities who have played a significant role in the history of the Club. I have already spoken of Messrs Buckle and Mellows who were among the enthusiasts who founded the Club first in 1870 and then in 1924. An even greater role appears to have been taken by Dr Lionel Cottingham Burrell, Wansford's resident doctor between 1922 and 1929 who was the Club's first President. He was an international rugby referee. His obituary in 1929 records that "it was largely due to his untiring efforts and unfailing zest that Peterborough Rugby Club ...... has become such a flourishing body". The Club's appreciation published in the local paper spoke of their "sorrowful loss". In the early years of the newly formed club, Roy Westcombe OBE, JP, played a prominent role, as Club captain from 1930 to 1936 and President from 1957 to 1976. In 1958 to 1959, like Arthur Mellows before him, he combined his presidency with the city mayoralty. However the longest serving officer of the Club was Wilf Saul, sports teacher at Deacons School who was on the Management Committee for 41 years including 28 as Chairman, then President. Both men served a year as President of the East Midlands Rugby Union. Over the years the Club has generated a number of distinguished players, including it would seem five internationals, although I have not identified the two mentioned in the 1876 Oundle School report. The first of the other three was William Yiend (nicknamed Pusher), a railway traffic agent, who also played for Gloucester, Hartlepool, Keighley and Leicester. He was a Barbarian and had six full caps for England between 1889 and 1893 including one against the New Zealand Maoris played at Blackheath. In 1892 he played in the England side which won every game in the then Four Nations championship without conceding a point. The second was Michael Berridge, a Kings School pupil who went on to play for Peterborough, Northampton, and Leicester. He had representative games for the Barbarians, East Midlands and Combined Counties against Australia and South Africa and for England against Wales and Ireland in 1949. The Clubs most notable international however is Ron Jacobs who in 1959/60 played in the England side that won the Triple Crown and the Calcutta Cup. He was captain of the England team in 1963/64, twice President of the East Midlands RFU and President of the Rugby Football Union in 1983.
Date added: 2008-03-10 22:36:33    Hits: 160
Powered by Sigsiu.NET RSS Feeds