In the late 1970's I was Captain of the 2nd Team and Bill Beaumont was Captain of England.  At the time there was a nation-wide freeze and one of the few grounds playable in the country was Reeds Lane.

 

The 2nd XV were due to play Cheltenham 1st XV. The reason for this was New Brighton's 1st XV had a Cheshire Cup game the next day and it was decided that the 2nd XV, who were without a fixture, would play Cheltenham.

 

The England sectors thought that their Captain needed some match practice as England were playing France the next week and the only place he could get this was playing for the 2nd XV. The New Brighton selectors in their infinite wisdom decided that I should make way for the great man (Bastards).

 

The game was played, we lost and Bill was excused match fees on the understanding that they beat France the following week.

 

England unexpectedly did just that and no doubt somewhere in Twickenham Stadium there is a plaque recording the part that our 2nd Team played in the defeat of France.

 

Those were the days!

Bernard Murphy

NEW BRIGHTON MANAGING CHANGE

 

 

As the winds of change storms to gale force through the rugby world, many clubs are left struggling to service mounting debts, sell assets and negotiate with administrators, accountants and receivers merely to ensure their survival.  Meanwhile business continues as usual at New Brighton Football Club.  This is one Jewson League outfit that appears to have mastered the move from the amateur to the semi-professional game.

 

Indeed New Brighton members might, with some justification, claim theirs to be amongst the Northwest regions most successful clubs.  Having been promoted four times in six seasons  and lifted the Cheshire  Senior Cup in successive attempts the Wirral based club have no debts, money on deposit, own their own ground and have had record crowds of two and three thousand for key fixtures in the past season.

 

Careful business management has positioned New Brighton to make a major impact on the regions rugby scene.  Not short on ambition, they firmly believe that they belong in the Premiership with promotion to Jewson One viewed merely as a stepping stone in the next stage of their masterplan initiated in 1994.

 

Under the guidance of  former North of England and Waterloo backrow forward Lawrie Connor, the 'Blues' have undoubtedly done very well in recent years and finished a creditable third in their first year in the National Leagues.  Promotion is a priority this season, reflected by recent player recruitment, ground improvements and a further development of training and coaching facilities.

 

The club has just opened a 'Pit Stop Merchandising Shop, selling  a range of 'Blues' merchandise. 'Pit Stop' controller Beryl Bowes on on how important the club views the move into sports good retailing said :

 

"Merchandising is an important part of all  big clubs in other sports.  We are fortunate to have a fabulous logo and a brilliant colour combination.  Our kit looks good and will sell well.  We are developing  a range of merchandise to suit all tastes and pockets."

 

Close links with Liverpool University enabled  students to train weekly under the Reeds Lane floodlights last season with nine of that cohort making it into either the 'Blues' First or Second XV's. Benefiting from the association, Liverpool went undefeated in their student league to win promotion to the BUSA Premiership.  This development, together with the club's Merseyside Rugby Academy has established a conveyer belt of talented young recruits for the senior sides.

 

This season the  involvement with the University continues to develop with a crop of over 90  'Freshers' coming from all over Britain to join the Blues Rugby Academy.  Three BUSA student games  are played each Wednesday , representative Academy games are played on  Sundays and midweek under floodlights at Reeds Lane.

 

Emosi Koloto and Widnes RUFC are helping by providing coaches and training facilities at their Heath Road headquarters for students :

 

"I have long believed that cooperation between clubs in developing young talent is the way forward" said New Brighton Promotions Manager Colin Bentley. "I am  delighted that Widnes have joined us in these early days of what 1 think is a fabulous opportunity,."

 

On the field the first half of the season has really gone well with a series of league results that positioned the Wirral Men at the top of Jewson Two.  Following closely on the heels of the league success came a thrilling 15-6 Tetley Bitter Cup victory over Jewson One table toppers, Otley. In the next round they have a very tricky visit to Jewson One side Birmingham Solihull although 'The Blues' believe  they are good enough and deserving of success, something which their fans demand . 

 

Cautious as ever coach Lawrie Connor commented

 

"Apart from the slip up at Bedford we've had a good start to the season but nobody is getting carried away. It is  still 'early doors' and there is a lot of rugby to be played before this seasons awards are won. What you can be sure of, is that the lads will keep battling all the way through and we expect to be there or thereabouts come May next year."

 

In conclusion, Club Promotions Manager Colin Bentley added.

 

"With so many clubs risking all in the crazy race for playing success we have a lot to thank our senior members for.  Harry Leyland, Dennis Morgan, Dave Wilcox and  many other hard working committee men have positioned New Brighton Football Club so that they can be  very serious contenders in the region's rugby development and hopefully 'fast track' into the higher leagues."

 

Geoff Lightfoot

December 1999

 

 

 

THE Wirral peninsula is best known in sporting circles for its phalanx of golf courses. Wherever you look there they are. You can hardly move for them, starting with the most famous: the Royal Liverpool at Hoylake.

 

Is it the weather which lets them breed in such profligacy? The Bromborough is the first golf course as you cross the boundary from the Ellesmere Port to the Wirral local authority. Then there's the Eastham Lodge, Heswall, Brackenwood, Caldy, Prenton, Arrowe Park, Hoylake, Wirral Ladies, Warren, Wallasey and, finally, Leasowe, which is opposite Reeds Lane, the home of New Brighton Rugby Football Club.

 

On a peninsula between the estuaries of the Rivers Mersey and the Dee barely ten miles in length and five in width, this sporting mecca offers so much it is at times overwhelming. Other than sport, the philanthropic gesture of William Lever, who created Port Sunlight for his factory workers, is to be seen to be believed.

 

Most people enter the Wirral by using the extensive motorway system. The M53 cuts through the heart of the countryside ending at the mouth of the Kingsway Tunnel which goes under Ihe Mersey. However, if you turn left at !the last junction and then left again along Leasowe Road, signs indicate you are heading for the rugby club.

 

Eventually Leasowe Castle Hotel comes into view as does the sea of Liverpool Bay. Opposite is Reeds Lane and a couple of hundred yards further down, a street sign indicates the entrance drive to the club. This has been home since 1933 with most of the thirty-five years prior to that at the ground of the New Brighton Cricket Club.

 

When the club was founded in 1875, the first ground was in Magazine Lane in the centre of New Brighton.  Then the club moved a few hundred yards south to play in the cemetery for a few years followed by other sites in the same area before the long term stay at The Oval in Wallasey.

 

It was only after the club were settled in their current home did any house building take place in the area. The developers must have liked them for nearby streets were then named Twickenham Drive, Murrayfield Drive, Ravenhill Crescent, Blackheath Drive and so on. In 1933 the land cost £3178: today a supermarket would pay the club £7 million for it.

 

There are two pitches in the l0 acre ground along with the clubhouse and some of the best squash facilities in the north-west of the country. The buildings are situated between the pitches with the stand facing due south.

 

Walking around the perimeter it was a joy to see that all of the numerous neighbours, except the usual awkward one from Blackheath Drive, had kept their boundary fences neat and tidy. The club had helped, over the years, by planting numerous saplings and hedges. Alas, the awkward one had poisoned the three trees backing on to his land: their tall white stumps looking ghostly in the

background of a green landscape.  From a spectators' point of view the viewing ranged from standing at ground level to sitting in the stand. All the way along in front of the clubhouse is a massive area of flat concrete which, estimated, could hold around 1,600 without any problem.

 

A gravel based track runs all around the perimeter of the main pitch and this is where to stand behind the goals on a wet day. Otherwise it is slightly banked grass terracing underfoot.

 

The long southern boundary has the scoreboard on the halfway line sitting on the top of the concrete stepped terrace. There is easily room here for 400 spectators with more on the grass terrace either side. Overflow parking is available on all sides.

 

The main entrance to the ground is down a short drive from Reeds Lane. This is well marked by road signs, as is the club, for the large board above the pay booths tells you that this is the: 'Home of New Brighton Football Club since 1875,' which is not actually strictly accurate. There are 96 vehicle spaces to the left and a further 28 on hard standing by the north-western end of the stand. The stand is a lovely old structure built in the mid-1930s, and which was extended some 50 years ago to what it is today.

 

It has wooden planks on blocks for seats and can accommodate 324 people, all at first-floor level. The sightlines are good, as are the views over the tops of the surrounding houses.

 

From ground level, the area gives the feel of being flat land on a raised I beach. In reality there are some hills around here. Looking south-east towards Greasby it seems as if two observatories are on the tallest slopes.

 

The clubhouse is divided into three ] main parts: the squash courts, I changing rooms and club rooms.

 

Squash has been a major part of the club since 1962 and the eight courts currently in use are kept in a superb I condition, each with their own viewing facilities. The show court has seating for over two hundred spectators with the top 54 seats being reversible so that they can face the rugby pitch.  Very handy on a bitingly cold winter's day. From the outside the squash buildings looked

tired and in urgent need of redecoration.

 

The main clubroom has the club shop taking up the whole of the a eastern end with the refreshment bar doing the same at the opposite end. The shop has a considerable amount of merchandise on display behind glass although you can walk in and examine any of the goods. The fleeces were of a good standard as were all of the similar clothing items.  Other goods ranged from various ties through to umbrellas, badges, pens, cuff links and even waiters' knives.

 

Walk the length of the long bar and the ground floor kitchen is seen behind the serving counter. Here the food on offer ranges from snacks through to hot drinks and confectionery. After the match hot meals can also be purchased. The variety was good and the prices most reasonable.

 

The bar was a friendly and crowded area. The walls were all wood panelled with here, and the adjoining member's bar, all full of memorabilia. Upstairs was another dining area which had its own bar and kitchen, and could seat around seventy for a meal. From the upstairs landing was a door which led into the resident steward's private quarters.

 

New Brighton is a club of the old genre. It oozes history and has an atmosphere which has been lost by those in the top league.

 

I hope it doesn't change, for its charm and old-worldliness are to be treasured.

 

The club is proud of its bar facilities.  Two or three real ales are available on weekends and the bar is open every evening from 6 o’clock and Saturdays and Sundays from mid-day onwards.

 

On 24^th August 2002 the ground was re-named “Hartsfield” in memory of Ian Hart who played 586 games for the First XV and numerous games for Cheshire.  Ian’s father was Hunter Hart to played for Everton.

 

In 2006 the Stand was renamed the Harry Leyland stand in memory of Harry Leyland.  Harry joined the club to play squash after playing in goal for Blackburn, Everton and Tranmere.  He was an enthusiastic rugby supporter and became President, Chairman and Life Member.

 

 

RECOLLECTIONS OF MY MEMBERSHIP OF NEW BRIGHTON RUGBY CLUB

 

Now that I have ceased to hold any office in the Club after an association going back to our restart after the war, it might be of interest for me to reminisce on the changes that have taken place in the last fifty-seven years.

 

This is not intended as an ego trip. I have had the most enormous enjoyment from my involvement in the Club and if I have been of help on occasion, I have been happy to do so.

 

I was away at school from 1943 to 1947 and my father was Fixture Secretary when we restarted in 1946. I played a few games at IVB before my National Service from 1949 to 1951. In 1952, I captained the IVC XV. In 1952, Denis Haslehurst was skipper of the IVB XV.  I served on the committee for a number of years and was involved in the Horse Show, which was an annual event on the front pitch!  A large marquee was erected on the back pitch and we would have a dance in the evening, which attracted about six hundred people.

 

Rugby, at the time, was very popular. The local grammar school would regularly turn out two or three prospective First XV players every year and we ran five senior sides and one colts team. It is interesting to note that, of the current premiership sides, we played, on an occasional or regular basis, everyone except Harlequins.  Saracens were refused a fixture by my father as they were not considered good enough and, of course, Rotheram were not in contention.

 

How the ethos of the game has changed since then, as well as the laws!

 

Anyone appearing in the changing room with talc or aftershave would have been regarded with great suspicion!  A small sliver of carbolic soap was provided by the Club and you were lucky to find a piece in the muddy bathwater.

 

The game was essentially one for the players and at the International Referees Conference, held at the club on 10 April 1971, I asked Cyril Gadney, the doyenne of referees, if it would be possible for the referee to make a signal as to why he had made a decision so the spectators would understand.  He replied that the referee was far too busy to bother with spectators.

 

In those days you could kick to touch from anywhere on the field; you had to play the ball with your foot after a tackle. You would bunch and take with a defensive line out and did not have to have a gap in the lineout and lifting was, of course, illegal.

 

As a committee member in 1962, I obtained access to a number of other Clubs' accounts.  They all had three sources of income. First were bar receipts, second membership fees and, lastly, some form of moneymaking activity, (In our case, it was the Horse Show.)

 

Our clubhouse was akin to a factory, which was only open for one training day and one Saturday for nine months of the year.  It seemed obvious that if we could find another attraction to get the bar used more often, this would be beneficial. Squash was, at the time, very popular but it was an elitist sport. The facilities in the Wirral were confined to Oxton and the Constitution Club. Few people joined these Clubs to learn the game and most of the members learnt at their boarding schools.

 

Graham Hough and I played together in one of the junior sides and we reckoned that if we put up a couple of courts at the Club, this might just work to improve our finances. Graham owned a builders supply company in Hoylake and generously said that if I could get the committee to agree, he would provide all materials at cost price and he also knew who the best tradesmen were in the neighbourhood.

 

I brought the matter up at the monthly committee meeting and it was received with some scepticism.  I realised that we would have a problem manning the bar, as this was done entirely by voluntary labour, and the only professional we had was a part time groundsman.

 

After much discussion, I was told that if I could get the finance from a brewery, we could go ahead.  At the time, we were supplied by Youngers [now Scottish and Newcastle]. They were useless!  I approached Threlfalls without success and I particularly remember an interview with Leslie Woodhead, the Managing Director of Birkenhead Brewery.  He asked me what our turnover would be if he lent us the £6000 I wanted.  I told him, in my opinion, it would go up to £7000, at which he expressed total disbelief. [Beer was approx 9d per pint!].

 

The only Brewery to help us turned out to be Higsons, managed by Gerry Corlett, and I shall always be grateful for his foresight and generosity in enthusiastically supporting us in this, and subsequent, years. My closest friend, Jim Rennie, later became a Director of the Company and prior to his tragic death at the age of only fifty, was also of great help.

 

The finance now in place, secured by individual guarantors, it was time to go ahead with the building of our first two courts.  By this time, I was Treasurer and George Gardiner was the Hon Architect.  With Graham Hough's guidance, we proceeded with the first two courts, and they were opened in October 1963.  They proved an instant success.  Within six months, with additional help from the Brewery, we built the second pair of courts. I had to pay the tradesmen weekly in cash, and the total cost of the first four courts was £8,000.

 

Our problem now was as forecast.  We were having difficulty manning the bar with volunteers.  We did not, at this time, have the current Lounge Bar, and we used a partitioned part of the Tea Room - I was there when President Kennedy was assassinated.

 

The next - and bigger - step was the new Lounge Bar, followed by the erection of a flat for a resident steward.  Squash was still booming so we decided that we would erect two more courts [five and six] to pay the steward's wages and, at the same time, put a bar and Dining Room upstairs.  This was accomplished, again, with help and advice from Graham.  I provided the hardwood floor in Afromosia [now - I understand - unobtainable]. Gerry Corlett, at Higsons was, again, most helpful and, once more, I paid the tradesmen in cash weekly, as well as emptying the Squash meters and fruit machines daily.  If my memory is correct, courts five and six cost £8,000 and were completed in 1965.

 

Our final two courts were grant aided and Direct Labour were not involved.  I believe the cost was about £20,000 but by that time, I was out of the Treasurer-ship and had become Chairman of Finance.

 

Squash has been an invaluable asset to the Club, not just for the additional income it has created in the past, but also because of the many and valuable administrators that have emanated from members who originally joined to play Squash and, subsequently, became hooked on Rugby.  These include four Presidents, two Secretaries and three Treasurers, as well as many committee members.

 

In 1971, I was flattered to be asked to be President, an honour I deeply appreciated. My predecessor was a lovely man but, at eighty years of age and a teetotaller, he was not representative of most Rugby Presidents.

 

I thoroughly enjoyed my period in Office but, by the end of my two years, I realised that the job was too much for one person.  I did not like the system by which the President was selected at it seemed that more people walked round saying they had been offered the job, and refused, that there were suitable candidates.

 

I pushed through the AGM an additional Officer, namely that of Chairman, to relieve the pressure on my successor.  I also instigated a procedure - now, alas, ignored [no reflection on our current President, who is doing a great job] - that suitable candidates should be sounded out, if they were willing to be President, so that no one could go around saying they were offered the job and refused. The prestige of the Office would thus be restored.

 

I am not going to waffle on about our current state.  We desperately need more voluntary helpers in every field of activity.  The retirement of the older members means an opportunity for new blood to carry the Club forward.

 

Looking at the list of past Presidents, I see that I have survived all my predecessors and three of my successors.  I have a feeling that a Monty Python-type foot is shortly to descend on me.

 

Finally, I would like to place on record the enormous pleasure I have had from my membership of New Brighton. If I mention names, I will inevitably leave out someone but the friendships I have enjoyed over a few pints of real ale are lasting and ongoing.

 

Colin Richardson 25 November 2003

 

In addition to Bernard Murphy's story below.  As Guyo said - have you seen the date on the programme 23 years almost to the day.  Spooky or what!  Programe for the day is on the Programmes page

Tom Bennett cartoon

By Bernard Murphy

 

Over the years travelling to grounds all around the country you put your wellbeing in the hands of the most important member of the team-the coach driver.

 

I think it was 1985 and we were on our way to play Gloucester when our luck nearly ran out.

 

I was sitting in the middle of the bus when suddenly we were scraping along the M6 crash barrier, I jumped up and went to the front of the bus to find out what was going on.

 

The driver said everything was OK but thinking about it later it must have been the first time he blacked out.

 

For some reason I didn’t go back to my seat but sat down just behind the driver.

 

Now what happened next must have passed very quickly but at the time it seemed to be in slow motion.

 

The driver collapsed unconscious over the steering wheel. I jumped up and grabbed one side of the wheel to try and steady the bus.

 

Where Steve Guy came from I have no idea whatsoever. Suddenly he had hold of the other side of the wheel.

 

Looking back I suppose it must have seemed quite funny with the both of us holding a side of the steering wheel with the driver flat out between us – and the air no doubt turning blue

 

The idea was to steer the bus onto the hard shoulder without hitting any other vehicle.

 

I don’t recall swerving around the motorway but somehow we managed to reach the hard shoulder without any collisions.

 

I reached down and managed to press the footbrake and at last we stopped.

 

Two things stuck in my mind during these events. Firstly – the card school at the back of the bus telling is in no uncertain terms to keep the bus steady as the money and cards were falling off the seat.

 

Secondly the thought was flashing through my mind that if we rolled down the embankment people were going to die – and as I had hold of the steering wheel I might have a good chance of not being one of them.

 

Once we stopped the bus the order was given to abandon ship. The driver then rejoined the land of the living and told me he was fit to drive on.

Now I may have been a bit unsure of everything that happened but I distinctly remember my reply

 

Not xxxxxxx  likely !

This being the days before mobile phones I think one or two people went over the fields to a farmhouse to ring the coach company for another driver, and Gloucester to tell them we would be somewhat delayed.

 

Anyway we eventually got another driver and turned up at Gloucester 3 or 4  hours late.

As you would expect Gloucester showed no mercy and put 40 points on us.

 

The return trip fortified by a large amount of beer – except for the driver – was thankfully uneventful.     Happy Days

 

“Poaching”

by Colin Richardson

 

I captained a junior side in the early 50’s and after a week’s holiday with my parents and maternal Grandmother, I took Gran home to 25 Glen Park Road, Wallasey. 

 

On entering her house there was a small amount of mail in the porch, and in those days less than 50% of the population had telephones, so all rugby clubs sent postcards informing their members where and when they were playing.  Included in Gran’s mail was a card from Birkenhead Park – simply addressed to “E Maddocks, 25 Glen Park Road, Wallasey” and stating “you have been selected to play for B.P’s 4^th XV at home on Sat. K.O. 3^o/_c”.  My 74 year old Grandmother was taken aback.

 

Our relationship with Birkenhead Park was not as happy as it is today, so I told her she could borrow my old school shirt, boots and a well worn jock strap and I would drop her off at Park on Saturday with the request that she play in the front row.

 

Sadly she wouldn’t do it so I had to content myself with borrowing some club notepaper and writing a formal letter to the Park Secretary objecting to their attempt to poach my Grandmother to play for them, and if she was going to play for anyone it would be New Brighton!

 

I am still awaiting a reply!