Chairman’s Newsletter
September 2014
Introduction – Robin Poynder, Chairman
As your new Chairman, it gives me great pleasure to welcome everyone to the first edition of the Chairman’s newsletter for this coming 2014/15 season – our 20th Anniversary year! Before we get into the rugby I should introduce myself… I am a referee and only occasionally a (not very good) player. I am passionate about rugby in general and have gone through the various roles at my past club (HHRFC) player, coach and referee. I moved up to the island last summer and wandered into Millwall Rugby Club. I was made to feel welcome immediately and this ethos of openness made an impression. I played in the open day touch tourney and became a member that night – there may have been alcohol involved. We should be proud of the inclusive positive ethos that is clearly part of the Millwall DNA, and I would like to see that consciously taken on board by everyone – only positive comments on and off the pitch please. I am still learning the club’s background details as well as some names, so please forgive me if I don’t know you personally yet – I am looking forward to meeting everyone over the coming months.
Chairman’s aims for the year
I have two primary goals this year: 1. We will maintain our status as an Essex 1 team 2. We will finish the year on a sound financial footing, prepared to kick on into the following season We also have a host of wider targets such as: a) Broaden and grow youth rugby at Millwall b) Develop Touch rugby under the O2 banner c) Develop/grow a structured sponsorship programme d) Celebrate our 20th anniversary in style!
Know any other clubs or local groups who might want to take advantage of our great clubhouse AND prices? Encourage them to come along. At £50 per year membership it’s fantastic value for money.
RFU Grand Draw Thanks to all who sold tickets in this year’s draw which took place in March, especially our star sellers Brigitte and GG. We raised £841.50 for the club. You’ve got to be in it to win it, so your support for the 2015 draw will be appreciated. If you can assist with the Grand Draw please get in touch with secretary@millwallrugby.com
Help Needed
Open day on 6th Sept. End of season Dinner volunteers were required on the day to help things run smoothly. Many thanks to those who s t e p p e d u p : B B Q , To u c h Tourney, Cleaning up…
This feels like ages away however the dinner is always a major undertaking. If you would like to help organise this with Ed, please do reach out and let him know.
Minibus Driving
20th Anniversary
Fisher is arranging a possible self-drive minibus alternative for the away teams – hooray! But we will need drivers with a D1 on their license. Keep an eye out for his mail…
Ed will be starting the planning for this now. Any ideas for events and/or help please contact Ed
Bar staff While we are looking good for bar staff at the moment, Gareth and Fisher would always welcome a few more…
Report: pre-season friendlies
30th August
6th September
A good number of players travelled to Hackney marshes on 30th August for a friendly against Southwark Lancers. Result: 33 – 5 From 0-0 at half time, a strong performance followed. Started by the forwards’ power and them opening the scoresheet, the backs joined in. We saw scores from Matt Hopkins x 2, Sean Edwards x 2 and Shaun Cook and 4 conversions from George Conway All in all a positive start for the guys, but with plenty to keep the coaches grumpy and true to form!
The pre-season continued in good form with a home game against Greenwich. Result: 31 – 7 Pre-match the coach made it clear he wanted an early statement of intent – done as Greenwich powered in for the first score after 5 minutes. Happily the guys then worked out the new captain’s Welsh accent and things improved… A good day at the office in the end, but again plenty to work on (‘patterns’ the coach kept shouting as he threw his toys in the air) There was a rumour that the coach smiled at full time – but that is only a rumour!
Bowls
The local Bowling club were most welcoming hosts on Saturday 30th August. Following a generous allyou-can-eat BBQ (which may have been part of a cunning plan to remove some of our possible fitness – and therefore quite unnecessary) was followed by a very social bowling session during the afternoon. We mixed up teams from both clubs and had a blast. Beer flowed throughout and we are looking forward to the return match!
Open Day
The time is upon us.... In our 20th anniversary year the celebrations start now! The Open Day was for Millwall rugby club members, past and present, to get together at the start of the season and bring friends, family, colleagues and even vague acquaintances round, for a great Millwall Rugby experience! Under 16 year olds were very welcome during the day, and it was great to see some families join us to join in the fun. Fancy dress rules state that this was an Open day and as such everyone was required to at least attempt to wear one item related to, or from, the 90’s. Oh dear…
Timetable: 11:00 Clubhouse open, youth Touch Rugby on the pitch 12:00 BBQ starts and Grand Open Touch tournament 14:00 Senior Men’s team preseason friendly Rugby vs Greenwich Later…. Welcomes and celebrations continued in the Clubhouse until the wee hours… One word Iwan --- MOP
In the Press
Maintaining a strong media presence is a vital part of the club’s recruitment and reten7on strategy. This doesn’t happen on its own. Volunteers take the photos and s p e n d 7 m e u p l o a d i n g a n d ‘cleaning them up’. Match reports have to be wri?en, no7ce of events need to be given, papers need to be primed and rela7onships cul7vated. Sophie and Andrew do an incredible job in ensuring we receive lots of posi7ve media a?en7on which in turn helps to a?ract bigger sponsorship deals.
End of Year Dinner & Awards
We had a wonderful end of season dinner at Devonport House in Greenwich. The awards as voted by you were Most improved: Michael DelasEe Best new player: George Conway Under 22: Michael DelasEe Players Player: Sean Russell Clubman: Gareth Hargreaves Players awards went to 1st team: Sean Russell 2nd team: Alessandro Penna 3rd team: James Gough Venus: Amy Trakos Youth: ScoS Vinnicombe Unsung Hero: Chris Adams Chairman’s Award: Sophie Morris / Sophie Buckman Honorary Life Membership: Mike Beech
Why you should pay your membership and your match subs: Costs per match per team Home pitch hire £40 Referee £30 Transport (Ave) £280 Food £88 Laundry £15 Penalty drinks £15
Other costs -‐ Tackle bags, bibs, balls, shirts, water boSles, phsyio and coaching costs, flood light running costs and maintenance, insurances, clubhouse rent, rates, first aid kit, markeEng flyers and posters, subsidised training courses… Contact Us Send us an email for more informaEon info@millwallrugbycom www.millwallrugby.com
Paul Gossip and Karen Anderson helped present the Honorary Life Membership to Mike Beech, shown with Club President Jim Fitzpatrick MP.
2015 RWC: 20th Anniversary
Millwall Rugby 20 Years Strong
The organisaEon for our 20th year anniversary needs to start now, and it coincides with the Rugby World Cup here in England! Please register your interest to g e t i n v o l v e d w i t h a n y commiSee member, either personally or by email at info@millwallrugby.com We can’t make it happen without you.
Who knows – some of our friends and ex-‐ members may make the trip to join us for the RWC…
Clubhouse Chat
Hooos for an Orange 'ooooch?? Now in stock at the club. (as well as the old favourite – Skittlebombs!) For your viewing pleasure of various rugby games played by the professionals, we now have a choice of BT sport as well as Sky
Kit is also now in stock - so throw away those worn out socks and shorts – and get some spanking new ones for this season…
Treasurer’s  notes Â
The changes that Robin announced in late August are planned to put us on a sound footing for the season and I will be producing the more formal accounts shortly. Many thanks to those who have renewed their membership and to those who have signed up to the Standing Order initiative. Not only does it save you money but it also helps us budget more accurately.
O2 Touch Rugby
We have recently aligned our To u c h R u g b y t o t h e RFU O2 Touch banner and Flex is coordinating this for us. Borrowing from his recent words… As a Club, Millwall has a long history of successful Touch Rugby without necessarily following any kind of procedure. We attained success essentially by doing and learning. We will attempt to blend the best of both methods in our quest to become the best O2 Touch centre on the Isle of Dogs – and beyond! Our aim is to find a balance which best reflects our aims of coaching, playing and competing in Leagues, allied with an environment that welcomes everyone, whatever their desire or ambition.
We run touch every Sunday afternoon starting at 1PM, come rain, come shine. Please bring yourself and any family or friends that are lying around the house and making the place look untidy… You will have fun!
Youth
Coming next ediEon!!
Development
Cuddles is leading the charge for us and doing a cracking job as we head into the season. He is focusing his efforts on recruitment across the teams; so expect new faces to start turning up at both Men’s and Venus rugby – and make them feel welcome! More to come next edition…
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