1983-84: My Goodness My Guinness Record

Former colt Paddy Healy (right) became first XV captain and led a team in transition. Guy Nicholls and Peter Preece announced their retirements at the start of the season, although Peter was to make several come-backs. Among the forwards, seasoned campaigners such as Dave Reeve, John Lyne, John Kane and John Faulkner were no longer playing regularly. The team was being rebuilt largely on home grown talent, with Andy Compton coming in at prop and Dave Jagger at wing-forward. Others to make their mark were Tim Byford, Kevin Oliver, Pete Marshall and Geoff Walker in the forwards, and Simon Chandler, Simon David and Dave Payne in the backs. We were certainly well served on the wing with David, Payne and player of the season Tim Moore, all scoring lots of tries and Andy Davies joining the club. Davies announced his arrival on the opening day by scoring 8 tries for the Stags and he accumulated 25 before Christmas as he worked his way through the sides - there is no record of him scoring after Christmas. It was decided not to appoint a coach but Martin Green helped out with pre-season preparations and we hit the ground running with all of the sides winning their games in the opening two weeks. For the first team, this led to a good first half of the season with 16 wins out of 22 games. In the Mercia Merit table, we won 3 and lost 3, beating Kettering, Dudley Kingswinford and Sutton Coldfield.

First XV 1983-84 Geoff Walker, Dave Jagger, Peter Marshall, Phil McGaffin, Tony Philpott, John Kane, Tony Murray,

Peter Payne (linesman) - Simon David, Dave Payne, Alan Newbold, Paddy Healy, John Williamson,

Tim Moore, Pete Elliott, Mick Brain

After all the problems of fixture congestion in the previous two seasons, it was decided to give priority to Saturday fixtures over Warwickshire Cup games in order to focus more on the Merit Table. In the first round of the Cup there was no conflict as our opponents, Cheylesmore Old Boys, were forced to withdraw from the competition having lost both their ground and clubhouse during the summer, with the consequent desertion of their players. In the second round we drew Caludon Castle and played Aylesbury on the Saturday and the cup tie the next day, which proved more difficult than expected. On a small pitch we were struggling at 10-13 down by the interval but came through to win 23-13. Our next game was against Nuneaton Old Edwardians at the beginning of December, but our playing policy was not tested as Saturday opponents Stratford were still in the Cup and they wanted to postpone. In poor playing conditions, against a good Old Edwardians side, we went down 9-3, with all the points coming from kicks. Following local derby victories over Kenilworth and Stratford after Christmas, our form slumped badly with a number of heavy defeats - against Berry Hill, Banbury, Walsall and in particular Bromsgrove who put 51 points past us in a Merit table game in February. Overall, our Merit record was 50%, with five games won and five lost.

Meanwhile, the Extras were enjoying a most spectacular season, winning 31 games and losing only 4. Consequently, selection became difficult, with players interchangeable, as we searched for the magic formula. Alan Newbold played fly-half for the first-team and was top scorer. Pat Callaghan did the same job in the Extras. Andy Poole captained the second string although he spent most of the season in the first team, which summed up our problem. The reality was that we had two teams of similar strength but needed more experience at first team level.

1st XV 1983-84 Peter Payne (linesman), Dave Jagger, Peter Gray, Kevin Oliver, Tim Byford, Simon Chandler, John Sturley, Bob Mallinson, Tony Philpott, Andy Compton, Jim Demain, John Williamson, Pat Healy, Alan Newbold, Tim Moore, Tony Murray

The Spartans were led by Brian White and they were up there with the Extras winning 29 and losing only 6 games. Although they were seriously affected by player turnover higher up the club, with many players moving up and down the three sides, they got better and better as the season went on and finished with a run of big wins over Westleigh, Buckingham, Banbury and Gordon League. Andy Davies and Simon Evans were the leading try scorers and Pete Forrest proved to be a reliable kicker.

Alan Malin led the Stags, who had a mixed season, winning slightly more than half of their games. Derek Brown and Richard Armitage were notable performers and Fred Emeney made a comeback at hooker and [it is reported, although it may be another spoof] scored a number of spectacular long range tries. Hugh Smith also played well throughout the season but had to leave the field in the derby game against Stratford with a stiff neck! The Tigers continued to play matches at every opportunity and had a good season with scrum half Roger Maycock playing regularly, along with the usual special guest stars and regulars that Norman David was able to pull together. A second Tigers tour was made, to Somerset at the end of the season and they lost narrowly at North Taunton and Totnes.

Following his return from Canada, Maurice Goymer resumed the management of the Colts. The team had an even record but with three quarters of the side still eligible for the next season and at times playing with half a dozen 16-year-olds, they showed considerable promise. Selection was not helped by the unwillingness of schools to release players or allow them to play for clubs on Saturdays. In the Warwickshire Colts Cup we were knocked out by old rivals Barkers Butts, by 20-0.

Pride of place went to our all-conquering under-14 junior side which had another record-breaking season that saw them reach the milestone of 92 games without defeat, from October 1980 to April 1984, and a place in the Guinness Book of Records as the “most successful rugby team” in the world. Over the period they had entered eleven tournaments and won the lot, defeating many of the leading English and Welsh junior sides in the process. Their winning run eventually ended in the penultimate game of the season when, after they won their first 17 games, mostly by more than 50 points, they eventually conceded defeat to a touring representative side from Chester. After romping into a 12-0 lead, overconfidence crept into their game and they went down by 16-26. Unfortunately, we didn’t get the chance of winning our own festival as it was cancelled.

The Guinness Record Holders and their record 92 games unbeaten Terry Liggins (coach), Chris Adams, Guy Stanton, Matthew Bailey, Mark Colebrook, Allan Rowland, David Standbridge, Matthew Dixon, James Cooper, Mike Heelis,

David Slack, Phil Jackson (coach) – Stuart Cotton, Peter Harrison, Laurence Boyle, Matt Burton, Tim Liggins,

Bryan Nelmes, David Bain, Patrick Wegerdt, Peter Griffiths

The full story of the Guinness Record Breakers has been compiled by John Lyons and is

available to anyone who wants a copy from info@leamingtonrugby.co.uk

The third annual floodlit charity match was held on 6 October between South Warwickshire Barbarians and Moseley, to celebrate 100 years of rugby in south Warwickshire. Little money was raised for the intended beneficiaries (The Red Cross) and the game was dropped for future years. We again fielded an under-21 team against Walsall in March and won 18-15. The club continued to be well represented in Warwickshire sides and we provided the backbone of the South Warwickshire team. Tim Moore, Simon David, Dave Jagger, Peter Gray and Brendan O’Sullivan were all picked for Warwickshire under-21s, with Simon David a travelling reserve. Simon Boyle, Nick Brembridge and Mark Dyson all played for the Warwickshire Schools under-16 side and Simon Boyle went all the way through into the England team, the second player from the club to be so honoured, after Arne Suggett. Despite our success in recent years, there was a poor response to Geoff Farndon’s efforts to organise teams for the sevens’ tournaments.

After the financial crisis of 1982-83 there was a big improvement this year with a surplus of income over expenditure for the first time in six years, with the help of an improved bar profit margin. Our new Honorary Treasurer, Keith Ogilvie, was congratulated at the AGM for his work in pulling things around and he was made an Honorary Life Member of the Club, mainly in respect of his work with the Royal Show caravans. A second (extraordinary) General Meeting was held on 9 May, called by Dick Ashley the club President to discuss unsavoury behaviour at the club dinner. There were problems relating to inappropriate dress (shorts and T-shirts) the abuse of speakers and other rowdy behaviour. It was agreed to put steps in place to raise the tone of the dinner in future.

1984-85: Under 21’s Win Floodlit Trophy

With the novelty of ad-hoc floodlit fixtures having worn-off, the club initiated a mid-week competition for under-21 sides, running throughout the season. Club president Dick Ashley organised the tournament and Pottertons agreed to sponsor it. There was strong support from clubs wishing to take part and they were organised into two mini-leagues of four, with the winners and runners-up going through to the semi-finals.

As hosts, Leamington opened the competition against a strong Northampton side, including three of their first team players, but we won 21-14. Our second game was against Walsall, which we won 18-10, but a defeat by Moseley, in round three, meant we were dependant on Walsall beating Northampton if we were to go through, from our group, which fortunately they did. In the other group, Lichfield and Coventry came through, with Rugby and Moseley going out. In a tight semi-final against Lichfield, tries by Phil McGaffin and Tim Byford put us through to the final, where we came up against Walsall again and beat them for a second time, by 7-3, to lift the trophy, with a try from Paul Quinlan and a penalty from Stuart Mallinson. The tournament was a great success, despite major postponement problems due to bad weather after Christmas. Results demonstrated that the junior clubs were competitive with their senior cousins at this level. The Leamington team was coached by Maurice Goymer and Dave Scannell and was a combination of recent colts beginning to make their mark in the first team and a promising current crop.

The winning line-up (pictured) was - Paul Quinlan, Steve Johnson, Richard Messenger, Phil McGaffin, Brendan O’Sullivan, Simon David, Steve Harris, Peter Gray, Peter Payne, Nick Brembridge, xxx, Nick Davey - Simon Lee, Stuart Mallinson, Tim Moore, Tim Byford (captain) Dicky Davies, Adrian Young, Dave McKowen,

There were a number of changes in the 1st XV. Bob Mallinson moved to Northampton and became their regular fist team hooker, playing in every game and he claims to have been the first ever debutant player to achieve this feat with the Saints. Steve “Pop” McGee moved to Moseley and also saw first team action before later moving to Harlequins. Former Colt, Andy Poole (pictured) took over as captain and was supported by Dave Scannell on the coaching side. With Poole captaining the side from scrum-half, the versatile John Williamson moved to full-back and also took over the kicking duties with great success. Fly-half Andy Perry joined the club and was soon capped by Warwickshire, the first Leamington player for some years to be so honoured, but a persistent shoulder injury curtailed his season. The team had an increasingly young look with a home produced back row of Tim Byford, Dave Jagger and Lester Turner, and Simon David and Dudley Turner becoming regulars in the backs.

It was a season of two halves. The team made a strong start with only five defeats in twenty-one games up till Christmas. We were doing fairly well in the Mercia Merit table and this could have been even better, for after beating Kettering in the first game, we made the error of not nominating substitutes against High Wycombe and lost Tim Byford and Peter Elliott to injury before succumbing to their powerful pack by a single point. After further wins over Dudley-Kingswinford, Camp Hill and Sutton Coldfield and a loss to Dixonians we were second in the table at Christmas. The Boxing Day games against Old Warwickians resulted in a 49-13 win for the first team and a 56-0 win for the Extras. The Spartans game was cancelled as the Old Boys were unable to raise a side. These were to be the penultimate traditional Boxing Day fixtures, which began in 1931, as it was felt that the opposition could no longer compete.

The second half of the season was dominated by the weather, with all of the January and much of the February programme wiped out. Having progressed to the quarter finals of the Warwickshire Cup with comfortable victories in the early rounds against Dunlop, Earlsdon and Spartans, we were due to face Keresley in the quarter finals on 13 January. The match had to be postponed on three successive weekends before it was eventually played during a break in the bad weather in early February. Keresley were on top for much of the game through their powerful forwards and had a number of kickable penalty chances they could not take. Fortunately, John Williamson was on form with the boot and scored 4 penalties from more difficult chances to put us into the lead before eventually we opened up the game with 4 late tries to go through 32-10.

First XV 1984-85 Phil Rickells, John Sturley, Peter Marshall, Tim Byford, Trevor Roberts, Kevin Oliver, Andy Compton, Mick Clothier, Peter Payne (linesman) - Tony Philpott, Simon David, Andy Perry, Andy Poole (captain)

Tony Murray, Dudley Turner, Dave Ward, Peter Elliott

The semi-final was against Stoke Old Boys, who had beaten us in the 1982 final. The game was played at Bedworth in difficult conditions, both underfoot and overhead. Leamington established a 6-0 lead with the wind behind us in the first half, but this was never going to be enough and against the breeze in the second half, the powerful Stoke forwards pinned us back and two late tries took them through.

The bad weather played havoc with the Merit Table too and all the games after Christmas had to be postponed and it was not possible to fit in any of these later, except for a mid-week match against Kenilworth at the end of the season. In one of the best games against our neighbours for some years, Kenilworth were 12-7 up at the break and still leading with twenty minutes to go, but a late five-try flourish, masterminded by fly-half Derek Larmour, with winger Andy Davies scoring four, left Kenilworth shattered and the home fans drooling over a 39-15 win. In the final analysis we finished level at the top of the table with Dixonians with a 75% success rate, but unfortunately the Birmingham club pipped us to the title with a better “goal difference”.

1st XV 1884-85 – Dave Jagger, John Sturley, Brian Taylor, Trevor Roberts, Peter Gray,

Denis Brown, Phil Rickells, Peter Payne (linesman) – Simon David, Tim Moore,

Alan Newbold, Andy Poole, John Williamson, Tony Philpott, Derek Larmour

Trevor Roberts skippered the Extras, but found himself back in the 1st XV for much of the season and Roger Maycock stood in for him. After a dodgy opening spell, the team hit form at the beginning of November and lost only three more games all season. One of these was to a touring Victoria state schools side from Australia who stayed at the Warwick Arms Hotel in early January and trained at the club. Due to the decimation of their tour programme by the weather they played an unscheduled game against us. Included in their team was forward Ewan McKenzie, who it is thought was the same player as propped against England in the 1991 World Cup final.

Warwickshire RFU initiated a 2nd XV Cup and hopes for success in the inaugural competition were high given the Extras’ success at this level. However, the new competition exposed us to the Coventry style of game and in particular the same difficult opponents that the first team had been facing in the senior Cup over recent years. Also, it was decided to fulfil normal Saturday fixtures and the Extras played two matches on cup weekends. Manor Park were beaten comfortably by 15-3 in the first round, which took us to Stoke Old Boys in the quarter finals. We won a hard forward battle to go through 12-9 thanks to four Pat Callaghan penalties. After defeating Newbury in the Saturday fixture, the semi-final against Bedworth was played the following day and after another dour forward battle, with the score at 0-0 ,a late try clinched the game for Bed’th.

The Spartans were the most successful side with 25 wins, led by Brian White as captain. The Stags had a disappointing season with only 11 victories, but at least they finished well with a 4-match winning run. Richard Armitage took over the captaincy of the side in mid-season after John Gunton was injured. The Tigers played 30 games and won half of them. After spending most of the year in retirement but having recovered from niggling injuries, Peter Preece made a comeback and played in most of the sides, including the first XV when needed. A number of other old faces reappeared from time to time including John Wheildon and Archie Banks, who scored 4 tries for the Tigers against Harbury.

Player of the year, for the second time in three years was doughty prop John Sturley. Apprentice prop Dave McKowen, who made his debut towards the end of the season, was the most improved player and Roger Sparks won the Colts player of the year award. The Firsts and Extras toured Cornwall at Easter with the senior side beating first-class club Penryn in the opening game. Paul Lea, who was based locally with the Royal Navy made a guest appearance for Spa. Alerted by our success, Helston fielded their first XV in the second match against our Extras and we sank narrowly by 17-20.

Spartans 1984-85 – Brian White, Mick Brain, Brian Taylor, Nigel Brembridge, Chris Longleather, xxx, Lester Turner, Dave Reeve, Neville Bailey – Stuart Chamberlain, Tony Barton, Dave Lamb, Alan Reeve, Mick Doak, Hugh Smith, Ray Seneviratne

The Colts had another good season, winning 29 games and contributing to the success of the under-21 side. Five Colts achieved selection for Warwickshire – Dicky Davies, Nick Brembridge, Mark Dyson, Steve Harris and Stuart Mallinson. Dicky also played for the Midlands under-19 side. Highlight of the season was two clashes against Kenilworth, who also had a strong team. In the first game Leamington won a hard fought battle by 24-21, thanks mainly to the boot of Stuart Mallinson. Kenilworth avenged this defeat in the Warwickshire Cup when, despite tries from Ade Cleaver, Nick Gardner and Dicky Davies, a missed conversion meant we lost by a single point. On a sad note, one of our colts, Martin Frost, was killed in a road accident in February. The first team game against REME was dedicated to his memory and we fielded a team of young players.

Tigers 1984-85 Roger Mullis, Steve Toe, Derek Brown, Bernard Gallagher, Roger Maycock, Phil Carter, Tony Grimes,

John Hibben - Dave Inglesent, Richard Armitage, Steve Whitby, Norman David, Jim Jeffs, Tommy Tucker, xxx