Short History of BRFC by Bob Turner
1962 Founded January 5th but called Bridgnorth Rugby Union Football Club.
Subs Senior Members 10/- (50p) Juniors U18, Students and Apprentices 5/- (25p).
Training was arranged for Sunday mornings at Boys Club but was soon changed to Thursdays as everyone was knackered after playing (and drinking in the Black Horse) on Saturdays.
Edgar Davies was our first Chairman and he soon arranged for Alfred Cole who happened to also be our Bank Manager to become President (crafty move).
1967 Edgar appointed President/
1967 Won Newport Cup for the first time.
Edgar arranged for Mark Keyworth to play for Swansea and he went on to play several games for England.
1697-72 Most members changed to drinking bottled Guinness and won Newport Cup five years out of size…. What an advert!
1969 Edgar elected to be President of Shropshire and strangely enough a lot of Bridgnorth players got the chance to play for the County.
1970 Edgar elected North Midlands Committee.
1971 Edgar arranged for tour to Holland where Shropshire beat the National side.
1974 Bought The Bull for £4000 from Mitchells and Butlers but they heard unfounded gossip that we were going to sell Marstons Pedigree and withdrew the offer.
1975 Edgar Davies awarded the Castella award for services to the sport.
1976 Bought The Bull eventually. It had been disused for two years. Cost £11,500 so still not a hard investment!
1976/7 Club created RENTAMAN where members would do anything for money. Also “Be a Brick and buy a Brick” helped pay off our debts. 43 years later those bricks are just as good as new.
1977 Edgar elected North Midlands President.
1978 Guess what! North Mids win County Championship for the first time and our own Bert Greaves was part of the team. We had many good juniors and colts who went on to try their hand at greater things. Simon Pennington, Phil Ralph, John Watson excelled for Stourbridge, Mosley and North Midlands but they and of course Bert Greaves returned to the fold in due course. Bert was his penchant for DIY practically rebuilt the clubhouse on his own and Simon still excels in the Vets team.
The tendency of schools to reduce the amount of sport on the curriculum led to the formation of the Mini & Junior section which has created some excellent players over the years and Bridgnorth gets an increasing number of girls and boys involved in the sport which is against the national trend.
One character of the club was Tim Ward who died in tragic circumstances. Most Veteran teams in the area met at Bridgnorth at the end of every season to compete for the Tim Ward Memorial Trophy.
One of the clubs heroes was Dave Turnock who led the Club 71/72 and 79/80 also led the County to victory in the 5 Counties Championship. He died tragically in 1995 with friends from the golf club and the club formed the David Turnock society which meets five or size times a year to raise money for charity. Its main purpose to keep alive Dave’s memory has worked incredibly well. David had played regularly for the Knights who organised their own tours etc decided in 1995 after Dave’s death to go on one final tour to Ireland, it was called The Final Fling. As usual a good time was had by all and Robin Worton hurled his boots off the ferry coming home. He had to buy some more the following year for another Final Fling tour to the South of France.
Another wonderful help to the club was John Wallis who died a few years ago and the club competes with the Rowing Club for the John Wallis Trophy.
With help and guidance of Edgar Davies and his faithful band of officers, Bridgnorth RFC has and will continue to provide fun and entertainment and a chance to proceed up the sports ladder for boys and girls young and old for years to come.
We do need help however, and the club is eternally grateful to the massive number of volunteers, sponsors, Vice Presidents and everyone who has participated to help us become one of the biggest sources of Sport in the County. With the help of Life Members, Captains Secretaries and Treasurers and the many hundreds of players that have passed through our hands, we all have an eternal debt of gratitude to our biggest asset, Edgar Davies and to continue to build on the wonderful example he has set with not only 40 years unbroken service to our cub but over 70 years of service to the sport he so loves.
MORE TO BE ADDED....
