Newton Aycliffe Rugby Club mourn the sad passing of one of their great club sponsors John Hilton, the face and stalwart behind the charity enterprise know as Honest John. The club would like to pass on sincere condolences to his family for their sad loss. John had the kindest and most generous heart in supporting lots of sports clubs and hundreds of local organisations and charities over the years and will be very much missed by the community in Newton Aycliffe. RIP John.
Following that sad note, Aycliffe have suffered in other ways in recent weeks hence news has been scarce over the previous three weeks. With various storms creating depressing irriguous situations at Moore Lane and other clubs in the North East. Matches against Wallsend (twice) and Seaham both cancelled and put on the back burner to play later in the season. However, the bad weather has been holding back this week and the prediction of a game this Saturday hopefully will come to fruition. Aycliffe will play host to Seghill. This promises to be a great game as Aycliffe will be determined to do a lot better than when they lost at Seghill. Aycliffe welcome any rugby fans old and new to come and support at Moore Lane. The kick-off time on 7th March reverts to 3pm as we are now in the Springtime zone. This will be followed by the 6 Nations match between England and Wales which will be played on screens in Newton Aycliffe Sports Club bars. Kick off 4:45pm. There promises to be a great atmosphere for both matches so make sure you come down to watch!
Prior to Aycliffe’s home game the Rugby Club would like to remind parents of children between the ages of 8 and 16 that Kids Rugby is still on from 12pm to 1.30pm EVERY Saturday. This initiative is designed to give young boys and girls the chance to be introduced to rugby or improve on their game. Eventually the aim is to create junior club teams to play competitive matches against local clubs. Already coaches from Aycliffe have managed several taster and training sessions in local junior schools and the feedback is very encouraging with many of the children being enthusiastic about playing the great sport of rugby union. Who knows? There may be a potential Owen Farrell, Jamie George, Katie Daly-McLean or Tamara Taylor amongst them. For further enquiries about Kids Rugby please contact director of rugby Peter Ryan’s mobile number 07796 172599.
The club is also keen to start up a ladies rugby team as soon as possible. Many clubs in the North East have recently established a ladies team and it’s becoming one of the fastest growing team sports venture in the UK. If anybody is interested in volunteering to help organise this initiative, please message Public Relations Officer, Stuart McLean 07812 372675. The club is keen to hear from any potential volunteers, coaches and players for all sectors, Kids Rugby, Ladies Rugby and Senior Men’s to join our family friendly club that has enjoyed grassroots rugby since its formation in 1959. Everyone will be made most welcome.
