Overall ERFC have had a great year. The Seniors return to RFU National League structure was a great success with the highlight being a seven game undefeated run before Christmas. Following a wobble after Christmas in the wettest winter ever, the first team finished strongly finishing 5th overall and narrowly missing out on promotion. It is hoped that this can be improved on this year and in line with the plans set out last year with promotion to Kent 1 the target.

The second team did well prior to the poor weather. The loss of fixtures and momentum with players drifting off meant that in the second half of the season, a number of fixtures were unfulfilled. It is imperative that seconds play regularly next season.

The Youth Section has once again had another good year and we must say congratulations to the U13s who won their league and have been promoted. Ably guided by Andy Bennett and his coaching team it is hoped that they will be able to compete well in the higher division. The U14s and U15s once again did the club proud despite struggling for numbers at times. We understand that they had a great time touring Edenbridge’s twin town Mont Saint Aignan. They’ve shown the rest of the club how to raise funds if you put your mind to it. On a disappointing note, the Colts didn’t really get off the ground this year. As a club we must do more to ensure that we can keep all teams playing, particularly in the area of transition from mini to youth and youth to senior rugby. The aim for the next few years should be to field Youth Sides from U13s through to Colts.

The Minis once again had a great year competing with and beating much larger clubs in the county and beyond. A great tour was had in Bognor Regis as part of the Tigers Challenge. I am sure you will all have heard that the U7s won the Tournament! It was such fun that the minis have already booked to go again next year and we must congratulate John Masterson for organising the minis tour. It was disappointing to lose the U12s team at Christmas but the numbers made the squad unstainable. It is good to know that the players are thriving at Warlingham and have not been lost to the game. The challenge for the minis for the next year is to grow the numbers in all age groups. I am confident that with the Rugby World Cup in England next year, the profile of the game will rise and help in recruitment.

We should also congratulate Craig Mcintosh for starting a Girls section at the club. This is a major achievement for a club of our size as even some of the larger clubs in the area cannot field Girls sides. I hope that this will go from strength to strength over the next few years.

Off the field we have run a number of successful fund raising events throughout the season. Of particular note are the two VP lunches organised by John Jaguers, James and Stuart Peacock. If you haven’t been to one they are great fun and I wholly recommend you try to get along to one. The Golf Days organised by Blair were also great days enjoyed by all in attendance. I would ask that you try to support our fund raising events as these help to keep rugby at a reasonable cost.

The Board have been working hard to ensure that we can grow and provide a great experience for all members. Gavin will give a detailed financial report later. Having taken on the lease of the Pavilion three years ago, the finances of the club were stretched but I am pleased to say that we have managed to stabilise them this year.

Thanks to the work of Blair Clubley we have also managed to gain the RFU “Accredited Club” status. This again has raised the profile of ERFC and shows that we are an ambitious and well run club.
Before I finish I would like to say that we are extremely grateful to all of our Sponsors and for the people who give up their time to help out around the club. If you can give some time however small, it will help relieve the pressure on the small number of people who work tirelessly to make ERFC the great club that it is.