It is with great pleasure that I am now able to announce the appointment of a new President and also a new Director of Rugby for the forthcoming season.

George Kirkpatrick is stepping down as President after three years at the helm. He has been a virtual ever present on a weekly basis and extremely passionate about the Club throughout his tenure. He has been a pleasure to have around in that role and his continued input will be very valuable going forward. George - a heartfelt thank you from me personally and from the Club as a whole.

I'm particularly delighted to announce that Bill Reichwald has accepted the role of President for the forthcoming season. Bill is SRUFC to the core and embodies all the values of the game of Rugby and the Club. He holds all the Club records, 525 First XV appearances at fly half or centre, Captain for 12 seasons in three spells particularly through the 1980's when we were at the summit of out playing level to date... In 2002/03 he was DoR in our most successful season statistically and President the following year. In addition he had three seasons at Headingley , one at Leicester as and an appearance for the Barabarians. As we return to National North 2 the opposition will have the utmost respect for a Club which is once again led by a true winner. On a personal note the champagne tab will go up a bit but hey ho the smiles will continue as we adapt to the required level !

I also have to announce that also after three successful years Jason Soden is stepping down as Director of Rugby. Jason has simply been outstanding bring a whole depth of knowledge, respect and patience to his role. Right now family and work commitments mean that he can't keep the level of commitment that would enable him to do the job that he knows is needed to be done. The upside is that we won't have to read his report in the Telegraph and see that picture of him form the 1970's! On a serious note Jason has been fantastic and leaves us in far better shape than upon his arrival.

Our new DoR is Danny Porter MBE. Danny has had 15 years at the Club as a former First XV player and Captain, 2nd XV Coach, Age Grade Coach and professionally is Head of Sport at Hallam University. I know Danny is very proud and committed to take us on our next journey and again we are really excited to have him fully on board.

I'm continually amazed as to the calibre of people throughout this Club and these two appointments are further testament to that as we strive to be the best Club in Yorkshire.
It leaves me to wish you a great summer away from rugby (apart from the Lions!) and rest assured that a lot of people are working on ensuring that next season we will be more than ready for the new challenges on and off the pitch.

Kind regards

Andrew Langdale

Chairman SRUFC