Return of the Mack

The 67-year-old long-serving Elthamians member will share the position with current chairman Nick Burne for the 2018/19 campaign in preparation for taking on the role permanently the following season when Nick stands down.

It’s a welcome return for Mack who has held virtually every position in his 45-year association with the club. A player for 22 years after arriving at Foxbury in 1973, he captained all four senior teams at various stages of his career and also coached the club’s Colts side and various OEs junior sides.

On his retirement from playing, Mack undertook two stints as club treasurer and was chairman for eight years, overseeing the problematic transition to league rugby in 1987, before handing over the reins to Nick Burne in 1995.

As one of the original organisers of the hugely successful Foxbury Ball alongside Ian McKinnon, he also helped raise over £180,000 for the club.

“It’s a real honour to be asked to take on the role I performed all those years ago at a club that has played such a massive and important role in my life,” Mack said. “It’s 21 years since I was chairman and it’s fair to say a lot has changed since then! They were the days when the sponge bucket was red with blood and the shirts were still on the dressing room floor from the week before!

“I never had any chance of ever watching the games from the touchlines because invariably I would be pulled on to play for whichever team needed me - including the opposition!

“The staggering progress this club has made in the last few years is something I never thought I’d ever see in my lifetime so to be part of that moving forward and to be able to contribute in any way I can is fantastic.

“Nick Burne has done an incredible job leading this club for the last 21 years through some difficult times, especially in the early days, and his are big shoes to fill. But I’m looking forward to working with him again in very different circumstances from the last time we worked together - when the club were in Kent One!”

Updated 16:05 - 30 Aug 2019 by Jon Edwards