November saw more evidence of HRFC's progress on and off the field in the form of some outstanding (and some less impressive) facial hair. For those of you who aren't familiar with this, members of the Harbury squad pledged their support towards Movember, a Charity which seeks to 'Change the Face of Men's Health'; namely growing facial hair in the name of men's mental and physical health. Harbury initially set out to raise an obtainable £500 over the course of the month, and had more than 15 players committed to growing, or to trying to grow, a moustache. We shouldn't have undersold the potential of the squad as the £500 target came and went after 2 days - an outstanding start. Head Coach Josh Biggs saw an opportunity to raise the profile of the fundraising effort further, promising to dye his hair and moustache blonde should the fundraising top £1,000. Josh surely didn't expect the squad to hit the £1,000 mark 4 days into November... To the horror of long-term girlfriend, Ellen, Josh immediately went through with his promise and booked in at his hairdressers, which Ellen found out through Instagram.

The month rumbled on with some members of the squad (Coyne & Woodhams especially) showing off their follicle endowment compared to others (Whelan & Higgins) growing the sort of moustaches which would make Tom Selleck blush. A lot of respect has to go to those members of the squad; Stevens, Woodhams, Biggs & Bostock to name but a few, who gave up any chance of ahem 'quality time' with their significant others in the name of Movember.

With fundraising plateauing somewhat, Captain Ricky Alford showed an outstanding display of solidarity to Coach Biggs, promising that if the squad reached £2,000 then he would join Biggs in dying his hair blonde. The squad never misses an opportunity to get one over on Alford and the funds came pouring in, topping the £2,000 figure in no time. Alford did not let us down and turned up to the next home game wearing a beanie which he was suspiciously hesitant to take off. Blonde is generous, yellow is probably closer to the truth. Luke Winchester was quietly growing an excellent moustache to go along with his mullet, and soon put his hat in the ring to further motivate the squad. Promising to get an HRFC tattoo should the squad reach £2,500 before the end of the month. Apologies if this is the first his family has heard of this!!! The squad again obliged, increasing efforts to hit the total by the end of the month. Luke is yet to get his tattoo but we will hold him to it, don't you worry.

The final total was a magnificent £2,610 for a really worthwhile cause, and whilst it's not a contest by any means, we absolutely crushed the fundraising efforts of the other local clubs: We're just massive.

Up the Harbs

Toby Whelan