Who’d have thunk that just over a year ago, when we decided to start up Saints Way as a way of keeping in touch with you all out there that we’d end up at #20 so soon? I estimate around 60,000 words have been typed to date by some marvellous contributors and stalwart of the last section, Director of Rugby, Steve Murley.

Communication is key on and off the pitch, in our daily work and personal lives and critical to our mental health and wellbeing. We hope you find these interesting and useful as we move forwards and of course, if you fancy having a go at being a contributor, please let me know…everyone has a story to tell.

Before I introduce the ‘guest’ contributor I’d like to grasp the speaking stick to announce this:

As I type this in late April, the covid figures still favour us keeping to the government roadmap of restriction reductions. This means that on 17th May, hospitality can re-open in an indoor capacity, albeit with the limitation of you being served your refreshments at a table of maximum 6 people. This means we can finally re-open the bar!

We have chosen Friday 21st May to do this. There is a limit to the number of seats we can have (space/tables/chairs being the constraint). The rugby game we plan to put on the big screens is the European Challenge Cup Final. Historically, over parts of the pandemic where we have been able to serve indoor drinks, we have reserved seats for people who have then not turned up! This means we have volunteers not being fully utilised whilst giving up their time and a loss of revenue from no-shows.

To solve the above issue we need to ask for a small pre-payment of £5. To sweeten the deal, on arrival, you will get your first drink at no cost (standard draught pint, bottled beer or alcopop, medium glass of wine, single spirit plus mixer or soft drink) AND a pasty. So £5 buys you a chair, a drink and some supper! Let us know when you book if you need a veggy option.

Supporters Chair Stu Widger is running the book. You safely reserve a seat for £5 via PayPal, through a BACS payment or by paying directly to Stuart Widger if he’s available and constraints allow.

If you are swept up with using PayPal you’ll know how easy it is to use. Simply use the email ‘events@staustellrfc.co.uk’ to send us your ticket money. Make sure you put your name and ‘Friday 21’ in the comments box so we know who and what it is for.

Our PayPal account comes up with the name ‘Ian Grantham’ when you try to pay. That is my fault as I am the dullard who didn’t know to put the club’s name in that box and now I can’t change it! Please rest assured every penny is going into the club account!

You can also pay your £5 by BACS to account No.33858286 Sort Code 20-74-20. The name of the account should you need it to make a transfer is ‘St Austell Rugby Football Club Ltd’.

Please get behind this if you can…we’d love to see you at Tregorrick on the 21st May.

Back to This month and I thought we’d roll out one of the club’s big guns. He’s been involved at STARFC in many forms and still is today. He has been at this club through some of its toughest times and offered his unwaivering support without question. I once saw him run at Redruth’s Recreation Ground when the Saints won the County Cup and what a beautiful sight it was…

Paul Hayes is the man and he’s walking us through some history.

Hi All,

My Saints journey started over 35 years ago and what a ride it has been from a spring-heeled second row to silky sexagenarian playing walking rugby! It is a path that has created a treasure trove of memories and more importantly friendships that have been forged in the white heat of match days to withstand the ravages of time.

My first season was the last one before the Cromwell Road site was sold to ASDA. You can still find a blue plaque on the floor near the deli counter commemorating my only try at the old ground! The transition to Tregorrick was not a smooth one taking nearly three nomadic seasons to complete.

Initially home games were played out at St Stephen in Brannel, before heading back to town to the temporary clubhouse at the Cricket Club. After a particularly raucous evening at Wheal Eliza, the Saints were left looking for a new venue to host the post-match hospitality.

With the Club now in a seemingly precarious position, up stepped Bill and Charlene Potter, landlord and landlady at the Western Inn to provide a new focal point for the Saints. Saturday nights at the Western became the stuff of legends with rugby players walking up sunshine mountain wearing nothing but their club ties and beer mats to save their modesty!

Tregorrick Park started hosting games in the 1988-89 season but with the front pitch and the clubhouse still under construction, matches were played out the back, known now as pitch two or the training pitch. Players changed and showered at Penrice School and travelled down to the Western Inn to either celebrate victory or commiserate defeat.

Finally, on 2 September 1990, the new Tregorrick Park Clubhouse formally opened for business, with the leading team in Cornwall at the time Penryn RFC the visitors for the first ever game on the main pitch. A narrow 4-0 defeat failed to dent the celebrations as St Austell RFC started life in their new home. The 1990-91 season saw the Club’s first floodlit match against Cornwall U21 and it also hosted the annual Tamar Cup contest between Cornwall and Devon.

The move to Tregorrick Park coincided with a pivotal period for the game of rugby with the introduction of a league structure. Since the formation of the RFU in 1871, the amateur ethos was so enshrined in rugby that leagues, and payment of players, was steadfastly shunned by the Union game.

The inaugural 1989-90 season saw St Austell RFC start life in Cornwall Division One and it is amazing to think today that many people at the time were vehemently against the formation of the leagues. There were real concerns that many of the game’s traditions would be eroded with long-established fixtures lost and the enticement of players to more ambitious clubs. Indeed, some of those fears have been realised with some clubs precariously walking a financial tightrope as they strive for promotion.

Regular games against the likes of Exeter (long before their rebirth as the Chiefs) and Plymouth Albion are no longer on the Saints’ fixture list or their monthly trips to the Barbican. Overall, the league structure has driven up the quality of the community game even if rugby lost its reputation for all shapes and sizes.

Despite some near misses it took six years for the Saints to gain their first ever promotion into the Cornwall and Devon League. This was to be my last year as a player, as employment with English China Clays was looking increasing precarious, I left Cornwall to seek fame and fortune in London, returning 12 years later with neither!

My old friend and former teammate Steve Murley had taken over the reins as coach and invited me to be team manager. The 2010-11 season saw the Saints finish second to gain promotion to the Western Counties.

It was a long-held ambition for Steve and I to win the Cornwall County Cup. We had never managed as players and in 2012 St Austell RFC made only its second ever County Cup final appearance, just going down to one-league higher Wadebridge Camels 20-17 in what most neutrals widely regard as one of the best finals in recent years.

We were disappointed again in 2014 when a nervous Saints side were never a match on the day against a strong Camborne team. By now I was Chair of the Club and any fears that this would leave a dent in the Club’s 50th Anniversary season were soon dispelled with a magnificent celebration dinner at Pentewan Sands.

The Saints were back in the final a year later against the same opposition with revenge in mind. It was a much closer affair with the Saints unable to get the defining score despite being the better side for much of the eighty minutes. It was ‘Town’ that took the spoils in extra time to break St Austell hearts again.

We were back again two years later and this time there were no mistakes with a brilliant second half performance blowing Camels away to bring the County Cup to Tregorrick for the first time. Our love affair with the cup was to be rekindled in 2020 only for the pandemic to put paid to a dream final against near rivals Truro.

COVID forced an early end to the season and although promotion to SW1 was confirmed as runners-up, there was a real feeling that the Saints were hitting form at the right time and primed to overtake Wellington for the top spot.

The events of the last 14 months have well and truly put sporting disappointment into perspective, as we learn to live and cope with COVID and the consequences of lockdowns. Some of our members have had a particularly hard time as they shield against the risk of infection, but it has been heart-warming to see how people have looked out for each other.

Like many businesses, the Club has struggled without any income, but the generosity of our members has been extraordinary with many digging deep to make donations that have helped to keep St Austell RFC afloat through these difficult times. We have all lost one of the things we all hold dear, the coming together to share a beer or two, spin a yarn with fellow Saints and shout on the latest generation who wear the red and white with the same pride and passion as their forebears.

To be a Saint means something special, it is the shared experience of brutal Cornish derbies; of fantastic triumphs and heavy defeats; of wild antics on long coach journeys back to Cornwall; of ludicrous forfeits on rugby tours and of training on cold nights in howling winds and driving rain. Most of all it is about the camaraderie of people who years after the boots have been hung up would still do anything for you. Through jubilation and disaster, the Saints family continues to wrap its warm embrace around us all.

Paul Hayes

It’s interesting to look back on occasion. Plenty of young Saints in the making and those newly qualified from the Youth section are likely not to know much about the club’s even recent history…and it’s their turn to make sure the future is just as competitive and interesting as our past has been!

Next we have Director of Rugby Steve Murley who has been keeping an eye on what we can do and recently have been achieving in terms of studs in the park at Tregorrick.

Here’s his thoughts for #20:

We have had some fantastic training attendances throughout the club since we were permitted to use the latest Return to Rugby Roadmap on 29th March. Our Youth, Girls and Senior sections have been buzzing, while the latest addition to our rugby portfolio, Walking Rugby, has proved very popular attracting over 20 people at each session since it began.

It is worth reminding ourselves what we have been allowed to do since Stage D2 of the RFU Roadmap began on 26th April. We could already play ‘Ready for Rugby’ games under Stage D1 but at D2 we can also play adapted laws matches at Adult and Age Grades. Effectively this means games will have contact but no scrums or mauls. Also Limited contact time is allowed at training sessions.

The challenge has always been how to get the players match fit and hard enough to play games without putting their welfare at risk. Players have had an extended lay-off and the grounds have been solid, while the amount of contact allowed during training session has been restricted. Everyone wants to play rugby, but we have to be careful at this late stage of the season, not to rush into games just before the summer break and risk injuries. Player safety and welfare is of prime importance.

It is also worth remembering there are still government imposed covid restrictions around changing facilities, spectators as well as hospitality. So while we are moving gradually into a new normality, there is an awful lot of work to do and we must remain vigilant.
With the above thoughts in mind, we have arranged 3 games to take advantage of Stage D2 in May. On Saturday May 8th there will be an intra-club game at Tregorrick kicking off at 3 pm, on Saturday May 15th we go to Redruth KO at 3 pm while on Friday May 21st we play Penryn at Tregorrick KO 7:45.

If our covid journey continues as we all hope, we should reach Stage E1 - with full contact training on May 17th. Further improvements will see full contact games and then all restrictions lifted for the new season, fingers crossed.

Naturally as things progress, thoughts will turn to pre-season training and, hopefully, a restriction free season 2021-2022. We are all excited to be testing ourselves in a higher league and that adds an extra fizz to pre-season training, details of which will be announced in the next few weeks. Typically, fixtures are released late in June and once again, we are all keen to see what lies in store for us. These are very exciting times.

The last year has been a long, hard slog for all of us, both in our personal and social lives. Covid has had a profound effect on how many of us approach our lives, and have been the catalyst for many of us to re-evaluate what is important. We have made fantastic progress thanks to the co-operation from all of you and we need to make sure that we remain focused on doing the right thing for a little while longer.

To give a rugby analogy if feels like we are leading 9-6 with 10 minutes to go at the end of a particularly hard Cornish derby. We have to stay focused for the last few minutes, keep our eye on the ball and make sure that we get that hard-earned win. The time to relax will be once the final whistle blows.

#COYS , Take care and stay safe

Steve

It was Chris the Shop’s last shift after 10 hard years of building up our club shop from a folding table to what you see today. He is retiring completely now and will be missed. I mention this not only to recognise his unrelenting dedication to the club but also because I popped up to see him on Sunday, to say thanks.

Whilst there I took a few minutes to soak up what was going on. All over our grounds kids were getting on with the business of rugby training and for the U15’s, a game against Penryn. It looked and sounded fantastic and made me realise how long it’s been since we were last doing this and why we have to stick it out for a while longer, to secure the ultimate goal of watching games together again.

Steve mentioned Walking Rugby in his piece. It’s true; everyone is welcome to come throw the egg-shaped ball around. Very simple rules at a sedate pace with lots of laughs. Fridays we meet at 6.20pm to get sorted to start at 6.30pm. Just wear something you can move easily around in and some trainers.

We sent out a call for volunteers back when we thought we might get some senior rugby in January. That requirement will be returning at some point so please do consider sticking your hand up and helping out, even if for only an hour or two running an entry gate or clearing a few tables. The list of tasks requiring volunteers is as long as it is impressive and I am sure Stu Widger can find something that will interest you. The original article link is HERE. The type of tasks listed in it will be changing but Stu’s contact details won’t so get in touch please.

We are still looking for a volunteer to pick up the role of Minor Sponsorship Manager. Whilst it is a volunteer role, there is the latitude to be paid for doing this, based on your results. The link detailing the role is HERE. If you are interested and fancy a chat to learn more please email Joel Double at exec@staustellrfc.co.uk.

The 100 Club is an amazing and simple way to support the club. For just £5 a month you get to enter and win one of 3 cash prizes. It’s easy to enter so to find out more please click HERE

That’s it folks…thanks for reading Saints Way #20. If you want to contribute to #21 in late May then let me know via events@staustellrfc.co.uk

If you need to get hold of any of the Exec for any reason here are our details:
Chairman - Joel Double – 07366 397142
Vice-Chairman - Ian Grantham – 07834 525122
Honorary Treasurer - Dai Powell – 07908 208398
Honorary Secretary - Paul Hayes – 07515 881799
Head of Estates, House and Grounds – John Gibbons – 07817 773076
DOR/Director - Steve Murley – 07802 647052
Youth Chair – Paul Green – 07922 474072
Supporters Committee Chair – Stu Widger – 07538 520234