chorley
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Chorley
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ased on Chancery Road in Astley Village,
Lancashire, Chorley RUFC is a club that
is committed to playing an important
role in their local community.
Rugby Club Magazine caught up with their
Chairman John Witts to find out more
about how they have been getting along
lately.
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ow
lin
He told us, “The mood out on the
pitch is ok - we are playing well in
some matches and not getting the
breaks whilst we are inconsistent
in others and losing quite heavily.
After finishing 6th in the North
West Intermediate Rugby Union
Leagues Division 2 North last
season and beating both sides
which gained promotion in our
debut season which was a fantastic
achievement, a number of key players
have either retired or sustained serious
injuries which have ruled them out for
the season.
This has impacted on
both our 1st and 2nd teams,
with both teams being bottom
of their respective divisions
(the 2nds play in Division 5
North of the same leagues
as our 1sts) and our 2nds
have been short of players on
numerous occasions. The spirit
on the pitch is still good but off
the pitch the club has become a
little run down due to a recent
spate of vandalism and the
club finances being tight.
We will endeavour to finish
the season still running 2
teams and try and recruit more
players in the Summer by
holding Touch rugby sessions,
advertising etc. We are trying
to re-instate our Junior section
- we have had Colts in the past
20 Issue 53
but have never had all the age
groups playing so one year
we had an Under 13's but the
year after nothing. We have a
successful Rugby League club
in Chorley built on juniors
upwards over the last 20 years,
as well as football and Rugby
Union; so we struggle to recruit
the numbers we need but we
are in the process of putting
together a 5 year Development
plan to target these areas
and produce a strategy for
recruitment.
We are negotiating with
housing developers to build
a new clubhouse with new
Grass and Artificial turf pitch
which will provide the club
with state-of-the-Art, brand
new facilities .These should