whitton
lions
Whitton Lions
W
hitton Lions RFC was first set up by current Chairman Gareth Elliott and his best friend Aidan Potts who
wanted to set up a club that would be a central part of the local community. The club has certainly made
tremendous progress since then and are now in a position where more than 90% of their players are within
walking distance of the ground, highlighting the important role they play in their local area.
Gareth Elliot took the time to tell us more, saying, “The mood is
high, especially following our highest league success, finishing
fourth and reaching the play-offs. It is also World Cup Year so
we are looking forward to making the most of it. We are planning
a packed summer returning to the Fat Bloke 7s and organising
our first tour – not to mention opening a Saturday programme
of touch rugby.
“This season was our most successful yet. We finished fourth and
made the play offs. We also attracted our largest membership yet
and I am proud to say that the development of our players has
proved successful with one of our players, Dean Oliver, securing
a contract at London Scottish.
“During the off-season we are planning our first tour and will be
returning to our roots by entering the Fat Bloke Sevens. We are
also competing in the local Dragon Boat race and are currently
competing in the O2 Touch Rugby Tournament in Richmond.
“I strongly believe that Whitton Lions is a community asset.
We have proudly taken the name of our town and attract local
players. 90% of our players live within walking distance and the
club offers the chance for people of all skills and abilities to have
a go at rugby.
“We have become a firm fixture of the local scene and one local
shop regularly paints his window with the Lions logo and all
our sponsors are local businesses. We regularly enter into the
parade for Whitton’s St George’s Day and are often to be seen
participating in other local events such as dragon boat racing.
“I am also particularly proud that the club regularly attracts
local people down to support us – a particularly proud moment
was when I was at the Premiership Final and there were shirt
wearing supporters I didn’t even know wandering around the
stadium.
www.whittonlions.co.uk - Twitter : @WhittonLions
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