withycombe
“I’ve never not been involved with Withycombe RFC - I grew up with Saturday afternoons at Withycombe being a fixture.
Dad played until he was 42, and Mum was in the kitchen and after that they stayed heavily involved. I’ve had stints away from
the area but Raleigh Park is my second home!
“A couple of memories stand out from when I was younger, before I played for Withy: the play-off defeat at Thornbury and a
happier one being the promotion at Sidmouth - my Dad was so nervous he couldn’t even watch Jai Patterson kick the winning
penalty!
“Big games like that get remembered for a long time, and it was only recently that those moments were superseded in my mind
- our cup run last year was so good for the club. I’ll never forget Bromley, for reasons good and bad.
“I think there’s a quiet confidence about the place at the moment. We’ve got a reasonably young team - present company
excepted - and last year’s cup run has opened a few eyes to what might be possible if we apply ourselves. There’s a lot of people
doing extra fitness in preparation for pre-season; I can’t wait to see it pay dividends.
“I’m a first team player and for us last season summed up the last few years perfectly - always the bridesmaid. Third in the
league and the semi-final of a national cup; undeniably a good year but leaves you thinking what might have been. But the
club is in really good nick - the junior section keeps growing and is wildly successful, and our second XV should get more
competitive fixtures next year. Oh and we’ve just started a Ladies side!
“In five years our oldest juniors will be Under 19s, so I’d like to see a few of them in the first XV. I’m sure it will be a proud day
for Richard Blyth when the first truly homegrown Withycombe player pulls on a first team jersey. Hopefully by then the first
team will have seen a promotion or two so I can retire happy, and it would be nice to see the place run as a full-time business by
then so that we can really establish ourselves as a big club in Devon.”
Mike Richards
“I’ve been involved with the club for over 25 years – my Husband was
a player at the time I met him. There are so many great memories from
that time – mainly social events. One funny one was serving sausage and
chips to a member of the Royal Family!
I would say the season went brilliantly well with a great vibe in the club
on and off the pitch. We are a community club and have both senior and
junior sides as well as a new ladies team that has just been formed. The
club house is used by many local groups and organisations and by the
local schools. Over the coming years it would be great to see the club with
a 3G pitch, junior rugby at all ages and improved clubhouse facilities.”
Rebecca Skinner
“We have big plans for the off-season; we
started training at the beginning of July, and
with a few old faces coming back as well as
some new blood it should be a very exciting
year! We have a few challenges on the
horizon for the club; one is finding an extra
pitch to guarantee that we can continue to
build our already strong and ever growing
junior section that already boasts around
150 players which is fantastic considering
that we have only had it running for 3-4
years now.
“The next 5 years bring some exciting things
for the club with the obvious one being the
juniors becoming seniors but we as a club
have set our sights firstly on getting our 1st
XV into Western Counties and then pushing
the top of that