Stamford
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Stamford
S
tamford, an idyllic, stone built
town, established on the river
Welland in medieval times,
as a halfway house between
London and York. Rated in 2013 by the
Sunday Times as “the best place to live
in the Britain” it’s no coincidence that
the town’s rugby community is also
fiercely proud of it’s sporting heritage
both on and off the pitch.
We caught up with Stamford Rugby’s
Press Officer, Pip Warters who told us,
“Stamford has always been a rugby
stronghold, with Premiership sides
Leicester Tigers and Northampton Saints
both within striking distance of the
town. We are currently boasting over
1300 members with our mini and junior
sections positively buzzing on a Sunday
morning.”
The market town club has undergone
an intense period of change over the last
few weeks and months, largely thanks to a
team of very forward thinking, dedicated
committee members who are punching
way above their weight in terms of what
they have collectively achieved, in a very
a short period of time.
Financially, the club is pretty solvent
too, plenty of sponsorship deals are
coming to fruition and local businesses
have been extremely helpful and
supportive.
Arbor - Heat and Power have been
particularly generous over the past couple
of seasons, committing to an invaluable
three-year kit deal for the 1st XV.
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A rebranding exercise in the off-season
saw the club’s old logo get a much-needed
redesign as Pip told us, “We wanted an
eye catching modern design for the new
kit, but with a nod to our traditional past.
We managed to incorporate the original
elements, including a slightly more
sinister looking ‘Lincolnshire Imp’ and
the classic ‘Stamford Lion’ as featured
on the town’s coat of arms. It was a bit of
gamble but has been very well received;
we’ve also dropped the outdated ‘RUFC’
format in our name in favour of an allencompassing ‘Stamford Rugby’.”
Securing a sponsorship deal with
conglomerate BGL group, has also been
an absolute game changer. The large
multinational company, based near
Stamford are currently undergoing an
awareness campaign and are keen to be
associated with grass roots sport in the
area. The not inconsiderable cash injection
has enabled the club to subsidise kit for
the minis and juniors, meaning that every
age group from Under 5s all the way up to
Vets now plays in the same shirt.
Ross Thain, minis and Junior
Chairman said: “Rugby had become
less popular in recent years, I think it’s
because of the perceived physicality, but
with England hosting the World Cup
this year, I believe we’re coming out the
other side. Many local sports clubs have
been in the doldrums for some time, part
of the problem is the social side, Stamford
Rugby have capitalised on their recent
success by offering an enhanced club
experience, with lots of events filling our
social calendars as well as the regular
fixtures list.”
Installing a state of the art audio-visual
system has enabled the club to screen
Rugby World Cup matches to the local
community and has paid dividends on
several levels. The bar takings alone have
increased exponentially, but also, in an
initiative devised by Honorary Secretary
Rupert Gibson, each age group has been
invited to ‘host’ a different RWC match.
Rupert said: “It was great to see all
sectors of the club represented, the idea
was that individual age groups would
take care of the catering for each game
that we televised and were able to keep
the proceeds in exchange for some help
clearing glasses and the like. Some