Southam
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Southam
RUGBY UNION FOOTBALL CLUB
S
outham Rugby Club have been
plying their trade in Midlands
West South 3 for longer
than most members care to remember.
Situated between Leamington Spa,
Rugby and Coventry, it has always been a
struggle to attract and retain players with
the lure of bigger clubs in those bigger
towns and their superior facilities.
The rural club has long had a
reputation with its rival s for fielding a
side of farmers, and if you played them
during harvest or lambing season, you
would stand a half a chance of beating
them. However, on their day, the Kineton
Road outfit often proved to be a potential
banana skin to many sides. Due to its
geographical location contributing to both
the club’s strengths and its weaknesses a
longer term solution was needed, as on
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more than one occasion it had flirted with
relegation.
This is where the coaching and
management team of Stuart Friswell
(Head Coach), Dan Winfield (Colts
Coach), Russ King (1st XV Manger) and
Gary Gilkes (Dir. of Rugby) had to put in a
long-term strategy to ensure the survival
of the club and its presence in Midlands 3.
In 2011 Stuart Friswell took over
as head coach following a playing
career spanning Leicester, Plymouth
and Coventry before a serious injury at
Northampton Saints forced him to retire.
In his new role Friswell immediately
identified some of the raw talent the club
had within its ranks but needed help in
nurturing it to its full potential. With the
help of Colts coach Dan Winfield a plan
was put in place.
The club had been reduced to one
senior side, a strong Colts contingent
and an occasional social 2nd XV. This
was not enough to ensure survival and
numbers needed to improve. Pre-season
commenced and when appropriate, the
seniors and colts trained together so that
they could be productive sessions. With
the addition of some very talented colts
progressing to the senior XV, changes and
more consistent results started to appear.
However, this wasn’t enough and more
was needed. In the following two seasons
some more experienced local lads who
had been travelling elsewhere to play
joined among rumours that changes were
afoot. After narrowly avoiding relegation
in Friswells first season, the following two
years had produced 8th and 7th finishes
respectively.