A warm welcome to all our members, old and new, to what we hope is going tobe a better season than the last two have been.
No doubt you are all as disappointed as I am to have been relegated last season from South West One West to Western Counties and with that comes the fact that we do not compete for the Devon Senior Cup.
It will also mean loss of revenue on local derbies against Brixham, Paignton and Newton Abbot, coupled with four expensive trips to Cornwall. Off the field we made a substantial loss last season despite the great efforts made by Ken Cronshaw to keep things tight.
All in all, as stated by outgoing Chairman, Barney Bettesworth, “It has been one of the most difficult years for the Club that I can remember”. So it can only get better. On the playing side we have appointed Richard Burden as our Club Coach, who comes with a very good pedigree and has already impressed the players and committee with his pre-season preparations – we wish him every success.
Chris Edwards is our new Chairman. I don’t think you will find a more committed person to run the Club. Along with Andrew Medhurst as Treasurer, they are determined to get the Club back on its feet financially and have reintroduced the “Top Twenty”, where up to twenty members lend the Club £1,000 each to create a fund to get us over this extremely lean spell.
Anyone interested in the Top Twenty please talk to Chris Edwards or Andrew Medhurst.
(Our grateful thanks to the 15 or so members who have already pledged this amount.) Our thanks goes to all our sponsors, who I trust will continue to support us and get us back to winning ways – any new sponsors, please contact Paul Bettesworth – Commercial Manager.
To all our unpaid volunteers, committee and members within the Club, we couldn’t do it without you – thank you.
Finally to all the players, I know that our new Coach is a great believer in enjoyable rugby both for the players and the spectators, so play well, play hard, but please enjoy this wonderful game.
My very best wishes to you all.
Allan Forsyth – President