HASTINGS AND ST. LEONARDS FOOTBALL CLUB
V
WILLESDEN FOOTBALL CLUB
10th. NOVEMBER 1883. “A match was played between these teams on Saturday last, in the central Cricket Ground which ended in a draw, some dispute taking place between the captains of the clubs upon a try which a member of the home team secured for the borough club.” Research has found this to be the first reported adult game of rugby in the area. The local schools fixtures were regularly featured before this. It is difficult to say who were the local heroes of the time because in most cases the teams and scorers were listed at the end of the report and individual players were not mentioned in the actual article. The Sussex RFU was formed in November 1883 and their first fixture featured players from the Hastings, Brighton and Worthing clubs. The game was played at Worthing (some things never change!) and the visitors, Hampshire, won by one goal and three tries to one try (disputed). Hastings has been a centre for Rugby Football since the early days as these reports show. There were several clubs in the area until the 1st World War called a halt to fixtures. After the war no mention is made of rugby in the area until on 24th April 1924 a group met at the Yelton Hotel on the seafront and the club was formed. Their first fixtures were played as Hastings and St Leonards RFC at The Horntye Field, Bohemia, now the new cricket ground, and at a field on The Ridge owned by the Eldridge family. Ironically it was this same family who hired us a pitch for the 1997/8 season when our pitches at William Parker were unavailable because of the renovation work. In 1926 the Mayor of Bexhill allowed the club to play at the Polegrove and in recognition of this the club’s name was changed to Hastings and Bexhill RFC. The first Chairman of the club was F.W. Coles, he became President of Sussex RFU for the season l932/33. G.H. Minton who was Captain of the club for their first game at The Polegrove went on to become Sussex President in 1947 a position he held until 1950. The club have regularly supplied players to the County XV:
C. C. Mitten is our most capped player with 8. He was club Captain in 1955/6, Chairman in 1961/63 and 1967/72 and President 1974/77.
R. Elks was awarded 6 caps in the 1970’s, he received his club honours badge in 1976.
M. Seward was also awarded 6 caps but this was for Hastings RFC a club from before the 1st World War.
The Redman Cup presented by the family of the late Pat Redman (President 1978/80) is awarded to members who play in full County Games. Senior winners of this trophy have been: · D. Grey 1981/2 · A. Grimxhaw 1984/5 · A. (Tony) Aubin 1986/7 · R. Llewellyn 1987/8 · L. Taylor 1997/8 · S. Pepper 1999/2000, 2001/2 In addition there have been over 20 Colts and Junior players selected for various County XVs. The Peter Southee Rosebowl is awarded to women players who play in full County games. Over the years we have been represented by many outstanding players, it is impossible to mention them all individually but two players from the 1950’s deserve inclusion in this history. The first is W.B. Young, he played for H&B at the end of a distinguished sporting career. The peak of which was to be the winner of six caps for Scotland either side of the 2nd World War. In 1948 Bill scored the try at Twickenham which won them the Calcutta Cup. Ian Beer played for the club whilst on holiday from Cambridge during the seasons 1952/54. He played for Cambridge University and Harlequins and was capped for England. In 1993/4 he was President of the English RFU. The club has steadily improved its ground and facilities over the years. Even though they played at the Polegrove from 1926 it was not until 1969 that the clubhouse was opened. This was owned in partnership with Bexhill Cricket Club. Up until this date the club used facilities at The Green Tennis Club and at West St Leonards Bowls Club. In 1996 the club moved to its present home at William Parker School and since then much has been done to improve the facilities including the draining and levelling of the pitches and in the purchase of a great deal of training equipment such as floodlights and a Predator Scrummage machine. The playing strength of the club has grown in numbers since the 1920’s when only one team was fielded. The A team (2nd XV) were first playing regularly in the 1932/3 season. Today we have three Senior teams, a Veterans side, a Womens XV and Juniors from Under 7 to Under 19 Colts. In 1979 Sussex organised Colts Rugby for the first time and H&B have featured prominently ever since. The Mini and Junior sections of the club have been the source of many 1st XV players since their formation in 1975/6. The Women’s XV although in their first season have rapidly become a major part of the club. Hastings and Bexhill have a fine tradition for touring, having visited Sri Lanka (Ceylon), the USA , Europe and many parts of the British Isles. The traditional Easter Festival has in recent years suffered because of league commitments but in the past we have hosted teams from the USA, Europe and all over the UK. League rugby came to Hastings and Bexhill during the 1980/1 season in the form of the Official Merit Table. We were founding members of the Courage League in 1988. In the 1989/90 season under the leadership of Steve Pepper we were undefeated champions of Sussex Division 2 and again in the following season the undefeated winners of Sussex Division 1 . Unfortunately this form did not continue into London Division 3 and we were relegated the following season. Since then we have remained around the middle to top half of Sussex Division 1 untill 2006/07 winning and again heading up to the London Leagues.