The Old Sandbachians’ Association celebrated the sponsorship of the Sandbach Rugby Club Scoreboard with a lunch at the club on Saturday 3rd December. The sponsorship is joint with the School, and the message on the advert reflects the intrinsic connection between School, the OSA and the Rugby Club – “Supporting the Bach from the start!”
Joe Riley was amongst the OSA attendees, and he was one of the founding members of the Old Sandbachians Rugby Club in the 1950s. This connection between school, OSA and club is a foundation of the success of Sandbach Rugby Club, which changed its name in the 1980s. School players seamlessly transition through colts rugby to the main teams. This continues, supplemented and enhanced by other players who have joined the club either as seniors or from the incredible junior and mini rugby programme . Indeed the 1st XV , who ran out comfortable winners against Kirkby Lonsdale, contained almost two thirds of players who had come through the mini and junior ranks of the club, which includes pupils from the school.
Eighteen old boys and guests attended the lunch which included the President John Hayward and five former presidents. The food and hospitality of the club was excellent and many acquaintances were renewed, as many of the Old Boys had played at the club over the years. During the game the new signage on the scoreboard was regularly viewed as Sandbach ran in a plethora of tries.
The committee and School wants to thank Dave Bradburn of Opus Creative for the design of the advert, and Paddy Davenport and all the committee at the rugby club for their support. For those who were unable to join us on Saturday, we will be organising a gathering and lunch to watch another match in the early New Year, so please look out for details on the website and FaceBook page.
