From The Brink: Would This Be The End? (Part One)
Oh, what difference a year makes………………….
How we pulled the nose up between summer 2024 and now.
To appreciate this tale, we need to rewind to the end of 2023: The outlook for our club, Racal Decca RFC, was bleak to say the least approaching 2024, our 65th year, and reeling from the effects of the post covid drop-off, our lack of success with recruitment hit us like a kick right between the posts!
In hindsight we had only ever “gotten-by” (certainly in the 25 years I have been involved), we have had our share of highs and lows but being a one team club, as 2023 ended, the lows seemed much lower and more severe.
Our preparation for the 23/24 season had been as many proceeding it; training Saturdays in the park, entering Surrey’s Merit Tabe lottery, arranging friendly games around these matches.
By November we had only completed our season opening game away Camberley, in September, and with good numbers too, but had not managed to get a team out throughout the following months. Not even the efforts of Fill Your Boots could get us to enough players for a game, and they had worked wonders in previous years.
Staring down the barrel of a one game half-season and the very real prospect of taking “old yellow out-back” and doing the necessary, our communal fight or flight mode kicked in and one question stuck out;
Have we done everything to prevent the last final whistle being “THE LAST” final whistle?
One idea we had tried previously and unsuccessfully was dusted off and this time put it out there to the greater Surrey rugby community in partnership with Fill Your Boots; Get Out & Play.
Could we find three other clubs that are in a similar state to us and together hold a 4-weekend round robin set of games where each club/team would in turn act as home team, visitors and back up for the two headliners?
We identified four game weekends between December 2023 and February 2024, published our invitation letter online and managed to get great support, our social media posts were shared far and wide with comments of “Superb idea” “brilliant.”
Disappointed, we were unable to get 3 other clubs to take us up on our scheme whole heartedly. There was a positive, it did lead to games against Cranleigh RFC, with us being supported by CSSC Barbarians and played under Game On rules. And another with our dear friends Streatham & Croydon, with a similar execution. 3 games for the first half of the season was deem a success, and rightly so, given we were in November!
As 2024 began there were no further offers coming forward within our own county, so we crossed the border, as Decca members supported CSSC Barbarians in a fantastic day for Middlesex grassroots rugby. Northolt, Belsize Park, Ealing Trailfinders & CSSC Barbars came together for 4 shortened games against each other.
January 2024 ended with Decca issuing another open letter to the rugby community confirming:
- We will withdraw from the Surrey RFU Merit Table competition
- We will continue to attempt to arrange weekly matches.
- We will continue to ask our players to be available.
- We will continue to combine with other clubs and teams to provide game time to those that want it.
- We must also face the very real possibility that this could be last time we do all of these.
Would this be the end of Racal Decca RFC?
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