Grassroots Stories – Masters Rugby League In London
Masters Rugby League is Rugby League for the Over 35s – social rugby league for Gentlemen who should know better.
It is the fastest growing form of the game and we are the only Masters Rugby League club in London.
Masters Rugby League is a social form of the game, with no over vigorous play and there’s as much emphasis on fun off the pitch as on it Players between the ages of 35-39 wear white shorts, which is full contact Players between the ages of 40-49 wear black shorts, which again is full contact ( but with common sense) Players 50-59 wear red, which is a two handed hold and then Gold shorts for players over 60-69, which is ‘tag’ rugby No leagues, no cup finals – just social Rugby League at its finest…
We’re a small very friendly club of around 20 registered players and a loyal band of supporters made up of former rugby union players, retired rugby league players, season ticket holders of London Broncos and friends of friends – we have our own ground with great facilities at Club Langley and, in our short history of two years – we have hosted the touring Australia Masters Rugby League team in 2017 and earlier this year, we went on our first expansion Tour to Carcassonne in southern France.
On the strength of the Carcassonne Tour, we are going to Toronto on Tour in June 2019 in an effort to showcase and expand Masters Rugby League (and indeed Rugby League in general) in Canada – this will be the first ever Masters Rugby League Tour to Canada, so this is a particularly ground breaking trip – particularly for a club such as ours from outside the traditional heartlands of this great sport.
This is a very ambitious Tour for a club of our size and the logistics are a challenge, but we’d have had the necessary approval from the sport’s govenerning body in both countries and we’ve fixtures arranged versus an Ontario Masters XIII and also versus a Toronto Wolfpack Masters XIII in a showcase curtain-raiser before their First Grade fixture at the Lamport Stadium.
The Rugby League Media is getting involved and there is genuine excitement around the Rugby League world over our trail blazing Tour – they will be playing Masters Rugby League long after we have been and gone, a legacy left by the South London Silverbacks Masters Rugby League Club.
As you can see the club is going from strength to strength and are looking to link up with several military veterans associations with views to former military personnel to join our club, to assist with development and assimilation into the civilian way of life, also we’re looking to form partnerships with mens’ health and well-being charities to raise awareness for these issues and also to assist with player recruitment and retention too.
All of this is remarkable for a Masters Rugby League Club in London, which is traditionally a non rugby league playing region. It is building, however, particularly with the London Broncos having been promoted back into Super League for the 2019 season – a club we have a good relationship with, indeed we play some of our games as curtain raisers to their First Grade fixtures, something we’re looking to continue with in the upcoming season.
We cannot do any of this without the players’ yearly subscriptions and fundraisers alone – we rely heavily on the contributions of sponsors and we’re doing great things for sport, Rugby League in the South, health/fitness/well-being of middle aged and older men and in a fun, safe and supportive environments – so it isn’t cheap, as most of our away games are up north which is costly.
I hope this gives you an idea and feel for our club and it’s members and supporters, and also our aims and ambitions for the future of Masters Rugby League in London and the south east of England as it is a tough sell in this part of the world.
by Chris Ashton
