Whole
New Ball Game On Rugby Football Pitch
BY ARRYN
BUGGINS
What would William
Webb Ellis have made of the sight of the rugby posts being removed for
a game of football?
While the schoolboy
converted the game of football to rugby, there will be a small u-turn
this weekend when a newly-reformed soccer club moves in to the home of
Rugby Lions.
The usual home crowd
will only see 11 players in a team when Rugby United take to the Webb
Ellis Road pitch on Saturday afternoon.
The name of the club
is a reminder of the old Rugby Town which folded many years ago, and
there have been several reports of it being resurrected.
The mayor, MP, a
brass band and a parachutists will welcome the reformation of Rugby
Town who play their first league game at 2.45pm.
While Rugby Carnival
will occupy many in the town centre, the team hope the crowds will
come and support them in their first league game.Town will play West
Midlands Police in the Midland Combination Division Two.
An agreement was
struck to alternate Rugby Town’s and Rugby Lions’ home games so
they can ground share.
And to save the
pitch, training and colts’ games will be played on another pitch
With the new team
built from scratch, Rugby Town in tangerine and black have won two,
drawn one and lost one of its friendly pre-season games.
Players for the new
team have come from some United Counties team as well as junior sides
in the town. Goalkeeper Mark Bradley used to play for the Rugby Town
under-18s.
Martin Flear, Rugby
Town manager, said:
“We had these
junior sides but as they grew older the players left and went to
play for other sides. We needed a senior side to keep them and that
was how Rugby town was set up.
“Some players
from the old Rugby Town have been invited back to the game on
Saturday.
“It is going to
be a good day, we are going to have a carnival atmosphere and we
hope people from the carnival in the town come along and join in.
“Rugby United are
away this weekend and hopefully people will be able to come to our
home matches one weekend, and theirs the next. I don’t think
people care what league you are in as long as you keep winning.
“I hope we will
see 300 people on Saturday and they keep coming back. We are nothing
to do with Vs/Rugby United, but between us we are keeping up the
interest in football in Rugby and that has to be a good thing.”
Weather permitting, a
parachutist should drop into the ground with the matchball to see the
kick off and the start of soccer on the Webb Ellis Road turf.
The first big derby
game for them is against Rugby AFC, the junior side of Rugby United,
who are in the same league as Rugby Town. That will be on Bank Holiday
Monday evening at the Butlin Road Ground.
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