In the summer of 2005, a new resident of Cambourne, Will Charter, posted an ad on the website of the Cambourne Crier asking if there was any interest in the town to establish a Rugby Club. A meeting was arranged at the newly completed Cambridge Belfry Hotel in Cambourne and around a dozen gents gathered for a pint and a chat. And so Cambourne Exiles RFC came into being. Training sessions began almost immediately on a paddock in Great Cambourne and the nicknames began to take shape as Andy "Skid" Nichols became a little too well aquainted with a local cats deposits! Within a few weeks, training moved over onto the new Parish Council sports pitches and was aided by some tackle shields loaned from Eastern Counties RU. An impromptu visit during one session from Cambs RFU Chairman Alec Motts lead to a donation from Cambridgeshire RFU of much needed funds to help to get the club off the ground. Over the autumn months, training sessions intensified as the clubs first match approached. On 26th November 2005, the boys from Cambourne travelled down to Saffron Walden RUFC for their first foray together. Facing the home clubs 3rd XV, Cambourne took to the field with more than a little trepidation, but did not disgrace themselves on the pitch and even scored a try! Even though playing in second-hand ECRU shirts bought for a few quid from their CB, Cambournes sense of pride at being able to field a team within a few short months after forming was clearly evident! A few pints after the match in the clubhouse were followed by many more at a local curry restaurant as a jubilant bunch of Cambourne's men celebrated their first performance. It was at this point that local Kiwi Ben Rickard DID disgrace himself by expelling his beer and curry from the wrong orifice!
Back Row: Greaves, Anderson, Warwick, Ingham, Bowles, Yeats, Simpson, Nichols
Front Row: Collins, Macey, Charter, Manley, Carmichael, Griffiths, Green
The following week saw the Exiles travel to Datchworth RUFC for another friendly. Playing with more confidence, Cambourne scored 2 tries, but the home side were again victorious. With no game planned for the next weekend, a training session was arranged for the Saturday instead. After attempting to tackle Big Ben Yeats, Neil Ingham suffered 3 broken ribs - the first of a string of injuries which were to earn him the nickname "Sicknote"! The injuries mounted the following weekend, when David Warwick suffered a dislocated shoulder playing against St Ives Vets. Luckily, Ben Mbithi-Myer - paramedic - was on hand to take David to Hinchinbrooke hospital, where he endured a painful shirt removal having refused to let the medics cut off the garment!
In February 2006, Cambourne played their first home game on their "international-sized" pitch (thanks to Paul Greaves for marking it so bleedin' big!), although the lack of posts proved to be confusing for some! Visitors Wendens Ambo provided a entertaining match and Cambourne left the pitch having scored a draw!
Things off the pitch were developing well. A reorganisation of the committee produced more focus, with Peter Simpson taking over as Fixtures Secretary, Neil Ingham taking over as Hon. Secretary, Mark Griffiths (Frodo!) keeping a firm eye on finances as Treasurer, and Will Charter continuing as Chairman (later confirmed as the youngest rugby club chairman in RFU history!)
Without a clubhouse or even a pub in the village, the Exiles improvised by inviting visiting teams to join them in the Cross Keys, Caxton for beers after a game. Post-match nosh was generously provided by Campbells (or at least their sales samples cupboard!) and home-cooked to perfection by Exiles WAGs!
As April approached, the Exiles were still awaiting the arrival of their own match shirts. Then, things all came together perfectly for another visit by Wendens Ambo on April 8th. The Cambourne developers (as usual, doing half a job) helped by sinking the clubs new posts into the ground. On a frantic Friday afternoon before the Wendens game, pulling in the help of Bob the Bovis Builder and his forked-lifter, Neil Ingham and Darren Macey put their rock-climbing head-for-heights to good use by standing on the lifters tynes to add the top sections to the posts, handed up from the ground by a vertiginous Dean Anderson!! The brand spanking new shiny OXO shirts arrived just in time and Cambourne assembled under their new posts before the game looking rightly proud.
Back Row: Stanton, Nichols, Smith, Bowles, Yeats, Anderson, Bowles, Ingham, Simpson, Greaves, Warwick.
Front Row: Snewin, Keerie, Macey, Lees, Bryant, Charter, Taylor, Griffiths, Collins, Green.
A great performance on the pitch produced the first WIN for the Exiles. As the match report said .... "New kit, new posts .... seemed like a different team. Quality!!"
Cambourne rounded off their first season with a match organised by tame Kiwi, Ben Rickard, against a game of his University buddies, now working in London - the MSP 8080 Blues. Coming from New Zealand, these boys had grown up with Rugby in their blood and despite not having played together for over 5 years, they proved to be a formidable opposition. They were able to put the Exiles on the back-foot even before the game kicked off - the Haka is a fearsome thing to face !!
Summer 2006 saw the Exiles go "on tour" with trips to the Beach Rugby tournaments at Southwold and Newquay. There was more success in the bars than on the sand, but the trips cemented the foundations of the club!
The Exiles first season was rounded off in style with a Dinner at The Hub, the Cambourne Community Centre. Traditions were being established :- awards, loadsbeer, grub, dodgy dancing, very dodgy renditions of Bohemian Rhapsody and the obligatory nudist outbursts and complaints from the neighbours!
The summer months of 2006 were far from idle. Neil Ingham worked with club members to secure over £11K of grant funding from Awards for All (The Big Lottery Fund) and The Rugby Football Foundation to provide much need equipment for training. A scrum machine, portable floodlights, and a plentiful supply of tackle pads and balls were to transform training during the 06/07 season. The funding also provided the means to gain coaching expertise in the club and to lay the foundations to provide opportunities for youth rugby in Cambourne.
2006/07
After a few weeks hiatus, the men of Cambourne started training again in preparation for entry into the Greene King Merit Table - Deuxieme Nord. With a few new faces arriving at the club over the summer and some friends heading away, the 07/08 season saw a more experienced team take to the field. The contributions of Mark Lisher, Royston old-boy and fly-half extraordinaire, were the catalyst to transform the fortunes of the Exiles on the pitch. A narrow victory over Cantabrigians 3's proved to be a stepping stone to a victorious League debut over Haverhill 2's the following week. This was to lead to an unbelievable 5 match winning streak, with other wins over Cantabs 3's, Wisbech and Ely 3's before a trip to St Neots proved a step too far. The season pressed on with Cambourne winning a highly creditable 10 of their 22 matches and finishing an impressive 4th in the GK Deux-Nord Merit League.
The grant of significant Lottery funding allowed the club to develop a youth rugby setup. Despite a launch evening at The Hub and lots of publicity around the village and the in local press, it was always going to be hard to tempt youngsters away from the well-established football clubs in the village. The Belfry Hotel - at the time, the only public bar in Cambourne - did nothing to improve their bar profits by inviting the Exiles to have one drink, leave and not come back. Charming. Soon afterwards, the newly-built pub in Cambourne, The Monkfield Arms, came to the rescue to provide a welcome to the Exiles after their home games. Manager Martin was happy to host 2 thirsty rugby teams on a Saturday afternoon and even provided food for the players. This was to turn into a long-running and friendly association between the club and pub (The Monkey) and many Exiles have made impressive turnouts at various fancy dress nights at the pub!
Behind the scenes, the club was slowly gaining solidity and reputation within the Cambridgeshire and Eastern Counties rugby unions. Towards the end of the season, Chairman Will Charter decided to step aside from this role to concentrate on his captaincy of the club. At an EGM in March 2007, the club voted in Mark Lisher as Chairman. Lish was keen to utilise his many years of experience in the game with a variety of clubs. His addition to the team had already transformed match performances and his contributions as Chairman were soon to bring about a great stabilizing influence to the club.
2007/08
Under the stewardship of Darren Macey, Youth Rugby finally got off the ground. In spite of only limited popularity, a core of youngsters carried on their interest in playing rugby for the whole of the season.
The senior side kicked off their season in September with a surprise win over Sawston 2's in the Greene King League, but last years opening winning streak could not be repeated and it was not until early November until the side registered their next win. Later in November, Cambourne hosted a visit by Francis Baron (RFU Chief Executive), Martyn Thomas (RFU Chairman) and other notable dignitaries from the world of rugby union, from Twickenham, Eastern Counties and Cambridgeshire. After some warming steak sandwiches in the pub, the party moved pitchside, but unfortuntely, the presence of such luminaries on the sidelines was not able to inspire Cambourne to a victory over Saffron Walden 3's.
This season proved a tough lesson for Cambourne. An expanded league meant that Cambourne were facing opposition from more hardy sides. Wins were much harder to come by - only 7 "W"s from 24 matches were posted. Circumstanced conspired to leave Cambourne with another 4th placed finish in the GK Deux-Nord league, proving the importance of fielding a side for each league fixture to secure critical points.
Many of the guys felt a little disappointed as the season seemed to drift to a close rather than finsh with a bang. Spirits, however, were lifted by another great End of Season Dinner at The Hub (thanks to the efforts of Ben Yeats and Andy Nichols, again!). Despite being held in July, long after the end of the playing season, the dinner provided a good way to reunite members on the run up to pre-season training for 08-09!
The 2008 AGM served to ring the changes for the Exiles. Will Charter decided not to stand as Captain, and Dan Sundler was voted into the role. Dan invited "Lucky" Bob Cox to be his Vice-Captain, with the support of the committee. With a more clearly defined management structure established, several new volunteers were welcomed on board to help push the development of the club forward. Keith Robinson took the reigns of the youth rugby and welfare. Bob Cox took on the tough job of securing sponsorship. Darren Macey took on the role of CCC and lead coach. Ben Yeats was to ensure the clubs profile is kept high in the local media.
.... to be continued .... !!