Again. Talkative. Hospitals

That's where I will be when the bar opens!

Its been a long time since we…

Indeed it has. It was the end of February the last time I released a carrier pigeon into the ether to update you on what’s what in the world of Bradford and Bingley RFC .

In this world of walking uphill through treacle against the wind in a sandstorm, things have not been moving at pace over the last few weeks, but…at last…withMonday 17th May peeping over the horizon and the next level of enlightenment reached, we are edging back to a time where you can refresh the inner workings with a tincture or two and shout convivial inanities at those gathered around..and we can all have a lovely time…inside a licensed premises.

However, before we get too giddy, we have a final weekend under the brollies/in your wellies, to negotiate.

We managed to get the bar open last weekend as a test event to prove that the beers actually came out of the taps when requested and the fridges actually put a chilled edge on the vino de plonko. A secondary test was the Juniors being at home last Sunday and I think I can report that everything seems to have worked as expected.

Which brings us to this weekend.

The bar will be open on Friday night. Co-incidentally our Under 16s are at home against Morley that evening, although under the bizarre rules we face at the moment I cannot encourage anyone to come and support our lads in their first run out since God was a boy. However, if you pop down for a cold one, the outdoor terrace and marquee at Wagon Lane are conveniently adjacent to Pitch One, so if you are not averting your eyes from the playing surface, you might accidentally catch sight of some egg chasing, although as I said, under current restrictions I cannot be seen to be encouraging you in that enterprise.

As we are still under lockdown rules to an extent, any visitors must be seated at a table to get served. We are only accepting card payments and we will be using hard plastic receptacles for your drinks . Please be nice to our staff while conducting your seated transactions; its not their fault that the rules say you are supposed to be seated and socially distanced and if we are all good little Fonzies, then hopefully all the shackles will be off by the end of June.

Actually, although technically we will be allowed to sneak inside from Monday 17th, I believe we will be trying to use the outdoor spaces as much as possible over the coming weeks to allow us to crack on with various items of refurbishment we have planned. Surely this rain and general bleurgh can’t continue indefinitely.

Bingley Weekender

Will definitely be on.

The “BIG” Announcement about what’s what should be out there in the public domain next week, but I am afraid I would have to kill you if I told you anything in the middle of these witterings. Watch your favourite Social Media platform next week for the news.

That was a bit of a damp squib of a paragraph, but at least you know it’s on…until that new exotic variant bursts our balloon.

Rugby Matters…with a Social slant

I am assured by the excellent folk at Yorkshire RFU that the fixtures for our First XV for the 2021/22 season will be released before the end of May, which should give us a ridiculous amount of time to plan activities for next season. Away from the Social Whirl, I have absolutely zip to report on any new players who might be joining us at Wagon Lane, mostly because it’s far too soon, but as we turn the pages into July, I hope to be able to update everyone.

Anyway, back to the Social Whirl…as we will know our fixtures in good time this year, we will be able to plan a more structured season of events. For example, one of the games will be preceded by a Ladies Lunch, (a date we will confirm when we know the fixtures), but in order to fit in a full agenda of jollification, the Ladies Lunch will be before one of the 3pm fixtures, probably in October.

Anyone following the social media from the club over the past weeks, must surely be aware that the first Legacy Dinner will take place on Saturday 25th September. Ali Macdonald has tracked down about 500 various souls who have played in the First XV at Bradford and Bingley since the club was born in August 1982. The first gathering will be focussed on those making their debut between 1982 and 1990, with tickets already selling well. More detail will be included in later editions of this letter over the summer.