4. 1998-1999

President: R.R. Halford
Chief Executive: D.F. Hamilton
Hon. Secretary: N.S. Foster
Hon Treasurer: A. Cuthbertson
Club Captain: S Clayton-Hibbott
Club Coach: A Gledson

Obituaries

Derek Robb (29.09.98)

Derek was a fine scrum half and sportsman in his younger days. After contracting polio in 1956 (aged 34) he was confined to a wheelchair but, despite his problems,he retained his good humour and interest in others with disabilities. Derek played in the 1948 cup-winning team and was captain of the club in 1951 when Tynedale's 75th anniversary was celebrated,

Bill Armstrong (16.12.98)

Bill played for Tynedale with his brothers Chris (wing) and the late Duncan (2nd row) for many years and represented the club both before and after the 1939-1945 war. Bill played as wing-forward in the 1948 cup-winning team which beat Northern 15-13.

Billy Thompson (07.04.99)

Billy was a terrific rugby enthusiast and a supporter of the club in so many practical ways. His directness, good-natured humour and his huge enjoyment of life made him a wonderful companion and a true gentleman who will be badly missed by the club and the business community at large.

John Cunningham (30.04.99)

John was well known at Tynedale both as a player and later as an administrator.
John was a leading force behind Tynedale Rugby Club when he managed the House and Bar for many years during the 70's and 80's. It was typical of John that he was able to apply such force, energy and enthusiasm to this role despite his numerous other business and social commitments.

William Rutherford (19.06.99)

William Rutherford died peacefully at home on Saturday 19th June after a long illness, aged 83 years.
Will was one of Tynedale's outstanding players in the post-war era and played in a full England trial match. Will played wing-forward and captained Tynedale to their Senior Cup victory in 1948.

Playing Successes
1stXV
Northumberland Senior Cup Winners

Raiders
Northumberland Junior Leage 2A Champions
North 512" 2nd XV Merit Table (East Section) Champions

Grasshoppers
Northumberland Junior Cup Winners

Under 14's
Northumberland County Cup Winners

Under 13's - played at Twickenham in a curtain-raiser for the England v South Africa international match in November.

Under 10's
Northumberland County Cup Winners

Under 7's
Northumberland County Cup Winners

CLICK HERE to view all senior rugby records for 1998-1999

CLICK HERE to view 1stXV Match Reports for 1998-1999

Link to Membership/Fixture Booklet

Membership

Bar Trading
Figures for 1998-1999 showed an improvement on the previous year's figures. Sales totalled £65,639 compared with £58,892 for the previous year. Gross profit for the year was £30,939 whilst net profit after offtakes for wages, materials, stocktaking etc was £14,912.

County Show Building
A new storage building was constructed adjacent to the old toilet block. The construction of this building was arranged by and funded by the County Agricultural Show Committee and is being used to store show equipment.

Tynedale Holiday Sports Centre
(26th July - 3rd Sept)
The Tynedale Holiday Sports Centre ran at Tynedale Park for 7-13 year old boys and girls during the summer school holiday period. Fully qualified coaches were employed to provide quality coaching and provide a fun sports experience for youngsters.

Details were as follows:-

• Multi Sports included Soccer, Volleyball, Rugby, Tag-Rugby, Athletics, Kwik Cricket, Basketball Shooting, Baseball, Rounders & more!
• Fully qualified coaches
• Fun courses, fun games
• Visiting guests (eg. Falcons, Thunder, Local Clubs)
• 5 Days (Monday to Friday) 10am - 3pm £40.00
• 3 days (Wednesday - Friday) 10am - 3pm £30.00
• Single Day 10am - 3pm £12.00
• Saturday Fun Morning 10.30am - 1pm £5.00
• Midweek supervision service available 9-10am and 3-5pm
• 7 year olds 23rd - 27th Aug only and all Saturday mornings

Country and Western event
A major outdoor Country and Western event took place at Tynedale Park from Wednesday 28th April to Monday 3rd May 1999 with 20 of the best Country and Western groups performing. This event was arranged in conjunction with the Red Bantana Club.

Storm Damage
The rugby club did not escape the Christam 98 storms. The scoreboard was effectively destroyed, two of the Colts training-light poles were twisted out of recognition, there was damage to the western side of the stand and two of the clubhouse doors were damaged.

(13/03/99) - All damage except damage to the stand has now been fixed/replaced.

Colts Hut
The Colt's hut was re-roofed from funds raised separately by John Clark and his Colts committee,

A small fire in barrels adjacent to the hut was put out by the Hexham Fire Service in the early hours of Saturday 28th Nov 1998. Thanks to the sharp observation of local resident Paul Davidson the hut was not damaged. There were several acts of petty vandalism in the area reported during that night.

Mike Coulson's affinity for Cumbria
Mike's determination to make his return trips from Cumbria as difficult as possible continued after the recent Round Robin event at Aspatria. Mike lost the keys to his recently acquired Golf and had to beg a lift home before returning the next day with a replacement set of keys. There's absolutely no truth in the rumour that passenger Simon Clayton-Hibbott threw the keys away in a desparate attempt to avoid another ear battering on the return journey to Hexham.

This latest incident follows an incident 3 years ago at Wigton when the Players coach departed with Mike still talking in bar (now there's a surpise). On that occasion Mike hitched a lift and used British Rail before re-uniting with his comrades in "The Dyvels". We love you really Mike!!

Roof Appeal
Target - £10,000

Raised - £10,913 (27/11/98)

Additional grants of £4,753 received from Northumberland R U and £3000 from the County Agricultural Society.

Work COMPLETED at cost of £31,000 - contractors M & C Roofing of Wideopen.

Cellnet Mast
The Club entered into a 10 year lease with Telecom Securicor Cellular Radio Ltd to provide a small area of land and airspace.

A 20 metre mast was errected close to the Colt's Hut and the immediate access road given a tarmacadam surface.

This facility will benefit mobile phone users in the Corbridge and surrounding area which has been acknowledged as a blind spot to date.

Change of Brewery
From July 1998 our bar trade was transferred to Newcastle Breweries Ltd .

Significant Law Changes for Season 98-99

• The sanction for delaying restart drop-out 22 is now a Free Kick (not a penalty).
• It is illegal dangerous play if a player charges or obstructs an opponent not in close proximity (one metre) to the ball.
• When one team is forced to reduce numbers in a scrum to less than the required eight, the other team does not need to similarly reduce.
• The tight head prop in a scrum must now grip his opponents jersey body and not the arm or sleeve (making scrums more stable).
• Players forming and in a ruck must now keep their head and shoulders above their hips at all times (safety reason).
• When a maul fails and goes to ground, even though the ball gets to ground, a "turnover" is called.....(unless its collapsed deliberately in which case a penalty is awarded).
• A line-out cannot now happen closer than one metre to goal line.
• Early jumpers in a line-out may not jump for the ball before it leaves the throwers hands (to penalise with Free-Kick those who seek to gain unfair advantage or interfere with legitimate jumpers).
• To waste time deliberately is now penalised with a Free-Kick (was a Penalty kick) - this includes deliberately wasting time by continuously wheeling scrums to keep possession late in game.