Winter Sports
As anyone who has gone through the process of applying for external funds for grassroots development will agree, it’s no walk in the park.
But, here’s an example of what an enthusiastic and excellently managed club can achieve. It even has its pitch maintenance paid for by one of its key sponsors.
Report by Tom James
The progress of Nutbourne Nobblers
organised and efficiently functioning operation with a bright and financially sustainable future.
P
As sports governing bodies go, the Rugby Football Union (RFU) stands apart in terms of the scope of technical data and guidance it offers clubs of all sizes and budgets. It certainly proved a saviour for Pulborough. A £100,000 interest-free loan is something you’d rarely receive from a high street retail bank.
Pulborough is a classic example of what can be done by researching and applying the best funding avenues, locally and nationally, to galvanise the membership into active involvement in 42 PC DECEMBER/JANUARY 2013
ulborough Rugby Football Club, situated deep in rural West Sussex on the Sussex Downs, has transformed itself from what is, at heart, a village club into a well
fundraising and linking up with local businesses to forge sponsorship deals and secure major donations.
The 1968/69 season was the first the club played under the guise of Pulborough Rugby Football Club, having begun life a year before under the ominously titled Nutbourne Nobblers. Established by three groups of
brothers, the Fanes, Masons and Fords, the club was born out of a desire to run a local club. “It was really a farming community with the usual mix of doctors, solicitors, accountants, and other professionals that were the norm in rural rugby communities such as ours,” explains Chairman, Alex Steele. A large swan adorns the west-facing side of the Nordic-styled clubhouse, where I’ve arranged to meet Alex and President Jim North - a symbol of the club that’s remained since its inception,
and a hark back to its first ‘home’, The Swan pub in Pulborough village, recently knocked down and replaced with a block of flats. Following the move from The Swan, the fledgling club endured a nomadic few decades in search of an appropriate final resting place. Most of the temporary homes were pubs. The Five Bells in Pulborough was the next port of call in 1974, followed by the Red Lion, also in the village, then the Rising Sun at Nutbourne, before a five-year residency at the Black Horse in nearby Amberley. In 1982, the club moved to
Pulborough Recreation ground, a site that was a better fit for its aspiring rugby retinue - sharing with football, cricket and the uniquely Sussex sport of Stoolball. The reality of sharing was always untenable in the long term, so Alex, Jim
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