Castletown R.U.F.C.
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| Castletown Rugby Club | |||
| Image:CRUFC.jpg | |||
| Full name | Castletown Rugby Union Football Club | ||
| Nickname(s) | Town | ||
| Union | Rugby Football Union | ||
| Region | Castletown, Isle of Man | ||
| Ground(s) | Poulsom Park | ||
| Chairman |  Neil Dalrymple |
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| President | Garry Logan |
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| Captain | Darren Davis |
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| League | Manx Shield | ||
| 2006-07 | 6th | ||
| Official website | |||
| construction under construction | |||
Castletown R.U.F.C. is a Rugby Football club in Castletown, Isle of Man.
Contents |
[edit] History
The Club traces its roots back to the swinging days of the late seventies, when a rugby club was formed out of the ranks of the employees of the Ronaldsway Aircraft Company and a new name was added to the ranks of the Manx Rugby fraternity; that of Ronaldsway Rugby Club.
The first official outing for the new-formed club was the Douglas Rugby Club Easter Sevens competition in 1967, held in the grounds of King Williams College. There was a bare 7 players for their debut, but things improved over the following weeks and months, and the ranks of players sooner increased.
Facilities began to improve, when the pitch was moved from the hillside where the first couple of games were played, to a better quality playing area, use of the cricket pavilion for changing (a bit snug when the soccer team were playing at home) and of course membership of the Ronaldsway Sports and Social Club!
Along with the local sides of Douglas and Vagabonds, the only other regular fixture was against the King Williams College 2nd Team. But touring sides were in abundance after the Christmas break and the cricket pavilion was the site of one or two great session over the years, after the Social Club bar closed up for the day.
The eighties brought in a host of new faces, new clubs (Ramsey in the North and then Peel in the West) and a new competition, the Manx Shield, became part of the annual rugby calendar. The club was fortunate to be the runners up in the Shield for the first two years of its existence! During this time the club lost a number of players to the newly formed Southern Nomads club, but new clubs meant more games and a bigger competition.
As the 90’s beckoned, the management at the Aircraft Company realised that the Rugby Club they were supporting was no longer made up solely of employees and withdrew their support, so Ronaldsway as it was, folded. Or would have if not a few passionate souls, at the final Ronaldsway RUFC Dinner Dance, refused to give up the club that they had been part of for so long and vowed to find a way to continue.
And continue they did. With the permission of Castletown Commissioners a pitch was marked out at Poulsom Park and posts erected (albeit a bit on the short side, having been cut off at ground level by the Ronaldsway soccer boys), the place kickers must have had the easiest of conversions during the first few years of Castletown RUFC, until we could afford new “full size” posts. Changing facilities were sparse, with the railway station awning keeping the rain off on wet days, but a warm pint of ale could be found in the Duck’s Nest as it was then, the site of many a session after the home games.
Modern changing facilities by way of porta-cabins came next. Which were added to, repainted and repaired over the next few years giving us the situation where we could keep both teams dry while they changed and provide hot showers afterwards. Luxury!
Bringing us up to the present day. The club has completed the building of permanent changing facilities to replace our aging and deteriorating porta-cabins. These were officially opened in October 2006 and built with the kind support of the RFU, Manx Lottery Trust, Manx Sports Council, Castletown Commissioners and the members of Castletown RUFC. With the newly formed Castletown Rugby Union Football Club Limited, we have secured our tenure on the pitch at Poulsom Park, having taken on a lease from the Castletown Commissioners.
There have been ups and downs over the past years, but over the last few years the club has moved from strength to strength. With both more players and social members than we have had since the early eighties, both on and off the park things are looking good. And long may it continue.
