Cheshunt Legends such as Ted Clark and Willy Green from our very first game 70 years ago (pictured in the main photo with our current 1st XV Head Coach Gary Ford), all the way through to those who played for the club earlier in the day in the victory against Hampstead, joined together with past and present players from our senior men and ladies’ sections, club members, Herts RFU officials and invited guests on Saturday at The Manor of Groves, to celebrate the first 70 years of Cheshunt Rugby Club.

A special night that saw us acknowledge the amazing achievements from so many people over the last 70 years to make this great club so unique and loved by so many. Inspiring speeches, an acknowledgement to absent friends and some suspect jokes came from our former Chairman Steve Waller and current President Frazer Wilson. These were followed by a ‘from the heart’ speech from our former 1st XV Captain Simon King (whose Dad Mike was a founder member of the club), which had everything from impromptu singing about ‘Dicky Bows’ to a rendition of the Cheshunt RFC Anthem (if you know you know), all delivered whilst casually holding a glass of red wine.

Awards were also presented by 1st XIV Coach Nick Rhodes to two of our current first team players, Sam Rule and Captain Reece Shoobridge, for reaching landmark appearances playing for our 1st XV. Many congratulations to both of you on behalf of everyone at the club. I am sure there will be many more appearance to come.

The food and speeches were followed by a two hour live set from The Overtures and then a DJ into the early hours. Thank you to The Manor Groves for hosting us and John Paul O’Donnell for the superb photos from the evening.

Finally, and I am sure I speak on behalf of the 260+ people there on Saturday, a big thank you to Dawn Kemp and our Club Chairman Skippy for giving up hours of your precious time over the past year to organise such an incredible evening. We all look forward to the 75th Anniversary event in 5 years time.