30th Anniversary Reflection - from Sam

11th December 2025

ASH RFC – 30 YEARS OF RUGBY, FAMILY, MISCHIEF & MOMENTS THAT MATTER

A 30th Anniversary Reflection - A word from our Co-Chair Sam Gunter

We are finally at that time of the year where we celebrate a birthday for Ashley Mascott, our club gnome (who has seen many things!), but also the creation of this club we all are apart of, Ash Rugby Football Club. We are 30! This year, we commemorate those who pulled on the borrowed red kit and played for Ash. It would help build a community where friends have been made and people treat each other like family. Those “originals” were fundamental to what we all now know at Ash RFC. 

For me, I’ve been around the clubhouse more or less since I was born. From being passed around between the players after a game in my very early years, to helping out on a Saturday and playing on a Sunday, to now being a senior player and Co-Chair. That’s basically 24 years where I’ve been apart of the club, nearly a quarter of a century!!

Born and bred in Ash, I’ve grown up around the rugby club. I remember watching my dad play with the likes of Smalley, Ralphy, Hoppy and Kirk, then hanging around after games with my brother, Pip and Harry Hopkins, trying to get players to buy us Cokes or J20s. Those early memories shaped who I am, and many of my closest friendships started in that clubhouse.

Playing from U7s to U17s only deepened that connection — Sunday games, big moments, and stories we still talk about today: the Dover game, the Kent Cup semi-final at Park House, Whitstable away that same season. These are the memories that built my love for the club and the people in it.

When I moved into senior rugby, I felt a renewed sense of togetherness in the club — something we’d been missing for a while. It was great to be part of an upward shift. Like any club, Ash has had its highs and lows, and I’ve seen plenty of both, but we always find a way to pull through.

But for me, it was great to have so many genuinely great people around me when things happened for me in 2021, lots of people looked after my family and I, in direct and indirect ways. You know who you are, but it’s something that I’ll always remember and will be thankful for. For me, that is what this rugby club is about. Helping people in low times and also good times. But especially in those low times for people, there is always at least a couple of people who are willing to help out and help you grow. 

And then there are the nights at the club — the kind you remember forever, even if you can’t remember all the details. From celebrating that famous win over Snowdown to clinch the league on the rec, to the clubhouse absolutely losing its mind when England beat Ireland in the 2019 Six Nations. I swear the roof nearly came off. And about last seasons end of season dinner? Chaos from start to finish… embarrassing photos on the telly, questionable dance moves, live music that got louder as everyone got worse at singing… pure, priceless Ash RFC.

Those nights are core memories. The laughter, the madness, the togetherness. That’s what being part of a club is all about.

This week we celebrate 30 years of Ash RFC — a club that’s grown from a small village side into a well-known force in Kent. It’s been a privilege to be part of that journey. Here’s to the founders who started it, the players who built the culture, the volunteers who keep it running, the supporters who cheer (and complain about the ref), and the families who make it all possible. And to everyone who’s worn the badge, carried the kit, broken a sweat, a bone, or into the clubhouse bar (no accusations your honour!).

Thirty years of memories, mates, and matches, and here’s to many more.

Here’s to Ash RFC.

Up the Ash. Always.