10th December 2025
ASH RFC – 30 YEARS OF RUGBY, FAMILY, MISCHIEF & MOMENTS THAT MATTER
A 30th Anniversary Reflection - A word from our President Swifty Evans
Thirty years ago, a small group of players pulled on a borrowed red kit, stepped onto a pitch that barely resembled the one we know now, and unknowingly set something in motion that would define friendships, shape families, and bring a whole community together.
It wasn’t grand, it wasn’t polished, and in true Ash RFC style… it probably wasn’t fully planned. But it was the start of something special.
It was, as Green Day would put it, “another turning point, a fork stuck in the road.”
Only none of those lads back then had any idea which way the fork was pointing. But they chose the right direction — and here we are, thirty years later, celebrating everything this mad, brilliant, stubborn little rugby club has become.
And for me? I’ve been fortunate enough — or depending who you ask, my family has been unfortunate enough — to spend two decades wrapped up in Ash RFC life. Twenty of the club’s thirty years. Two thirds of its entire existence.
I walked in as a not-so-local lad, and somehow ended up part of the furniture… the sort of furniture that gets moved once, realises it’s too heavy, and is just left in the corner forever.
But in all seriousness, the club didn’t just welcome me — it moulded me. It became home. My family got dragged along for the ride at first, but somewhere along the line they stopped being “subjected to rugby” and started loving it as much as I do.
They’ve celebrated the highs, survived the lows, learned the sacred art of warming cold hands on a Styrofoam cup of tea, and discovered that any quiet weekend can be ruined by a last-minute fixture change.
True Ash RFC initiation.
What Ash RFC does better than anything is create moments — the kind that don’t just stay in the memory, but shape who you are.
You don’t always see them coming. One day you’re turning up for a run-around, the next you’re part of a club that becomes part of you.
You blink, and years have gone by in a blur of tackles, rainstorms, belly laughs, questionable drop-goals, heroic wins, painful losses, and nights in the clubhouse you definitely won’t be telling the grandkids about.
It’s funny, looking back. The Green Day lyrics hit a bit differently now:
“So make the best of this test, and don’t ask why…”
Because the truth is, none of us quite know why this club gets into our bones the way it does. Why something as simple as a muddy pitch, a green and white shirt, and a group of people who care too much, means so much.
But it does. It always has.
We’ve had seasons where everything clicked — where “the time was right”.
We’ve had seasons that felt like a test of patience, fitness, and occasionally sanity.
But through it all, one thing has never changed: this club is built on heart.
On community.
On a belief that rugby is more than a sport — it’s a family, a lifeline, and sometimes the only thing keeping you warm on a freezing Saturday in January.
So, as we celebrate Ash RFC’s 30th Anniversary, we raise a glass to the founders who started it all.
To the players who built the culture.
To the volunteers who keep the wheels turning.
To the supporters who never miss a shout, a cheer, or a chance to moan about the ref.
To the families who make sacrifices so we can go out and chase the sport we love.
And to every single person who has worn the badge, carried the kit, broken a sweat, broken a bone, or broken into the clubhouse fridge when they definitely shouldn’t have.
This club is thirty years old — but the memories feel like they’ve been a lifetime in the making.
Or, as the song says,
“It’s something unpredictable, but in the end it’s right…”
And I hope — genuinely — that for everyone who has been part of this journey,
we’ve all had the time of our lives.
Here’s to 30 years gone by.
Here’s to the next 30 still to come.
And here’s to Ash RFC — the club that raised us, shaped us, tested us, and brought us together.
Up the Ash. Always.
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