He was succeeded in the following year by Phil Butcher, a position he had previously held in 1990/91, and he led the First XV on a successful run in the national Tetley Bitter Vase competition, eventually going out 5-26 in the quarter-finals, away to Old Silhillians from Solihull. The side had had the good fortune of being drawn at home in all the previous six rounds, disposing of Clitheroe (27-12), Bolton (25-19), Upper Eden (1 7-12), Oldham (24-18), Congleton (1 3-5) and Leeds Corinthians (28-15), this latter game being perhaps their best of the competition, if not the season And so to our Centenary, which quite neatly overlaps with the millennium - double cause for celebration.

In Joe James, we have a President with a proven track record of sound leadership and the ability to merge the old with the new. The Club would now appear to have put the problems of the early '90s behind them, as each year since then the successive playing records have been consolidated or improved upon and the financial difficulties have been stabilised. There are a number of able members waiting in the wings to take on higher office within the Club who are from the post-75th. Anniversary era and it is to them that we look to for skilled and business-like administration, an essential requirement in this age of professionalism within the game. Forward to the next century...

To be continued ...