MILLWALL

“I LOVE this club!”

“This is one of the best

clubs I have ever been to.”

“Your clubhouse is amaz-

ing, you have achieved so

much in such a short time.”

“Once Millwall, always Mill-

wall”

“The ‘vibe’ is back—the

club is feeling really good

at the moment”

- Various

Comments collected over the

last few weeks

In This Issue

•Poppy Thanks

• First –Half Season

Round Up

• 20th Anniversary

• In the Press

•Christmas Party

• Future events

Millwall 3rds on the home pitch.

Chair’s Message

Well what a ‘cracking’ first half to the season!

The firsts hold strong at the top of Essex IIs with the seconds chasing hard for the top

spot. Currently third and with a game in hand moving up is certainly within their grasp es-

pecially if they continue to bring home such decisive wins as this weekend with their 85 nil

win against Woodham Ferriers. Go Llamas! It appears again that a female second team

manager has the ‘magic touch’. With Rachel Beech and Sophie Buckman on track to be

our most successful second team managers! Particular credit also needs to be given to

the thirds who have consistently been able to field a team and have only not managed this

on one occasion. This is a clear demonstration of the high caliber and commitment we

currently enjoy from our players.

Lets drive hard into 2014!

The challenge is now to maintain the momentum and keep the all round success going right through into the New Year, the second half of the season and beyond.

The next 18 months are an exciting time for us as a club and in the sport of rugby and we want and need to exploit every opportunity to become bigger and better. We can only do this with YOUR help. Throughout this newsletter are some of the opportunities for you to make a contribution to achieving this. Many of which do not require a huge time commit-ment.

‘Go on...GIVE A LITTLE so that we can DO A LOT.’ Sarah

MRFC Newsletter November/December 2013

Have a

Merry

Christ-

mas and

Happy

New

Year.

The Pitch

As some of you may be aware the committee and RFU have continued to

place pressure on the council to improve the quality of the pitch. This contin-

ues to be an ongoing battle. Although we will absolutely continue to cam-

paign for investment and improvements at a borough level we also recognise

that if we don't do certain things ourselves then they just wont get done.

The development team task force, wonder workers, cape crusaders, Millwall

Magic Makers—whatever they wish to be known by— are the non-committee

members who stood up to be counted at the development plan workshop

and are doing a fantastic job in beginning to plan and drive forward ‘day to

day’ projects and plans for developing the club. The improvement of the pitch

is one of these goals.

Speak to GiGI or Robyn if you are interested in ‘lending a hand’ to make a

difference.

New Signs! Gareth and Ryan (Clubhouse Officers)

Have been working hard to put the club-

house on the map—quite literally. New signs

have been designed and commissioned so

that even after a few pints the most geo-

graphically challenged people will be able to

find us. Keep a look out for their arrival.

New Members

Those of you who come for a ‘quiet’ beer at

the clubhouse on a Friday night may have

noticed some new faces. The members of

the bowling club are now regularly using the

bar and buying social membership in order

to do so!

Please ensure you make them feel welcome

and have a chat.

Talk is afoot of an interclub bowling tourna-

ment. Watch this space for further news on

that fixture which I’m sure will be a lot of fun.

Know any other clubs or local groups who might want to take advantage of our great clubhouse AND prices?

Encourage them to come along.

For £30 per year social membership it’s fantastic value for money.

The dream!

Millwall poppy Appeal

A Huuuuuuuge thank you to all the poppy appeal volunteers who stood in the cold and often windy stations to collect mon-ey for an amazing cause. We are regulars at supporting this charity and last year raised the most money within our area.

Our valiant volunteers who kindly gave of their time...

Wiggy, Sophie M, Caroline, Andy Stephens – Extra Thanks as

covered 3 shifts, Edna, Lady Chair, Louise N, Lucie B, Gareth H,

Kirstie H, Scott V, Flex, Ed Williams.

We raised….. To be announced

As we have a number of new

members recently I thought it

would be useful to share

once again who the elected

committee members are.

This could be YOU next year!

Millwall III Vs London

Lithuanians

30 –11-13

Millwall III Vs Woodham

Ferriers

7 –12-13

Let’s

Go

To

Work!

Millwall

Calendar

They are IN and selling

fast!

Great stocking filler or

for that last minute se-

cret Santa. Get yours

now.

The Shorrocks

Return

It was great to see

Vicky and Matt on the

14th December. Matt

donned the Millwall jer-

sey once again for the

seconds at Loughton.

We need to move

the scrum ma-

chine from the

farm to the club-

house

Players this is

your challenge

to organise and

action!

In the Press

Maintaining a strong media presence is a vital part of the club’s recruitment and reten-

tion strategy. We continue to see new faces joining the club and turning up at training,

even at this point in the season which is testament to the current success of the club

and the press coverage making sure people know that we are here and successful.

This doesn’t happen on its own. Volunteers take the photos and spend time uploading

and ‘cleaning them up’. Match reports have to be written, notice of events need to be

given, papers need to be primed and relationships cultivated. Sophie Morris does an

incredible job in ensuring we receive lots of positive media attention which in turn

helps to attract bigger sponsorship deals.

Saturday 7th December

Christmas has well and truly begun at Millwall.

The theme— Christmas jumpers and onesies and what a sight it was to behold.

A great turn out where everyone danced, drank, danced and drank some more.

A team of volunteer bar staff and Duty Managers ensured the night went smoothly and the beer ran freely well into the small hours.

DJ Stuey kept the atmosphere lively and jovial with a good mix of old favourites and Christmas classics.

The Christmas Party—Millwall style!

Join us for the next party at New

Year.

Family and friends are all wel-

come.

Sponsorship

Carrot cars are our newest

signed up sponsors. Current

negotiations are in place

with a further two sponsors.

Any Contacts?

We are always on the look

out for further sponsors for

our second and third teams.

Do you know a local busi-

ness that might be interest-

ed?

Email: sophie Mor-

riss@millwallrugby.com

Continued sponsorship from two local restaurants

141 Manchester Road, Isle of Dogs, London

E14 3DN. Telephone : 020 7538 9826 and

020 7538 0393 Email :

info@gaylordrestaurant.co.uk

12.5% discount to all Millwall Members

(eat in only)

41 Millharbour, London, Greater Lon-don E14 9NB

Phone:

020 7538 4882

10% Discount for all Millwall Mem-bers

Making it a year to remember

Many may not realise this but on June 7th, 2015 Millwall Rugby

Club will be 20 years old.

This is a momentous occasion and we want to go BIG!

We need to create a small group of enthusiasts to help make the

20th anniversary celebration the biggest party that Millwall Park has

ever seen. And we mean Millwall Park!

Picture a large Marque, black tie, live music, out-side bar all set up

on our pitch (where by the way was where those ‘founding Fathers’

first kicked a rugby ball on the 7th June).

Think a grand tour, home or abroad sponsored by local businesses,

think a 20 hour, 20 matches marathon touch tournament/fundraiser.

THINK BIG!

But the organisation needs to start now. Please register your inter-

est with any committee member either personally or by email.

We can’t make it happen without you.

Oh and I suppose we also ought to consider

what we might do for this?

Costs per match per team

Home pitch hire £40

Referee £30

Transport (Ave) £280

Food £88

Laundry £15

Penalty drinks £15

Other costs -

Tackle bags, bibs, balls, shirts, water bottles, phsyio and coaching costs, flood light running costs and maintenance, insurances, clubhouse rent, rates, first aid kit, marketing flyers and post-ers, annual dinner re-wards and trophies, sub-sidised training courses...

Please ensure your subs and club member-ship are paid on time!

Contact Us

Send us an email for

more information about

Millwallwall Rugby Club

Manchester rd, Isle of

Dogs

London,

info@millwallrugbycom

Visit us on the web at

Millwall RFC brings you grassroots rugby.

And finally the serious bit!

We have demonstrated many positives and much success with the club

throughout this and past newsletters. This doesn't happen on its own. There

is a huge amount involved in running a sports club and managing what es-

sentially is a small business in the clubhouse. All this work is achieved by

volunteers who manage their ‘club’ responsibilities around work, family com-

mitments and life in general.

The club has always faced and overcome challenges and will continue to do

so as long as members and players continue to give generously of their time

which many more of you are doing but we still need more of you to step-up!

The CMC have recently wrangled with a number of issues that have dogged

the club, year on year. The two key being pitches and transport.

We are a unique club for a number of reasons but in particular the ‘make –

up’ of our membership who are generally single, 25 and under, with no cars.

This is a great plus for the club in may respects but does create a number of

challenges, in particular for the afore mentioned transport and a lack of will-

ingness of players to take on official responsibilities within the club. Although

there is clear evidence that this is beginning to change.

The committee has agreed that we, the club, need to solve the transport is-

sue once and for all, both in the short and long-term (see pitch issue on p2).

It is for this reason that CMC agreed to trial fund coaches/or taxis for all

matches for all teams, including where needed, Hackney Marshes. This was

in recognition of the fact that the club has limited options with regards to

cars. I think we can all agree that the provision of this has contributed to the

consistency, success and current ‘feel’ of the club. However this comes at a

significant cost and can ONLY be maintained if everyone pays their

subs and membership on time and continues to return to the clubhouse.

Subs and membership even at 100% collection do not cover all the current

playing costs. We are surviving because of the high level of sponsorship,

fundraising and bar takings that have been achieved so far this season. This

is not sustainable, we need to find a long-term solution.

We are currently applying for grants in order to get our own mini bus and

pursue further sponsorship. Any other ideas/help would be greatly received.

Rant over, lots of love Lady Chair