Fylde make their second trip of the season to Greenwood Road to face Billingham RUFC on Saturday (ko 14.15). On the 7th December the Lancastrians made one of their longer journeys (135 miles) in National Two (North) but the game was abandoned at halftime due to the extraordinary winds brought by Storm Darragh which swept through the UK.
Assuming no repeat of those weather conditions (!), this Saturday’s clash will be only the third ever meeting of the two clubs. Last season Fylde did the double over the North Easterners in their first season in the National Leagues – by 32-26 at the Woodlands and 25-38 at Greenwood Road – both very competitive matches. A player who showed up very well in those games was back five forward Mike Walton who in the summer joined Fylde and has proved an excellent acquisition. He’ll return to his birth place with nostalgia.
Billingham is situated north of the River Tees in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees. Gaining promotion from the North East Regional Premiership to the National Leagues at the end of the 2022-23 season marked the Club’s highest level achievement in their long history. They led the division for a long period and shaded nearest competitor, the Yorkshire club Heath RFC, by 12 points with a record of 19 wins and 3 defeats at the end of the season, with 812 points scored and just 292 conceded.
One important factor on Saturday is that the Greenwood Road pitch has a 4G surface, one of the RFU-funded all weather pitches located around England.
Billingham RUFC was formed in 1924 as the rugby section of the Synthonia Sports Club at Synthetic Ammonia and Nitrates Company, which later became Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI). Once established, the club became a force in Durham County Rugby Union, especially after the Second World War and the first team was very strong during the 1950s and early 1960s.
The early 1970s saw a downturn in the chemical industry and with the decline of ICI, the rugby club suffered. In the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s the club became somewhat nomadic in its socialising, although still playing on Central Avenue.
1989 was an important year in the life of the club. The youth section was founded and boys and girls from the age of eight upwards playing mini-rugby. Since then, this section of the club has gone from strength to strength and has provided several current members of the first XV squad.
The 1990s saw an upturn in the club’s fortunes and three teams were regularly playing each week with socialising based at the Synthonia Cricket Club. The club moved to play on Greenwood Road in 1996 although until late 2000 there were no facilities whatsoever, just three pitches. For these years they had a three-site existence, changing, playing and socialising in different locations.
However, December 2000 and a £750,000 lottery grant brought the opening of the new clubhouse giving the club a solid base and identity and that has served as a stepping-stone to current success and advancement. This is an ambitious club with very strong roots in the local community accompanied by careful financial and sporting management. Their vibrancy is reflected in a buoyant playing membership, from the U6s to Colts, 4 senior teams, 3 girls teams – 19 teams in all!
Adjusting to life in the National Leagues has been a mixed experience. They had an excellent start to the 2023-24 campaign but their form fell away and by April they were caught up in a relegation battle. They survived in 12th place. This season has also been tough as, although they’re currently in 14th place in the division, they’ve put in some excellent performances such as losing out in their last game to league leaders Leeds Tykes by the narrow margin of 33-27 in Leeds. There’s little doubt that Fylde will find them very determined opponents on Saturday as they did in the 40 minutes played in December before the abandonment.
Playmaking flyhalf and goal kicker Peter Evans is also the clubs Head Coach. He’s a long term Billingham servant, a characteristic he shares with a few other team mates. For instance, backrower Dan Burns made his 250th appearance and centre Luke Wilson his 200th 1st XV appearance last season.
Scrum-half Jamie Lane and winger Joe Ross are the leading try scorers with 5 to date and Peter Evans is leading scorer overall with 53 points. Mainstays in the pack include Mike Walton’s brother, lock forward Ben.