Otley
Otley
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Otley
RUGBY CLUB
O
tley Rugby Club is a fine example of the important role that a
club can play in their local area with the stated vision, “To be
a welcoming, inclusive and successful family Rugby Club at the heart
of Otley’s Community”.
It is an exciting time for the club
at the moment as in order to progress
they have put in to place plans to
relocate from their current ground in
order to provide a new ground with
pitches, a clubhouse and additional
facilities in order to thrive. They plan
to make the move from their current
ground at Cross Green in 2020, the
location of the iconic North victory v
All Blacks in 1979 and also recently
celebrated the 40th anniversary of
that game.
With so much going on at Otley
Rugby Club Magazine was keen to
find out more and with this in mind
we recently caught up with their
Chairman Paul Mackie who started
by explaining his involvement with
the club, saying, “My father Norman
played at Hooker for Otley in the
1950’s and his ashes are scattered
on the first team pitch, my son Jack
currently plays in the first XV and
has over 150 first XV caps at centre.”
“I played all my colts rugby at
Otley in the 1970’s before leaving to
work abroad. I returned to the club in
2011 and became chairman in 2018.
The most challenging part of my role
is without doubt raising sufficient
revenue to run semi-professional
rugby from a community rugby
club with less than 300 members.
Although we can generate crowds
of between 250 to 750 our core
membership needs to grow to
sustain the financial constraints of
national league rugby. The most
rewarding part is seeing our five
year business plan emerge and our
relocation plans gain momentum.
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Atmosphere
“The club has a great vibe at the
moment across the spectators and
all the players. The excitement is
building as we plan and prepare for
major relocation in 2020. The whole
squad are excited about the season
ahead and head coach Tom Casson
is focused on a top six finish in this
most challenging of leagues.”
2019
“The club has made great progress
on many fronts this year in the
community, building relationships
with other sports clubs and creating
a one club feel with both juniors and
seniors all working closely together.
Our greatest challenge remains
in raising sufficient revenue to
maintain our national league status.
We have big plans this year as we
expect at the season end to be selling
Cross Green our home ground and
commencing our move to a new
home 500 yards down the road. A
new state of the art, ten changing
room multi sports club house and
four pitches will be operational
in July 2021. Our season 2020/21
will be nomadic as the new ground
gets developed and brought into
operation. A massive year for Otley
Rugby Club rounded off with the
anniversary of the North v All Blacks
game at cross green from 40 years
ago and at the end of this season a
leaving ball to say goodbye to cross
green, our home for over 100 years.”
Youth
“The springboard from school
rugby to national league rugby is
huge so we have junior sides from
under 6 through to under 16. The
juniors are very important to Otley
and the newly created pathway to
senior rugby colts side which is a
joint venture with our local junior
club Old Otliensians (who won at
Twickenham this year) is working
very well. Our local rugby school
Prince Henry’s Grammar school
is an important part of the Otley
Rugby fabric.
With competition from local clubs
intense the challenge for Otley is to
make sure aspiring and ambitious
young players have the opportunity
to play senior rugby as soon as it
is appropriate whether that be at
Otley or our close neighbours Old
Otliensians.”
Community
“We are working hard to become
accepted as a community club. We
are in the heart of the market town
of Otley and punching well above
our weight in rugby terms but our
ground and facilities are dilapidated
and in need of modernisation and
therefore attracting the community
can be challenging. The club itself
is home to many other sports clubs
like Karate and Pilates and Judo
but the facilities don’t allow us to
host female rugby or representative
games any more.”
Challenges/Ambitions
the new ground and clubhouse,
then making the new multi-use
sports facility a financial success
for the rugby club and the wider
community. Our ambitions fall
under the seven pillars of Financials,
Sponsorship, Rugby, Members,
Community, Relationships and
Facilities.
Otley Rugby Club is proposing
to move the club to an improved
location east of Otley. The move will
deliver a new ground, new pitches,
new clubhouse and new facilities and
is essential if the club is to continue to
grow and thrive. We believe that this
can help us to take the club to new
heights and to continue to attract
future generations of young people.
We also believe that the plans could
kickstart opportunities for many
other sporting clubs in Otley – not
just rugby.”
“Our biggest challenge is in
achieving a planning approval for
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