President: J Austin
Chief Executive: K Laidler
Hon. Secretary: N.S. Foster
Hon Treasurer: A. Cuthbertson
Club Captain: K Johnson
Club Coach: A. Gledson

OBITUARIES

Tom Stainthorpe
Tom died peacefully at home on Wednesday 23rd May 2001 , aged 74 years. Tom has followed Tynedale for many years and not too long ago was a frequent traveller on the 1st XV away trips. In recent years Tom was responsible for the manning of the gates until illness forced him to stand down. Tom's cheery, friendly personality will be sadly missed.

John (Jack) Charlton
Peacefully in hospital after a short illness on November 11th 2000, aged 74 years. Jack played with distinction for Tynedale in the post-war years and captained the club in 1955.

Andrew Fisher
The Club was stunned to learn of the tragic death of Andrew after a "hit and run" incident in the early hours of Sunday 17th September 2000. Andrew was a very likeable quiet young prop who joined the club last season and played for our Hadrians XV.

Keith Millar
Keith, our Club Steward, and Liz's husband, died suddenly on Friday 21st July 2000 at the age of 41.

Iain "Chippy" McConnell-Wood
Chippy died suddenly whilst at Henley Regatta in late June, aged 67. Chippy had a noteworthy playing career as a formidable prop forward where he served the club with distinction at every level. Chippy for a period was also a past vice-president of the club.

FOOT AND MOUTH DISEASE

In February Foot and Mouth Disease hit the district and this epidemic effectively ended all rugby for the season at Tynedale RFC. A decision was made by the Management Committee, and was reviewed each week, that no rugby matches and no training would take place at Tynedale Park and the Club would not fulfill away fixtures at any level.

CHIEF EXECUTIVE REPORT
CLICK HERE to view the Chief Executive's Report for season 2000-2001.

TEAM RECORDS

	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against
1st XV	22	9	1	12	351	430
Raiders	18	13	2	3	422	175
Grasshoppers	15	10	1	4	482	165
Hadrians	18	12	0	6	549	264
3rd XV	9	4	0	5	165	172
Colts	9	4	1	4	160	169

CLICK HERE to view all results and Junior League Tables

NATIONAL LEGUE 3 NORTH
Following the incompleted league program due to the foot & mouth epidemic the RFU calculated final league placings on a mathematical basis. As a result of the repositioning Tynedale finished in a relatively comfortable 8th mid-table position.
CLICK HERE to view the league table before and after the repositioning, details of the formula used and league results.

CLICK HERE to view 1stXV Playing Records (Teams, Scorers & Appearances)

MATCH REPORTS

CLICK HERE to view 1stXV Match Reports (taken from club's original website)
CLICK HERE to view a 3rdXV Match 'Report' (taken from the club's original website)

CLUB NEWSLETTERS

Click Links below to downlad/view:-

September 2000 - "Come on Tynnnnne" - Issue 2

November 2000 - "Come on Tynnnnne" - Issue 3

February 2001 - "Come on Tynnnnne" - Issue 4

BITS AND PIECES

Due to the outbreak of Foot & Mouth in the region none of the Northumberland Cup's reached a conclusion - the latter rounds of the Junior Cups were carried forward to the following season.
Tynedale Hadrians capped a successful season by finishing top of the Northumberland Junior League 3A.
The Tynedale Hadrians side had a distinctly South Pacific look to it on Saturday 20th January when they took the field against Barnard Castle 2nd XV at Barnard Castle. Included in the Hadrains team were no less than five Fijian players whilst two more sat waiting their chance on the replacements bench. The Fijians were all from Catterick Army camp and had been fixed up with a match for Tynedale through Hadrians prop and ex-Corbridge lad Jon Green who is also now at Catterick. The contingent of Fijians rose the following Thursday at training when a miini bus pulled up and no fewer than 11 Fijian players stepped out - eager to train and become involved at Tynedale.
For eight 1stXV home matches there was a Tynedale "Man of the Match" award. The award was sponsored by Egger UK and consisted of a case of 'Egger Beer'.
The Club's new "Change Strip" was used for the first time against New Brighton. The impressive red and black strip was sponsored by "Troynorth Ltd".
Brian Dodds was appointed as the Club's new Bar Steward. Brian took up the post on Monday 18th September.
First Team Manager Peter Simpson 'cycled for charity' in February 2001 when he cycled 500km along the banks of the River Nile in aid of the Mencap charity.
Victory over Longton meant we entered the fourth round of the National Knockout Cup competition for the first time in the club's history.
Tynedale lost out in the final of Tynedale Cricket Club's Knockout competition when they were beaten in the last over.
Another late change by the RFU (helped by Rob Andrew) meant that what was called Allied Dunbar Division Two is now National League Division One (no sponsors yet). This means Tynedale's league is called National League Three (North) rather than National League Two (North).
The Raiders have a new coach in Frenchman Romuald Debil. "Romy" teaches at Mowden Hall school and was previously coaching in Sussex.
The Rugby Club aquired it's very own computer courtesy of Roger Stockdale of Newcastle Computer Services

ONE WEEK'S SELECTED TEAMS

ENGLAND TRAINING AT TYNEDALE
Tynedale Rugby club hosted the England "A" squad at Corbridge for their training build up prior to the "A" international between England and Scotland.

The squad, which bristled with top level up and coming players and experienced internationals arrived at Corbridge on Tuesday February 27th complete with an array of training equipment, coaches and an extensive support team.

Unfortunately the severe weather conditions curtailed several of the intended sessions and cumulated in the actual match being switched from Kingston Park to Headingley.

Tynedale were delighted to have been chosen as a training venue at international level, it is a great start to Tynedale's 125th anniversary year and further raises the profile of the club which has thriving sections at mini, junior, junior girls, colts and senior levels.

FEMALE RUGBY - HISTORIC FIRST FIXTURE
History was made at Tynedale Rugby Club on Saturday 13th January 2001 when the Club's first ever girls contact rugby fixture took place between Tynedale's Under 16 West Northumberland side and Westoe based South Tyneside, Blyth also provided players for the South Tyneside team. Tynedale have been delighted by the high numbers turning out at the recent training sessions and the high calibre of the players, the players were true to form and produced a great performance to win the game by 8 tries to 3.

Both teams enjoyed the game and a return match will be played before the end of the season, however the weekend did not stop there! The following day the players attended trials for the North East regional squad, incredibly 11 players from West Northumberland were chosen, representing almost 50% of the total selected!

The success of this first historic weekend of girls rugby cannot be denied, in addition to the 22 West Northumberland players that took part, there has been a surge interest from girls in year 8 from Middle schools in the district. Tynedale are busily building up a big support team to firmly establish the girls rugby section for years to come.

Finally, a further point for the history books - 8 West Northumberland players were founder members at the West Tynedale club based at Haydon Bridge High school back in the middle nineties - well done West Tynedale!

[TYNEDALE - THE FAMILY CLUB
The 1st XV which started the match at Walsall on Saurday 14th October 2000 contained no less than three sets of brothers.

The "veteran" Parker brothers, Richard and Edward, have played together for many years in the front row and Mark and John Fletcher have played together many times during more recent seasons (Mark's the prop!). The new pairing of brothers against Walsall was skipper Keith Johnson and his younger brother Alistair who was making his first senior start.

A fourth set of brothers should shortly be a feature in Tynedale senior side with young Andrew Murray (who was on the bench against Walsall) pushing for a regular 1stXV spot whilst elder brother Jamie (who was an established 1st teamer prior to injury) should be fit in the new year.

An analysis of the starting line up against Walsall emphasises the importance of Tynedale's feeder system - namely the Colts, the local schools, and the mini/junior section -twelve of the fifteen players who started the match were "home grown".

ANDREW BLYTH
Andrew suffered a serious neck injury whilst playing for Sale against Saracens on Sunday 12 March 2000. Although Andrew did not suffer any broken bones there was damage to Andrew's spinal chord which meant he had no feeling from the neck down.
Thursday 2nd November 2000
Andrew left hospital and has returned to Ian and Val's at Hexham. Andrew has made great progress and can walk with the aid of his crutches. He will continue with his physio treatment as an out-patient at Hexham Hospital
Sunday 26th November 2000
Andrew was at yesterday's match at Tynedale against Sedgley Park and was going well. He seems to get around on his crutches without apparent difficulty, an activity which appears to give him quite a thirst!

MIKE COULSON OUT OF A JOB!
Promotion to the national leagues, where touch judges are supplied by the RFU, means that Mike is now redundant as our league touch judge. The most honest touch judge in the league, Mike has been filling the role for the past 11 years since he gave up refereeing and has only missed the very occasional match - usually as a result of his annual skying jaunts.

Mike is however not lying down yet - he intends to continue accompanying the 1st XV on their away trips and will still run the line when required for friendlies, practice matches etc as well as refereeing the occasional junior fixture. His services will probably also be required as a 'fourth official' at home league matches where he will look after replacements etc.

Thanks Mike - we are all gratefull for your presence and efforts over the years.

Mike has missed very few of Tynedale's matches over the years and has some favourite memories:-

Favourite ground visited: Northern
Favourite crowd: Alnwick
Most hostile crowd: Hull (in 1999 only - ok on other visits)
Most impressive referees: Dave Pearson, Mark Wilson.
All time favourite referee: Norman Sanson.
Most memorable match: Tynedale's win at Hull in 1999 (Mike reckons this was one of the first times Tynedale won an important match after being subject to late pressure)
Champagne Moment: Scotty's kick upfield in the dying minutes against Hull in 1999 -the only time Mike remembers Scotty kicking the ball properly.

CUP HISTORY
Tynedale 12 v Worcester 76 - Nov 4th 2001

Tynedale won through to the fourth round of the Tetley Bitter Cup for the first time in the Club's history and were drawn at home to National Division One leaders Worcester.

The huge gap between a full-time professional Worcester side and Tynedale was cruelly emphasised in this match when a brave Tynedale side was taken apart by a slick moving Worcester side who were drawn against giants Saracens in the fifth round. The scoreline, whilst probably a record reverse for Tynedale, was no cause for embarrassment as this Worcester side as shown they can take apart teams with a far higher league standing than Tynedale in a similar fashion.

Adrian Skeggs (the Worcester Coach) had a bit to say about Tynedale in his column in the Worcester Evening News :-

"...It's fair to say they don't get any bigger than Saracens but
I must say I was impressed with our hosts on Saturday at
Tynedale. They are a great example of how an amateur rugby club
should be run. They have four or five pitches there, have got it
all there for the juniors and they've got senior teams as well.
They had the real down-to-earth values of a proper club and that
to me was fantastic, it is a great place. It was a fantastic
experience to go to a club like that and all their players never
let their heads drop despite the hefty defeat... "
Overall it was a proud day for the Club and many friends were made as can be seen from the following communications received following the match:-

Subj: Thank You
Date: 06/11/00 08:36:16
From: rugby@wrfc.co.uk (Nicky Goodwin - Worcester Rugby)
To: tynedalrfc@aol.com
Dear Tynedale fans, players and committee members
Thank you for your kind messages, it was a pleasure to visit your ground and we wish
the very best success for the future. Long live English cup rugby!
Best Wishes
Worcester Rugby Club

Worcester visitors
Mary --&-- Steve
8:56 pm sunday november 5, 2000
What a fantastic day at Tynedale.
Thank you to all who made it such a great day out.
Best of luck in the League.
We hope to visit you again or see you at Sixways so we can
return the hospitality.

Thanks for a nice day out TRFC, apart from the 11 hours
travelling, I think we all had a good day.
You have a nice club there, we were made to feel very welcome BUT
one 'small' complaint!
Why did 'some of us' have to walk back to the entrance to pay??
It was a bit embarassing to have to say to the people on the
gate "We appear to have got in for nothing, how much is it?" and
then pay our admission. We could have had a 'free day'!
It was going to be a good payday for your club, and we HAD to
search out someone to pay! I know that a lot of Worcester fans
did this, but I'm sure a few of them (and your fans) 'didn't'!
(=Loss of revenue for your club)
My idea for better organisation in the future could mean
collecting the admission charges from the clubhouse area, buy
your ticket/programme with the first beer!
Seriously though... Thanks for a good day out. Best wishes to
your club and players for a sucessful season.

Good effort Tynedale especially bearing in mind that Worcester put out a full
strength side (apart from not having an uninjured a fly half).
I expected the committment, but was surpised by the level of
fitness maintained into the second half - a tribute to your
coaches.
A very pleasant part of the country - and you even put on ideal
autumn weather. My only complaint is that you managed to run
out of Black Sheep *before* the match started - did you forget
to mention to the Steward that there might be an extra one or
two in the crowd today?

Reply-to: TonyBanks1@compuserve.com
To: Tynedalrfc@aol.com
Time: Mon, 06-Nov-2000 18:55:22
Many thanks to all at TRFC for the superb hospitality &
friendship extended to us Worcester supporters on Saturday. You
have an absolutely superb club, and there was a feeling of
warmth from the moment we arrived (and that wasn't caused by
the 'Black Sheep'!).
We hope that we will in the not too distant future be able to
repay your hospitality if we get the opportunity to welcome you
to Sixways.
Best wishes for a very successful League season.

Subj: Thanks...and a message for Tony Curtis.
Date: 09/11/00 14:00:06 GMT Standard Time
From: dave.bradley@bbc.co.uk (Dave Bradley)
To: tynedalrfc@aol.com ('tynedalrfc@aol.com')
Thanks to all at Tynedale for a smashing day out on Saturday. Ok so
Worcester won but as soon as we walked into the ground we were met with
friendly faces, had a good natter with a lot of locals, sat in the stand
where a very nice lady handed out the sweets, bit of banter, and a hot toddy
afterwards. In fact we stayed at Haltwhistle, then Slaley Hall and went up
to Bamburgh for the Monday, nearly blew our heads off but a great week-end.
One of the guys I chatted to in the bar was Tony Curtis, and we found his
mom was born in the same village as myself, Martely, where the big green
lorries come from (although his Mom was born a long time before me!).
Could someone pass on that my dad remembers Tony's family well, he even
recalls her Dad, Tony's granddad, looking after the horses, and the house
they lived in, much rebuilt it has to be said, is now the home of Steve
Taylor, who runs the lorry business now Dad Don has retired.
Don by the way is a big Worcester Rugby Supporter and will have been
disappointed to miss out on the week-end 'up North'.
Thanks again to everyone on Saturday, I can honestly say I would much sooner
come to Tynedale than go to Watford on Sunday with those snobs from
Saracens.
Hope to see you all again someday.
Dave Bradley
Producer/Presenter
BBC Hereford and Worcester

FIXTURE/MEMBERSHIP BOOKLET (2000-2001)