The history of Scarborough RUFC – 1926 to today
Following a meeting of around fifty enthusiasts at the Pavilion Hotel in 1926 the decision was taken to form Scarborough Rugby Union Football Club. However, there were a number of obstacles to overcome before a game could be played including where to play.
The ground question was settled in a matter of weeks, for with that spirit of comradeship which happily existed, the Scarborough AFC – the soccer men – offered their own ground at Seamer Road at a hire cost of £5 and a percentage of the takings. This meant that in its first season the Rugby Union was able to play eight home games and eight away.Their first game was at Whitby, followed by a home fixture which took the town by surprise.Most sporting men and the Press laughed at the idea of a rugby match being of interest to anyone in Scarborough, but the club stuck up their posters, sent out their sandwich board men, and bingo – the first game paid rent and expenses. By the end of the fourth game the club had a gate of more than 1000 and £100 into the bargain. There is no record of that team which turned out for the first tilt at Whitby – probably due to the excitement of the venture and the general jubilation which one can imagine must indeed have followed it, no scribe of the time seems to have noted it down and a search through club records reveals a blank.But old supporters will remember the first of the few – the lads of the old Athletic Ground days who were regulars from the kick-off.
After the Athletic Ground era the club moved to Newby, and a field which was to be their home until January 2009. It was not then an ideal ground and that Newby should not be the last resting place of Scarborough R.U.F.C. Scarborough had made the best of the Newby facilities with a clubhouse, a converted poultry house, 60 feet by 15 feet, purchased from a member for £26, changing accommodation and Ahh yes, a bar.It is here that mention must be made of the Supporters Club formed back in the 1928-29 season, and the names of Jack Gardiner, Donald Robson, Mrs. Atkinson-Jowett, Millie Hartley, Lee Catchpole, whose social efforts to build an off-field fund kept the club going through the years. Indeed without them – the touch line people – the Rugby Club might well have died the death which earlier the town had prophesied. In January 2009 and after 20 plus years of trying the club finally moved to their present home at Silver Royd following the completion of the J M Guthrie Clubhouse and into one of the best amateur rugby facilities in the country!
The club’s pre-war playing record was good for, ever faced with the geographical end of the line travelling difficulties the stalwarts who were first to scrum down showed they were not only a keen bunch but capable too. Scarborough made steady progress up the Yorkshire R.U. ladder. In the season of 1923-33, Scarborough reached the final of the Yorkshire Shield, captained by John Guthrie who skippered for eight successive years. On their way to the top,they met and defeated strong opponents, but in the final at Bridlington went down to Sandal 6-13. A fine record indeed but there was more to come for although the club had always made a point of regular physical training, little attention had been paid up to that time to the improvement of their style of play. In 1936 a new voice was heard in the clubhouse and a new figure was seen out on the training field. Dr. I Stevenson, the All-Black medical man had come to England and settled in Scarborough and become Scarborough’s honorary coach.Under his guidance Scarborough made great strides and by the end of the 1938-39 season were respected by the strongest clubs in Yorkshire.
Dark nights at Newby become something more than just blacked-out lecture sessions, for the All-Black was instrumental in getting the ground floodlighted and his lectures after training received wholehearted support. The Scarborough team of Steve’s era contained men who were top of their Rugby class, among them R M (Mike) Marshall, a young sportsman with a remarkable career of success. At Giggleswick school his sports record had been outstanding and when he came to Scarborough at the age of 16 he was outstanding in a pack which could hold its own with any in the County. And he was to go further for the greatest honour of all. A writer of the club programme said this of him “When the history of the Scarborough Club is written this season (1937-38) will stand out as a season in which R.M. Marshall brought honour and distinction to the club as its first International”.
Yes, that was Mike Marshall, a youngster who walked into the Oxford side in his first term, finished off the season as first reserve for England and who, sadly later as a young naval officer lost his life in action The latter become Yorkshire’s regular full back for several seasons and K W D. Hodgson also played for Yorkshire and later for Northumberland. Graham Jones was the most unfortunate, because he was given three County Trials but on each occasion on the left wing whereas he was an outstanding rightwing for his club. In spite of this Scarborough were disappointed because, largely for geographical reasons, the top county clubs would not give them fixtures, and it was for this reason thatthe annual charity games were started – for it was felt that these games could not be refused by clubs who would not entertain the seasiders in their future fixture lists.
The first Charity Match was played in 1934 at the Athletic ground against Otley. Yorkshire Cup holders Scarborough surprised them and gave them a sound thrashing – 35 points to 3.
During the war years, with its members dispersed to all corners of the earth in every shade of combat uniform, the club ceased to function But the spirit was kept alive as Service sides hung their khaki and blue in the changing rooms at Newby and used the pitch for their games.
At the end of the war some of the old faces were missing and in the clubhouse today hangs a memorial to those who gave their lives. All the players who had come back from the war were now of veteran status, but it is due to them – John Guthrie, Stan Walton, Stan Harrison (one of the very first), A.(Gary) Cooper and Jim Morley of the A team that the youngsters who followed were endowed with enthusiasm for the game.