After a long three year wait, Bognor’s promotion back into the London Leagues was confirmed last night as play-off opponents Old Freemen's RFC withdrew from this Saturday’s fixture. The 1st XV will now entertain Hastings & Bexhill on Saturday at BRFC in the Sussex Shield competition with kick-off still at 3pm.
The 1st XV’s return to LSW3 is yet another achievement for the club in its 50th year. The 2nd XV have already secured the Sussex 2 title and the U15’s have won promotion into their ‘A’ league for the forthcoming season. It now remains to be seen whether the 1st XV can secure the Sussex Shield as well which would cap a remarkable and successful year for the club.
Old Freemen's had requested that we move the kick-off as their club dinner is due to take place on Saturday night and they needed time to get back. Sadly with several of our key players returning to play in the game on the afternoon of the match (one is even flying back into the country cutting short a holiday), we were unable to accommodate their request and asked that the 3pm kick-off be adhered to. Late last night we received confirmation from OF’s that they were conceding the game.
Whilst this is a bittersweet end to our league campaign it should not be forgotten just how far we have come in the past 5 years. After back-to-back relegations in 2011 and 2012 this young squad has pulled together to earn promotion and we look forward to celebrating our promotion this weekend and another successful campaign in 2016/17.