A much better performance during the 1997/98 season as another restructure left Cleobury in their original division, but matches were to be played both ‘home’ and ‘away’ for the first time. New skipper Tony Heap steered the 1st XV to fourth place, no promotion, but the team were building. Despite a division of only 9-teams the 1st XV played 31-matches, including 16-league encounters, while the 2nd XV managed 19-games again under Andrew ‘Daisy’ Davies.

The involvement of so many youngsters witnessed a rise in parents willing to assist as Hilton Smith volunteered to be Manager and ‘Aussie’ James Smith offered to assist with the coaching. The legacy of that successful combination remains with the club to this day. There were plenty of games in two age groups with Rob Kirton skippering the U17/18’s in 17-matches and Adam Wilks for the U15/16’s in 9-matches. The younger players were starting to feed into the adult section.

The major players of this season saw Colin Smith amass 218-points (11-tries, 38-conversions & 29-penalties) while try scoring appeared easier with Hooker Matthew Barnsley storming away from the front of Lineouts and scoring 17-tries, while Dan Bills weighed in with 10-tries, Alan Woodhouse (9-tries), Tony Heap (8-tries), Pete Howman (8-tries), Ian King (7-tries) and emerging youngster James Allen (7-tries).

The club were using both pitches at Lacon Childe School and hired a bus for away fixtures that involved both 1st & 2nd XV teams. However, it was becoming increasingly obvious that the club were out growing these facilities and were fully contributing to the debate surrounding the ambitious ‘Sport 2000’ project. The changing room situation was also difficult as League rules demand separate facilities, which was difficult as the Sports Centre only had two, even further exacerbated if there was additional call from activities indoors. The Sports & Social changing rooms were used when available – it was becoming more obvious that additional facilities were required.