TODAY I must start with the sad news that after a debilitating illness Derrick Brown died on Monday. For many years Derrick was one of the cornerstones of the Club. Originally from Redcar I don't think he played rugby for his home town club, being more of a hockey man then – although he played both hockey and rugby for Dover when posted their during National Service. His senior rugby journey started locally at Constantine College, and it was after he played for a Teesside Select XV he was, in his own words, 'poached' by Middlesbrough, much to the dismay of those at Constantine. He was very proud of the fact that during his first season we enjoyed one of our best years, which I think was 1953-54 under the captaincy of Peter Whayman, when we went 18 games undefeated. Two years later Derrick himself was elected Captain. He always spoke wistfully of overnight stops in Dunfermline and late stops in Ilkley...In the '60s he captained the Wasps before later taking over as Honorary General Secretary for seven years, including our Centenary season in 1972. He subsequently ran the Colts for a few years; in fact Paul Hodgson credits Derrick with his selection for Yorkshire Colts because he drove him to every trial match the County organised. Derrick always retained a keen interest in the Club and our activities, and was a regular at matches and in the Clubhouse. His presence – his perceptive wit and observations – will be sorely missed. Our sympathy and condolences go to wife Mary and sons Michael and David.

WELCOME And now, on a more upbeat note, I offer a warm welcome to those of our former players and members who are here for our reunion; it is always a pleasure to mix and share a drink with people we haven't seen for a while, some of whom have travelled a distance to join us. I hope we see you all regularly and more often next season.

I would also like to extend the heartiest of welcomes to Bridlington, a club it is always a pleasure to meet on and off the field, for our last league game of the season. The last time we competed in the same league was 11 seasons ago, in N2E. It was a bitter sweet season. We we beat Brid 30-9 at home and then 25-12 away, going on to win the promotion play-off game against Caldy. Unfortunately. as we went up a league Brid went down, finishing third bottom, a single solitary point behind the three teams above them.

Last season our visitors finished 10th in the table with 12 wins; this season at present they are lying 10th, with 11 wins. I'm sure they will be going all out to get that extra win this year to match last season's record. Like many teams (including us!) Brid are not as good away from home; of their 11 wins to date only four have come on their travels. They have won only one of their last five league matches. However nothing is quite as it seems. Last week they lost to Malton & Norton, but it was by the narrowest of margins, 22-23, and it took a kick in the dying seconds to secure Malton the win, and four weeks earlier Brid beat Malton in the semi final of the Yorkshire Shield to earn a place in the final on 10 May. We wish them the very best of luck and hope they are victorious on the day – 10 May, that is, not today!

MATCH NEWS Last week at York we got off to the worst possible start conceding two penalties within the first 10 minutes but worse was to follow – we lost fly-half and playmaker, Simmo, with a broken leg, plus a broken and dislocated ankle. We wish him a speedy recovery. Nevertheless although going 6-0 down we then dominated most of the remainder of the half, but York's defence was admirable. Jack did kick a penalty but two moments summed up the half – a wickedly bouncing ball fell into the hands of the York right wing for him to score, and then Mike broke through and carried three opponents with him to touch down, but the referee decided he'd (the ref) impeded a possible tackler and disallowed the try. It meant that despite us having nearly all of the possession and territorial advantage, at the break York led 11-3. In the second half York mounted only two serious attacks, but scored a converted try. We kept up the pressure, but York’s midfield defence was paramount.

Our previous game, at home to Yarnbury, started in much the same way – we conceded three penalties and five points in the opening five minutes, but struck back almost immediately with a try by Jack. That was the sum total of a scrappy first half. Yarnbury had a BIG pack, and although we were without Brad, Richie L and Rhys, had a very young second row and three hookers in the pack, we defended like demons throughout the match to earn our corn. Mid-way through the second half a steal by Euan at a Yarnbury line-out finished with Conner touching down to give us a 10-5 lead. And that's the way it stayed, although pressure from Yarnbury in the last play of the match almost led to them score.

The Wasps just failed to win their exciting CANDY league match at table-toppers Gateshead last week, when the hosts scored in the last minute to win 29-26. Meanwhile the Lions were home to Redcar IIs, and lost 20-29; Redcar 1st team didn't have a game...There is a report in this issue of the last two matches played by our 'A' team. The Colts finish their season with a trip to Percy Park today.

JUNIORS Tomorrow the Club plays host to an U11s Festival with 160 players from 16 clubs. Our other age groups are taking part in other festivals across the area. Also tomorrow our U14s play O Crossleyans at West Park Leeds in the final of the Yorkshire Bowl; they warmed up for the occasion with a 52-0 victory against Wensleydale on Sunday. They have enjoyed a great season to date – we hope it carries on over this weekend. On Saturday 2 May the Club is hosting Preston Grasshoppers mini section, with over 200 youngsters from U7s to U12s taking part. Sounds great fun.

Our U17s beat Hull Ionians 13-12 last week in the third round of the Yorkshire Cup; they were also victorious in a 5-team round robin tournament at Darlington, featuring Canadian team Beaconsfield from Quebec, along with Morpeth and Northern. As a result of this tournament Sam Gaudie, our great little scrum half, is going to play for Beaconsfield over the summer months. I'm sure he'll have the time of his life. The U16s have lost only five matches all season; they carried on the good work this month by beating Billingham 19-5 and Darlington 24-0, both away.

CLUB NEWS There's been much hullabaloo under the banner of 'Adult Competition Review' the outcome of which continues to be uncertain. Having spent two years and £250,000 apparently consulting everyone in the game, the RFU accepted recommendations from their consultants that leagues should be reduced in size but doubled in number, with Cup competitions introduced to fill some of the blank Saturdays. This new structure was to come into force in 2016/17. However there has been such an outcry across the whole of the north, where the vast majority of clubs are against the move, that it would seem that the whole shebang has been deferred until (at least) 2017/18.

Don't forget we have the Annual Dinner and Presentation Night at the Sporting Lodge on Friday 8 May. To reserve your place please see your captain, coach, Don Brydon or Richard Ward. The Junior Dinner is the following Friday at the same venue.

The Rugby World Cup, or Festival of Rugby as the powers-that-be want it called, kicks off in September and we will hold a number of events to mark the occasion. Turn to page 5 for the latest information.

SPONSORS Originally due to sponsor our game against Yarnbury, one half of today's sponsors, Barker & Stonehouse, had rather more pressing matters on their plate – the opening of their new super store at the entrance to Teesside Retail Park. With that safely put to bed we are delighted that James Barker and Charles Clinkard of the Clinkard Group are with us today. They are two of the area's long-established and most important family-run businesses. For more information about both firms see page 4.

REFEREE'S CORNER I am delighted to welcome John Wolstenholme back to Acklam Park for our last competitive match of the season. John, who is in the motor trade, has been a referee for 17 years and was last here when we played Northern three years ago. He has also been on the committee at Wheatley Hills RUFC for 15 years, the last ten of them as Chairman. I hope he has a pleasant afternoon with us.
Finally, thank you all for your support over the season, it was much appreciated; and a personal note of thanks to Andy Murray for gathering information about referees.

A look at Today's Sponsors
Wow!! If you haven't yet visited Barker & Stonehouse's magnificent new £4.5m flagship store then do so as soon as you can. It is on the site of the former Springs gym at Teesside Retail Park and was opened by baking guru Mary Berry only three weeks a go. Much has been made in the press of impressive features such as the living wall with a water irrigation system coming from a tank on the roof top, the eye-catching columns made from vintage books, and the wall covered in wood from ships in India, but the whole of the décor is absolutely first-rate; there are wall features using vintage typewriters, saddles, surfboards, paddles and life belts; a canoe descends from the ceiling – and there's a fine Chadwick's coffee house and kitchen on the 2nd floor. Pride of place in the store is the 1931 Ariel 250 Colt motorbike used competitively by the founder, Charles Barker. In the near future there will also be a grassed roof terrace, overlooking the Thornaby Golf Club course.

To see a 50,000sq ft industrial building completed so quickly would have been astonishing, but for such an outstandingly iconic structure to arise from the rubble in double quick time, including internal fixtures and fittings and product displays, is nothing short of astonishing.

Established 70 years ago when Charles Barker and Alex Stonehouse opened the first store on Bishopton Lane, Stockton, in early 1946, the firm is the UK's largest independent furniture retailer, and now has nine stores. It is still a family affair; Charles' son Richard is Chairman and grandson James is Managing Director. They have overseen continued expansion, opening a store in London in July and introducing a wholesale distribution arm.

The Clinkards – a dynasty in fine footwear
When Charles and Eveline Clinkard opened their first shoe shop in 1924, they little knew they were founding a footwear empire – and a family dynasty that still runs the company 90 years later. Today, the Clinkard Group has 33 stores across the UK, and has grown to be the leading Independent Footwear Retailer in the North East and one of the largest Independents in the UK. Managing director Charles is the third generation to be in charge.

The company became established throughout the 1930s and 1940s and just after World War II Eveline introduced children’s shoes to the store and they very quickly became a success.
The 1950s saw stores open in Stockton and Redcar, but the 1960s brought tears as well as joy. Founder Charles died in 1964 and four years later the company opened its fourth store, in Northallerton, while son Roger founded the wholesale business Intershoe, innovatively importing winter boots from Scandinavia. In 1989 Roger’s son Charles joined the business and Roger became President of the Independent Footwear Retailers Association. He added to that success a year later when he won Footwear Personality of the Year at the Independent Footwear Retail Dinner – the first person to receive the accolade.

In 1998 Charles Clinkard was appointed Managing Director and four years later the company won the Best Family Footwear Store and Overall Winner Award at the EMAP UK Footwear Awards. In 2004 the company launched its online store, and expanded further in 2008 when it took over 12 stores from Stead and Simpson. Celebrations resounded in 2012 when the company was named Best Footwear Multiple Retailer at the Footwear Today Awards. Twelve months later Charles was named Footwear Personality of the Year at the same awards, and picked up a Special Recognition Award at the North East Business Awards. The awards continued in 2014 with the company winning Best Footwear Multiple Retailer at the Footwear Today Awards for the second time. 2014 has also seen the introduction of Istore – an in-store facility allowing customers to view and order from the full range of shoes.