Peterborough Rugby Club will be throwing its gates open to the public over the weekend of May 4 and 5, as they celebrate their 100th anniversary.
In addition to rugby matches, the Fengate site will be hosting live bands on the Saturday evening and a real ale festival, run by the local branch of the Campaign for Real Ale, will be held across both days.
“We’ve put a tremendous amount of work into refurbishing the pitches and refurbishing the clubhouse over the last couple of years,” said club president Andrew Burgess.
“We’re a community rugby club and would welcome the community to come and look at our facilities.”
Peterborough Rugby Club was set up by Arthur Mellows, later to become the city’s mayor, in 1924 and spent the first half of its history playing at the old Peterborough Showground on Eastfield Road, where the regional college now stands.
The club then relocated to Second Drove in Fengate, where it now has four full-sized pitches, training areas and junior-sized pitches.
The club runs four senior men’s teams, including veterans and colts, both senior and under-18 teams for the ladies and a thriving Touch Rugby section. There are also junior sides from under-7 up to under-16, catering for both boys and girls.
Three former players from the club went of to play for England, while other members of the club have been capped by Scotland, the USA, Lithuania, Germany and Zimbabwe.
Other noteworthy former club players included a chief constable, an England hockey international, a ground-breaking scientist, the father-in-law of a soccer Premier League club's chairman, and a man who took over the running of author Rudyard Kipling's country estate.
A judge, and a man he sentenced, even played alongside each other in the same team once.
Saturday afternoon’s matches see the senior teams involved from one o’clock until around half past six, with the juniors in action throughout Sunday morning.
“We’d welcome anyone who’s curious about rugby, anyone who might like to consider taking up the sport, or anyone who loves the sport but has never been to our ground before,” added Burgess.
“There’ll be a variety of different types of food available throughout the weekend, the bar will be open for hot and cold drinks, and there’ll also be the CAMRA beer festival. And everyone’s welcome!”
Northampton Saints’ semi-final in the European Champions Cup will be screened on a big screen in the clubhouse on the Saturday of the weekend.
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