End of Season Report

Our 48th season finished on a high in April 2026 with our men’s 2nd and 3rd XV’s winning their respective cup finals, the men’s winning the Middlesex 7’s main competition and the women’s 7’s team narrowly losing in the Middlesex final, which enhanced a very successful season as a whole for all Club sections were every player put in a lot of commitment for our seven senior men’s and women’s teams plus our junior teams, which was greatly celebrated at our annual dinner & dance awards event. 

It is a fantastic achievement for the Club to increase the number of players participating in rugby back to the level we had before the COVID pandemic took hold a few years ago proving that we are one of the leading amateur rugby clubs in Middlesex. 

Our men’s 1st XV struggled to produce and maintain the performances needed in a demanding league during the long season in the RFU level 5 League and were relegated after finishing second from bottom in the league. This did not mean that the team did not put in a sustain effort to win all their games with strong performances from Josh Asafu Adjaye, Tim Russell, Seb Rivett, Joe Carolan and Tom Proctor, the team captain, and the only player who played in every game for the 1st XV this season in the league. A highly successful trip to Jersey took place for the 1st for the away league game, which also had our 2nd XV playing also at the same venue, which Paddy O’Toole and Ed Wynne successfully arranged. 

In the Surrey London Counties & South Coast League our men’s 2nd XV finished sixth overall, as the team was able to play more games than last season, when they participated in a poorly organized Surrey Premier League. This was a good achievement in context with notable wins over much stronger opposition. A high level of play was maintained in many games from the likes of Oscar Newcombe, Max Dundale, Ollie Weaver and Paddy O’Toole and Miles Connor, who gave their best in all the games played. The team won the Surrey League Cup competition, which was a great achievement. 

The men’s 3rd XV, which was captained outstandingly by Rob McKeon this season, who equip themselves well in the Middlesex Merit Table (MMT) Division Two League, finishing third overall during the season and going on to win the MMT Bowl Cup Final Play-Off against Hampstead. The team was supported by committed players such as Sam Walker, Seb Money, Joe Hennigan, Adam Stannard, Sam Smith and Mitch Currie. 

For the first time in many years the Club was able to run a men’s 4th XV this season, thanks to Seb Money, who captained and managed the side. 

What a season our Vets team had. We saw a major revival of the squad numbers, due to the hard work by Andrew Rogan, who got a great number of former players to come out of retirement and play under floodlight on a Friday night enabling them to win their league. 

In his first season as Club Captain, Ed Wynne excelled in the role and has brought a calm reassurance in handling critical situations that sometimes occur during the season, with the running of the men’s teams. 

Once again, Lyndon Walters made sure that all the fixtures and allocation of referees for our games in the men’s and women’s section ran smoothly throughout the season with his usual high level of consistency, along with representing the Club on Middlesex CRFU committees with Bhomdat Mahraj. 

A big thank you must go out to all those involved in the men’s coaching team that produced a consistent style of play throughout all the teams and gave valuable assistance and insight on Saturday match day afternoons. This was all put in place by the men’s Head Coach Ryan Gregory, who was greatly assisted by Ian Burbedge, Alan Smith (Nugget), Michael Stronge, Olly Gittoes and Phil Swainston, who all did a lot of good work to improve the skills and standard of play for all the men’s teams, that were enhanced by the fantastic contribution made by our technical analyst, Conor McGiven, who every week transcribed the Veo video images to provide feedback for the coaches, captains and players. 

Many former players and junior parents participated in, and enjoyed, our Wednesday evening touch rugby sessions. 

Both of our women’s 1st and 2nd XV’s increased the number of players joining the section and both squads played well in their respective leagues this season but found the going slightly tougher than in previous seasons, with several injuries hampering the progress of the teams as well as many opposition teams dropping out of the leagues, meaning they were not a consistent number of games taking place in the women’s leagues for both sides. 

The women’s 1st XV finished seventh in the RFU Championship South East Two League in Women’s Championship South. There were some great performances from several players throughout the season by Elizabeth James, Sophie Jarrett, Beth James, Vicki Tapley, Livvy Probert, Zoe Green and Emma Stilwell, who all helped produce some impressive results over the season. 

In the Women’s NC South East Central League our women’s 2nd XV team finished in second place in the league, which was an excellent result for a developing team squad that contained a lot of new players, who played a high standard of rugby. A special mention goes out to Athalia Ibanga, Lauren Williams, Ashton Matthews, Leigh Lottering, Natasha Kerswell, Darci Stewart and Geogia Hutton who helped the team maintain a high level of play in many of the matches in the league. 

The organisation of the women’s teams would not have happened without the hard work put in by the Director of Women’s Rugby Laurel Dunne who worked tirelessly all season to make sure that the players were in good spirit going into games on a Sunday with great assistance from Sophie Meynell-Anderson who as squad manager, made sure that everything happened smoothly with both team squads. The social media surrounding the women’s team was of outstanding quality which promoted the women’s teams with great effect on Instagram which was created by Natalie Munroe. 

A special mention must go out to the women’s coaches managed by Women’s Head Coach Paul Phillips and his back-up coaching team of Andy Hemmings, Joss Linney, Will Martin, James Beck and Helene Caux who all produced innovative drills and skill sets for all players of varying standards, to create a good coaching environment throughout the season. 

Elena Dijkhuis did a fantastic job as social secretary this season, organising several successful social events that were enjoyed by the players and members of the Club, especially the Dinner and Dance in Central London. 

The men’s tour went well to Ostende, Belgium and the women’s tour went to Milan. Both were a great success and there were no casualties reported from the rugby or the other activities that took place. 

Once again, our Junior Section had a great season of rugby, which was enjoyed by all the age groups from the Under 6s (little Hammers) to the Under 16s. The number of children playing rugby at the Club increased from last season and a lot of this growth was down to the excellent diligence and dedication to training the players received from our volunteer coaches that develop a good style of play and discipline of the rugby standards expected when playing for Hammersmith & Fulham RFC. 

Carl McMillan as Chairman of the Junior Section put in a lot of hard work to make sure the section ran smoothly during the season and Mike Hindley who did a fantastic job for the Club by arranging the pitch layout every week and offering his services on Sunday morning by referring many home games. 

None of this season’s success would be possible without the commitment of the age grade Lead Coaches Maggie Wojton, James Horrex, Ed Green, Lyndon Walters, Leo Thompson, Chris Emmerson, Paul Kellett, James Johnson, Marc Nunn, Carl McMillan, Stephane Bernard and John Mortimer, who helped add new trophies to our trophy cabinet. All the coaches involved in the Junior Section deserve a well-earned thank you for everything they have done for the players and the Club this season. 

All safeguarding and welfare aspects for the Club were skillfully managed by Andrew Whiteman and his very capable assistant, Raphaelle Moysan. 

Luke Theophilus did a magnificent job in arranging the medical cover and requirements during the season for all the Club sections, which was no easy task for given the number of games and training sessions each week. 

Applications for England international tickets for the 2025 Autumn and 2026 Six Nations were oversubscribed as usual, but Peter Lacey and Chris Cuthbertson made sure that everyone who applied was able to obtain tickets for the games. 

The Eight Bells once again looked after everyone after training on Thursday nights and provided food and refreshments for the two women’s teams on Sunday afternoon. 

A big thank you to Jonathan Woollard of Yellow Panda Catering, who looked after the Junior section Sunday morning cafe and ran our other events for the Club at Hurlingham Park and Portobello Brewery for proving the beer for those events. 

The Temperance once again provided a terrific location for entertaining our opponents and guests on a Saturday afternoon with everyone enjoying the atmosphere and surroundings of the pub, whose friendly atmosphere made everyone feel welcome. 

As always, we are incredibly grateful to all our sponsors, who provided invaluable support to the Club throughout the season that Chris Cuthbertson manages to negotiate, in between his other valuable contributions, as Club Secretary and Treasurer. 

Looking forward to the new 2026-2027 season, our objectives will be set out at this season’s AGM by the head coaches of the men’s and women’s teams. 

The Club continues to look for new recruits to help run our Club and I would urge anyone interested in taking up a position or helping in any other way to speak to any elected committee member. 

Finally, thank you all for your efforts this season in helping the Club maintain the ethos of the founder members and by providing competitive rugby with a strong social aspect to everyone involved, regardless of their nationality, race, religious beliefs, or sexuality. 

Terry Alleyne
Chairman
21st June 2026