THE history of any organisation, sporting or otherwise, cannot be changed, it can be embellished, it can be forgotten but it cannot be changed. However, if it is not recorded then that history effectively does not exist.

Crediton RFC has been most fortunate certainly post World War Two that my predecessor the wonderful Jack Hayes, or JCH, as he was known by his press reporting name, kept an amazing log of Crediton RFC from the mid 1950’s in the form of seasonal scrapbooks charting the successes and failures and I have continued since the millennium when I took over from him.

Having researched the Club history from its beginnings, it is clear to see similar themes running through the decades such as the emphasis on youth rugby, the production line for quality players, some moving on to greater things, the support received from the townspeople and local businesses are all things that were in place 140 years ago and that still exists today.

The questions often arise, which was our best season? Or who was our best player or team? These are impossible to answer, do we base a good season as having won a trophy because if we do then to be honest there were very few!

Is it simply the most successful based on wins against losses, or whether the income covered the expenditure or perhaps that we encouraged more players simply to play the game.

One thing is certain and that is each rugby season has its own highlights especially for those who were a part of it either as players or supporters.

One important season was 1965-66 which began with a fixture against a Douglas Penny XV for the official opening of the new Clubhouse and Ground.

Douglas was a former player and at the time was the Hon Secretary of the Devon RFU and he picked a side that contained some illustrious names in Devon rugby circles at the time with 10 County players and one international. The visiting XV won 13-3 in an excellent game. The teams were as follows:

Crediton; Peter Farley, Monty James, John Stoyle (Capt), Steve Roche, Tony Withers, Alec Colton, David Ford, David John, Mike Smith, Brian Blackmore, Eric Rodd, Paul Baxter, John Bastin, Peter Setter and Hubert Enderson.

Doug Penny XV; Caunter (Torquay/Devon), Stark (Exeter/Devon), Maynard (Exeter/Devon), Bamsey (Exmouth/Devon), Underwood (Exeter/Devon/England), Anthony (Plymouth Albion/Devon), Chugg (Barnstaple/Devon), Esselmont, Holmes (both Plymouth Albion), Webb (Okehampton/Oxfordshire), Jenkin (Barnstaple), Good (St. Luke’s/Devon), Cross (Plymouth Albion), Rowe (Paignton) and Lee (St Luke’s/Devon).

For the First XV, 33 of the 40 games were won that season and Brian Blackmore and Mike Smith played in all 40, John Stoyle and John Strong each played in 39. Peter Setter topped the scoring chart with 172 points. The ‘Quins won 19 of their 34 games and although the Juniors/Colts lost 21 of 29 games, they produced a number of players that would become regulars in the First XV, hooker Mike John being one who went on to make 525 First XV appearances, so yes a successful season.

A few years later, 1971-72 was another season with more wins than losses but a lasting memory for one of our former players was one particular game. Andy Cole who made 529 First XV appearances between 1967 and 1986, when asked about memories of particular games during his career rather surprisingly he came up with one that ended in a resounding defeat!

Recalling a Devon Senior Cup quarter final game against St Luke’s College, all was going really well, the forwards were competing in all areas of the game and we had fought back from 0-6 to 6 all and seemed to have the momentum.

However, this was a star-studded College side, although no-one realised it at the time, winger Mike Slemen scored five tries and within three years was playing in the first of his 32 games for England, became a British Lion in 1980 and was selected in the World XV the same year.

Fly-half Neil Bennett kicked three conversions and only two years later made his England debut and flanker Mike Rafter became an England player on January 15, 1977, on the same day that Charles Kent made his international debut. No 8 was Jeff Squire, who made his Welsh debut in 1977 and was capped 29 times between then and 1983. He also played six games for the British and Irish Lions during that period.

The final score was 48-6 to the students but what an amazing experience for that group of Crediton players who can say they played against opponents of such quality. As Andy says, memories are not all about games that were won, but more perhaps games that you were privileged to simply play in.

One other player opposing us that day was a certain Geoff Warne who achieved something that his teammates didn’t, as within two years he was making his debut for Crediton!

The teams on that day: Crediton: Ian Radnor, John Pennington, John Stapleton, Chris Bailey, Dai Davies, Alan Tonkin, John Phillips, Miles Haggar, Mike John, David White, Andy Cole, Eric Rodd (Capt), Roger Holloway, Mike Leach and Fran Thorne.

St Luke’s College: Brian Fowler, Ken Stewart, Dave Scott, Alan Friell (Capt), Mike Slemen, Neil Bennett, Alex Reid, Ian Read, John Pyne, Dick Pearce, Ben Goss, Geoff Warne, Alan Jones, Mike Rafter and Jeff Squire.

When we look back on history, success is not always based on results, we only have to look around at Clubs not so far from here that have had success on the field but that was courtesy of the cheque book and when those resources are depleted there is only one direction to go.

True success is providing a platform that allows players to play at whatever standard they aspire to, be it social rugby, competitive rugby or something more challenging, it brings players into the game. As a Club, Crediton may not have collected an enormous amount of silverware over the past 144 years but we are certainly one of the most successful Clubs in Devon and our achievements throughout the generations are much admired by many of Devon’s rugby folk.

Paul Harris