The death in the last few days of Harold ‘Adge’ Staniforth has given us all reason to pause and reflect. One of the pictures dug out by John Frayling was a photograph of the Old Sandbachians outside the old wooden clubhouse in Middlewich Road. Adge is there, as are a number of familiar faces some of whom are thankfully still with us, but also many who have sadly departed.

So as we all arrive at the club this afternoon enjoy a drink and maybe a meal in the warm and comfortable clubhouse, watch the game on the pristine pitch and look across at the other excellent pitches both senior and mini junior, the floodlights, large car park and the wonderful facilities that we have today, we ought to ponder on how far we have come. In the days of that photograph we would have been lucky to have got a second team fixture against a club like Nuneaton.

Rugby clubs find various ways of moving forward. Some find a wealthy individual to invest, some sell their assets and others just knuckle down and work bloody hard to build something better. There are plenty of examples of how the ‘sugar daddy’ approach has led to some short term success, but ultimately decline when the money runs out and in some cases it has proved terminal.

In reality the growth and success is built upon the unpaid efforts of a large number of individuals over many years whose love of their club and the game prompts them to untold hours to building it. Elite sportsmen like to talk about ‘marginal gains’. The small incremental improvements in any process adding up to a significant improvement when they are all added together.

Well a Rugby Club can be seen in that way. It is never down to one individual. It is an accumulation of contributions over many years by an equally large number of people. Whether by playing, coaching , committee work or just painting the changing rooms in the close season, what you see when visit a club is a legacy of multiple contributions.
There is also a DNA that runs through most clubs. You look at the fading team pictures in the clubhouse and you will see Joneses, Davenports, Brookes’ and other such names recurring through the years. Each club has them and the tragedy is that we don’t really appreciate it until one of our number cashes in his chips.

Recently on the Rolling Maul forum there has been much discussion of the travails of 2 of our fellow clubs in the North West, Waterloo and Stockport who are both going through tough times at the moment. Both fine clubs with proud histories but for one reason or another are having difficulties. All clubs go through troughs in their fortunes. There are no easy answers but you can bet that the ones who are there battling to build things back up are those very stalwarts. When the money men have disappeared on to their next flight of fancy, the genuine club guys will still be there, doing the sticky, horrible jobs that need to be done in the background. They are the ones who steadily construct the regeneration and who clubs should treasure.

A club is not just about one or two individuals, it is about a large number of guys (and gals) who made their little contribution- marginal gains. So as we say goodbye to one guy today whose contribution was greater than most, let’s look around at the guys still here and give thanks for them and those who have gone on. They built this club and it is our duty not to betray their efforts.

Farewell Adge.