BUILDING SOMETHING SPECIAL

Dartmouth RFC were on the verge of oblivion with just five players, but an influx of builders has pushed the club to new heights

- Josh Graham

ON THE weekend of King Charles III’s coronation last year, the rugby club who play on the ground where the monarch learnt to fly a helicopter also had their crowning glory.

Dartmouth RFC play home matches on the fields behind a local leisure centre that used to be the helicopter training ground for the naval college, before they gave the land back to the council.

The Counties 3 Tribute Devon West league side now hope to turn the site into a major local sporting hub after enjoying their very own Cinderella story.

However, that was not even a pipe dream when the club were staring into the abyss at the start of last season. It was so bad that you could count all their players on one hand. “We literally had five players,” recalls general manager Andrew Tomkinson. “We’ve had ups and downs but we looked at each other and didn’t know where we were going to go from there. We nearly packed it in.

“That was the closest we’ve been to calling it a day. There’s only so much ringing around on a Friday night you can do and players crying off on a Saturday.”

The club, like the vast majority of their peers across the UK, were suffering in the destructive wake of Covid and with dwindling interest in the amateur game.

But luckily a white knight in the shape of former player Sam Churchill emerged.

The 35-year-old, known as ‘Churchy’, had spent a season or two at the club a decade ago under then captain and now coach Nick Shillabeer. As a footballer, he made a few senior appearances for Plymouth Argyle before picking up the oval ball.