Treasurer’s role adds up to labour of love
JUST as the Government have Rishi Sunak to look after the country’s purse strings, so the Wids have their very own Chancellor of the Exchequer in Graham ‘Sam’ Cook, the club treasurer, and the man charged with the task of looking after all of the club’s finances and much more besides.
Supported by his wife, Chris, they have both been behind everything good that the Wids have been involved with over the last however many years.
Press officer Steve Clark caught up with Graham and began by asking him: why he is better known as ‘Sam’?
“It goes back to my school days where I first earned the nickname. Then, when I moved to the Wids, many of my old school friends were there too, so of course the name just carried on and has followed me around ever since” he smiled.
Indeed, should anybody ever ask to speak to Graham Cook, they are often met with blank faces, but ask for ‘Sam’ and everyone naturally knows who they are talking about!
Sam was asked how he became involved with the Wids, a place where he is now considered to be both a part of the furniture and the go-to man for most things.
“I first joined the club in the mid ‘60s from Bankfield School on the recommendation of Ray Heapey. In fact, the club were very fortunate in those days because all the secondary schools in the town had teachers with close connections with the Wids – Mike Ryan, Ray Heapey, Alf Houghton, Garth Tollitt and Ray French to name but a few.
“In the Colts, I played with Charlie Morris, George Street, Graham McLean and Colin Rigby – all stalwarts of the club over many years. After leaving the Colts, I only played a couple of years of senior rugby before I left the area to pursue my business career. I worked in the Midlands for 10 years only returning home at weekends to play cricket and watch the odd game of rugby.
“In the early 1980s, I started a business and moved back North working in Rochdale before a final move over the water to Runcorn. During that time, I played cricket with Mike Ryan and George Street and a few other regulars from the club.
“Mike had just taken over as first team coach and he asked me over several beers one night if I fancied helping him out at training.
“Anyway, one thing led to another, and I became involved, and I eventually took over as coach of the second team, which in those days was captained by John Ratcliffe.
“The team contained some great up and coming young players including Clive Bancroft, John Bright, Ste Davison, ‘Dodge’ Clarke and Brian Balmer. I even remember a young Tony Myler turning out on a couple of occasions.
“Needless to say, with ‘Rackers’ as skipper, there was never a dull moment particularly after the game!
“Unfortunately, and for a while at least, my involvement with the club tailed off during the mid90s as I became more and more involved in the business. I was spending a lot of time travelling, although I regularly visited Heath Road on a Saturday afternoon to support the team.
“After ten years of building up the business, we eventually decided to sell in 2006, and whilst I spent the following three or four years still working, I was very much winding down towards retirement and spending more and more time at the club.
“In 2011, I was honoured to be asked to take over from Les Whitfield as club president.
“Fortunately, I had already decided to retire and was able to get totally involved with the club. That year, we had a really good season and finished it off in style with Gareth Moss lifting the Lancashire Trophy at Tyldesley.
“After a hectic 12 months as president, I was looking forward to a rest. However, that rest was shortlived, and within two weeks I was asked if I would like to take over as treasurer.
“On reflection, I’m not sure it was the best decision I’ve ever made!
“I’d never been involved in the accounts side of business, so it took me a while to get to grips with things but we got there in the end, and needless to say ten years later on, I am still here.
“Today, I can proudly say that the club has gone from strength to strength both on and off the field over the last eight years. We have built a strong and secure club which is the envy of many clubs in the area.
“In 2012, following the unfortunate demise of St Maries, we had the opportunity to negotiate to acquire their playing area and, after several months of meetings led by our own John Parle, we finally secured the site with the help of Halton Borough Council and financial support from Sport England and the Rugby Football Union.
“The playing area was reworked and new drainage and match quality floodlights installed at a cost of over £168,000.
“The new pitches and training area were opened in September 2014 which provided us with almost everything we needed on the one site, although we still continue to have a presence over on Prescot Road.
“With all these new top quality playing and training facilities, we were obviously paying a substantial amount for ground maintenance, so we decided to invest in our own tractor and grass cutting equipment, and, thanks to a grant from Sport England, we were able to purchase a new tractor and some new RFU recommended equipment in 2015.
“Having completed this project, the pressure was on to carry on with the
We have built a strong and secure club, the envy of many Graham ‘Sam’ Cook
club’s development, and in June 2014 we started our ‘Access for All’ Project. We applied to WREN for funding to renovate the front entrance area and toilet facilities including disabled access. After a long-drawn-out series of meetings, our application was accepted and we were able to go ahead with the project, with the new facilities opening in the September 2015.
‘‘Since then – under the leadership of past President Ste Morris – we have started our Tuesday DIY club which looks after all the maintenance requirements, so small repairs don’t get out of hand.
“We have a merry band of senior citizens who work so hard, and we have just completed the installation of a new uPVC ceiling in the shower area.’’
Sam continued: ‘‘Of course, as we all know, 2020 is a year which we all want to forget.
“Things have been very difficult for all clubs, and we have been very fortunate to get fantastic financial support from a number of sources including; local government, players, members and sponsors.
“Previous president John Loughnane also started a crowdfunding campaign last May which raised over £16,000!
“This fund has been used for new heating and air-conditioning in the function room. By doing things like this, those who donated to the crowdfunding appeal can see what we have achieved thanks to their kind generosity.
“Whilst we have been able to meet the challenges of the last year the future is not so certain. It looks like it will be September before we see any rugby, and whilst the club may open in the not-toodistant future, I fear social distancing will be with us for some time, so the ability to raise much needed revenue might still be seriously impacted.
“I just hope we see all our players back out on the playing field soon and that they have not found alternative things to do on a Saturday afternoon. In short, it will be great to welcome back all our members to enjoy all the craic that we have all come to enjoy over the years. And, for me, it cannot come soon enough.”
The last word was saved for club president Martin Griffiths who was gushing in his praise for the current treasurer.
“Sam has been an active member of the club for many years. In his current role, he has helped the committee to keep a close watch on spending as well as identifying available grants and other funding opportunities, and his expertise during the pandemic has been invaluable”