Focus on home grown at Rossy
ROSSENDALE RUFC chairman Nick Ingham will spend the last few days of 2018 reflecting on a year of development at the Marl Pits club.
The first team’s performance in North Premier has been impressive while there has also been progress off the field.
He said: “We’re quite content with it, really. It was a tough start to this season, we played against top teams and I think to be fourth as we are is a great achievement.”
Creating opportunities for young, local players is a top priority for the club over the next year, with the gap between the first and second team diminishing according to Ingham.
“We didn’t go out looking for any new players or anything like that, I think we were happy with the team we had last season,” he said. “We’ve got to have a pathway where the younger members can work their way into the first squad. When we first set out in this league we did bring in a few outside players, but the majority of them stayed within Rossendale and are still involved in the club. So next year we need to give some attention and development again to the future of the club.”
Rossendale finished the year on a high going the whole of December unbeaten.
One of their December fixtures included an away win at Alnwick – only their second away win of the 18/19 season.
Ingham felt this game was a particular highlight for the club.
“We had a long way to travel to get a win up there, we were only the second team to have won there this season. I think that was an outstanding performance.
“I think as well to have earlier on in the season beaten Hull who are now quite easily top of the league was a good start. But overall, the main thing is that there is a good spirit in the club and it showed when we came back from Alnwick. We’ve got a good spirit, that’s what pulls us through a few tight games. The lads have stuck together and ground out results. It is a tough league!”
Ingham’s team are currently sitting in fourth place in the North Premier League, and finished last season in fifth spot back in May.
Whilst they are competing amongst the front runners, promotion is not a priority for them.
“I think we’ve just got to consolidate as a club,” added Ingham. “We like this league, a couple of years ago we had an opportunity to move up a league, but I think that would’ve been a step too far for Rossendale. This is the league that we’re happy in, and I think we’ve got to maintain that.”
The chairman is hoping to improve the club’s prospects even further next year.
“I’m happy with the support we’ve had this year and we get some good sponsors coming on the wagon,” he said. “Over the summer we’re hoping to redo the kitchen and the clubhouse and generate more that way.”
‘This is the league we are happy in and we’ve just got to maintain that’