Try-happy Bees are buzzing for crack at promotion

BIRMINGHAM & Solihull head of rugby Pete Glackin insists the dark days are over as his fast-improving side gun for promotion from the Midlands Premier League on the back of the best points scoring record anywhere in levels one to five.

Bees, who famously defeated Premiership champions Wasps in a Powergen Cup tie in 2004, fell into steep decline during the late Noughties, nearly going bust before a series of relegations saw them reach a nadir of National Three rugby in 2015.

However, since then the Portway outfit has stabilised and under former Bees full-back Glackin, who was recruited in 2016 after a six-year coaching stint at Coventry, a fifthplace finish last season laid foundations for a concerted promotion push.

Glackin, who also heads Wasps’ academy education programme at Coventry College, told TRP: “We’ve got a bit of success going on the field and a lot of that is down to our chairman, Chris Loughran, whose support has been paramount.

“He put a lot of time into ensuring the club survived, especially during those really tough times from a few years back. It’s a nice reward for him to see us doing well and, as a former player, it’s great to see us heading in a positive direction again.

“It was perfect timing for me coming here last year. Coventry were under new management and I was ready for a lead role somewhere else, so it’s great to have had the opportunity to put some structures in place and kick-start a Bees revival.

“We’re creating a pathway for age grade players into our senior teams to make this club sustainable again.”

Having seen his side score 576 points at an average of 52 per game prior to yesterday’s visit of Peterborough, Glackin added: “We’re starting to win back some of our lost support and people are following us away in decent numbers again.

“We’ve done nothing yet but we have ambitions to get back to a higher level and are desperate to succeed.”