The covid lockdowns of the past 14 months have been miserable. Now that restrictions are beginning to lift, and rugby and social activites have returned to the club, we're determined to make the most of our facilities (and freedoms) over the 'sunny' months ahead.
A much abbreviated rugby season will conclude Monday 31st May, but this does not mean that we all say goodbye to the Club for the Summer. On the contrary, we plan to offer a number of activities to members right through June, July and August with a summer season of sporting events for the whole family.
Touch Rugby will continue on Saturday mornings and Walking Rugby will continue on Monday nights. Alongside this we'll giving Rugby Golf a go on Saturay afternoons and Sundays will see us enjoying Football and Softball. There will be stacks of sports action to enjoy on our screens too with the British & Irish Lions Tour, England summer Internationals, the Challenge Cup Final, the UEFA European Championship and the Olympics all squeezing into the schedule!
Naturally with all this activity you'll need to quench your thirst! Thankfully the clubhouse is now able to reopen its doors to provide hospitality. Customers can advance book thier table in Parcheggio using this link ECCLES RFC TABLE BOOKING Your confirmation must be shown on arrival and customers must log in using the NHS app QR and remain seated to order, drink, eat and pay. If everything stays on-track we hope all socialising restrictions will end on Monday 21 June.
All our proposed Summer Activity has been complied into an easy reference chart for your fridge door here 
Download
You'll see there are preliminary dates for presentation events and the Ladies Brunch in July and our Beer & Gin Festival in August. Please note as details are confirmed over the coming weeks, dates may change and this schedule will be reissued.
So, the flip flops are out but we're not putting our feet up! There's lots for you to enjoy at your club this summer.
JUNE
During June we plan to switch to that funny round-shaped ball in support of England at the Euros!
Sunday 6th June, we invite our Minis players to play football instead of rugby in an age-group tournament and we'll have some Dads-n-Lads games too! Parents are invited to support and weather permitting families can bring picnics to dine al fresco on the luxuriant Peel Green turf. The bar will open at noon, with the BBQ standing by if the sun shines. On the same day, the club will host a Mini Warrior Rugby event for the Girls. We expect both events to be popular and will be following the guidelines with regard to restricting numbers within the Clubhouse. Tables will of course be available outside.
JULY
In July our pitches will be hosting touch rugby, football and softball (a new Olympic sport this summer), whilst our clubhouse will be bouncing with Player presentation evenings, and a packed schedule of big sports events to enjoy on the screens.
2nd July - 11 July we'll have the final stages of the UEFA European championships, with England falling just short of glory, probably.
23 July - 8 August Tokyo will stage the 32nd Olympic Games, where Great Britain's athletes will seek to improve on the 67 medals (27 golds) they won at Rio 2016. Tokyo is +8 hours ahead of the UK so many of the events will be take place in the early hours or at breakfast and the club will aim to record and replay later in the day. The Mens Rugby 7s commence Sunday 25 July with the finals on Wednesday 28 July. The womens Rugby 7s start on Thursday 29 July with the finals on Saturday 31 July. The athletics start on Friday 30 July.
While the Olympics are in full swing, the British and Irish Lions will be stretching every sinew in their quest to beat world champions South Africa in a three-Test series for the first time since 1997. Saturday 24 July looks to be an especially demanding day for our bar volunteers with the both the Ladies Brunch and the 1st Lions test draining the reserves! Further Lions Tests will kick off at 5pm on Saturday 31 July and Saturday 7 August.
These are the highlight dates so far for July. Please check out the schedule above and follow the club's social media for the latest news.
AUGUST
August will see the return of Rugby with pre-season training and Junior & Senior friendlies and in the clubhouse we can look forward to watching the decisive British & Irish Lions tests against the Sprinboks, PLUS August also sees the return of the famous fund-raising ECCLES BEER & GIN FESTIVAL.
This year we hope to make up for loosing the event to COVID last year by expanding the festival format to 3 days - Friday 20th, Saturday 21st, Sunday 22nd August - with something different to offer each day and plans are underway to incorporate Live Music and an invitational Mens Rugby Tournament to commemorate '100 years of Hoops' as attractions to the refreshments. Many of the festival participants will be local breweries and distilleries so as well as supporting the club we'll be celebrating products of our community's homegrown talent. Please make a note of the date. Full details will be announced in due course.
