Eccles RFC are proud of their reputation of producing Home Grown players.
From humble beginnings on the banks of the ship canal, our club survived two world wars and has now thrived to over 500 members and 20 teams for Minis, Juniors, Girls, Ladies, Colts and Men. The green pitches of Gorton Street are full every weekend, our floodlit 3G training pitch is in use almost night of the week, our DofE award programme has earned national recognition and our coaching standards are second to none. But has our effort and investment in Junior rugby paid off? Well, we're certainly doing something right.
In 2019 our Senior Colts won their divisional championship title and lifted the Lancashire and Cheshire Colts League Senior Plate, but more importantly for the club, 11 of them made their senior debut in the Navy and White hoops that season. The names of our former U18s are now not found across the weekly team sheets of all our Eccles Mens and Ladies team but also populating the team sheets for Lancashire County, Sale Sharks Academy and England! Our Junior programme regularly produces talented young players and we are delighted to see our young men and young women progress beyond an Eccles senior shirt to play at the highest possible representative or professional level.
So how do we manage to cultivate and retain such a rich harvest of talented youth, year after year? Well, it’s a path we committed to some time ago. ‘Home Grown’ is in our veins and roots. Many players that flourish here as youths, remain here as adults to continue the good work. It’s no surprise that several members of our club committee began their association with Eccles RFC as colt and junior players themselves, many decades ago.
With over 125 years of history behind us, Eccles RFC remains a resilient, ambitious, progressive, inclusive community club, run by dedicated volunteers and we welcome support from organisations who share our ambition, principles and passion. If you’d like to know more about sponsorship opportunities please drop us a line at sponsorship@ecclesrfc.org.uk
If you’d like to know more about how we develop our players and our plans for future growth please email info@ecclesrfc.org.uk or contact our Director of Rugby Sam Simpson on 07935 403171.
