By Lee Taylor
Back in 1988, before many of the current players were even born, a small band of Castle Donington's lads used to travel to Melbourne to play their Rugby. The Landlord of the Cross Keys at the time was Graham England, a massive Rugby fan. Lee Taylor, a very young Mark Leavesley and the ageless Chris Willey, had long been talked about starting a Castle Donington Rugby Club, but as most beer banter it had never reached fruition. Graham said to Lee, "When are we actually getting this team that you do so much talking about?" We don't have any kit ! was all the drunken "Taylor" could think of in reply. "No problem" replied Graham, "I will buy it". Backed into a corner, and with Leavesley pledging his total support, Castle Donington Rugby Club was born.
With no pitch, no kit and barely six players, arrangements were underway. A few colour combinations were discussed and the now famous "Red and Black quarters" were unanimously chosen. Shirts ordered and paid for, recruiting players to fill them began in earnest. Graham Played a large part in this, accosting any large bloke who entered the pub with his persuasive manner, several Melbourne players, lent their services and we had a Rugby Team.
The Community College pitch was booked and the first match arranged against "West Bridgeford" on a Sunday morning. With most of Donington never meeting before, and several players having not played for years, hopes were not too high as West Bridgeford turned up with a mixture of First and Second Team (they ran four teams). A tremendous game of Rugby ensued, with Donington ending up victorious. Donington won 18-13, with Dave Kyle scoring all 18 points.
Two more Sunday games were played in that first season with Donington drawing 0-0 against Ashby and narrowly losing to Melbourne.
Back in those days Sunday morning Rugby was very popular, allowing Saturday workers an opportunity to play, but more commonly made up of Saturday players. Hangovers were wonderful for masking yesterday's aches and the bruising had not had time to come out yet. Pub teams were very common, although you never knew who would turn up. We often played against ex England Internationals such as Steve Redfern.
The original Donington team was going to be called the "Cross Keys" but Graham insisted on us being called "Castle Donington" in case we ever changed pubs. (A venue that hasn't changed to this day). A badge was next on the list, several ideas were submitted and an amalgamation of the best two, a Castle representing Castle Donington, and a pair of Keys in honour of the Cross Keys were drawn up. The second season saw an influx of new players joining the club with the likes of Adrian "Moose" Hackett and Kev "Spud" Wood. A full season of Sunday fixtures was played and the club went from strength to strength. It was decided that the club were strong enough to move to Saturday's for the third season with the hope of joining the newly formed leagues. The RFU in their wisdom would not allow Donington into the league until they had fulfilled a season of Saturday "friendly's" as many teams had formed and quickly disbanded.
1991 saw Donington enter division 5 of the Notts, Lincs and Derby league, but this was not without a lot of debating and arguing with the RFU because Castle Donington is geographically in Leicestershire, so they wanted us to join the " Leicester" league. The main problem was in those days the nearest Leicester division 5 team was about fifty miles away. Eventually we got our own way. 1991 was a great year for Donington, We ventured on our first Tour to Norwich, occasionally put out a second team and continued to build a strong player base.
England reaching the final of the World Cup generated incredible interest, and brought us an unbelievable amount of new players. We went from an occasional second team to a consistent, strong second team, with replacements for both teams. Success followed success and Donington quickly climbed up through the league system, leapfrogging local rivals Melbourne as they dropped from division 1 to 2. Donington had become the Premier Team in the area, above all of our local rivals including Long Eaton, Belper, Rolls Royce and East Leake. In a few years we had gone from a " Sunday Pub Team" to NLD division 1 "Top Dogs".
In 1993 during the summer, a six foot two man with a "mullet" hairstyle came along and professed to be a "Fly half". In those days we were training at Castle Donington power station (demolished in 1995). Twenty minutes into his first match we were awarded a penalty just inside our own half. "I fancy that !" proclaimed the mullet. I remember wondering what tis he talking about? He kicked the ball cleanly between the posts, and it was still rising as it went through! "The Flying Mullet" was a man by the name of "Steve Ellis", and was the most complete Rugby player that I have had the honour of playing alongside. Steve brought moves to the Club that were unheard of even at international level in those days. Steve tackled harder than any back row forward, chip kicked into corners for the wingers to run in simple tries, but could kick penalties anywhere in the oppositions half. There have been many other fantastic players for Donington, but Steve was more inspirational than any other before or after him. Steve brought out the best in everyone, it was an amazing confidence boost to know that any opposition infringement would automatically gain you three points. Ironically Steve was a man of few words, but when he spoke, everyone listened.
No success story happens by itself, and a well oiled machine only runs smoothly if it is constantly maintained. The Club has been fortunate enough to have had a fantastic army of admin, working tirelessly behind the scenes. People will talk for many years about memorable games, victories, defeats, tries, tours and the men who carved out the history of the club, and rightly so, but take a moment to appreciate the men and women who make it all happen.
Around 1994, two Australians joined the club and started a chain reaction. "Darren and Jason" played for a couple of seasons, contributing considerably in the Clubs rise through the leagues, but their contribution was far greater than just that! On their return home, contact with the Club continued and an alliance was formed. Many of our boys (and a few girls) travelled the distance to a "Land down under", several even made it their home. Our lads played Rugby with their "Antipodean" comrades and forged some tremendous friendships. For several years a steady supply of Aussies made the pilgrimage to Castle Donington to play for the great Club.
At a time when a lot of Donington's "elder statesmen" were reaching their "sell by dates", a steady influx of Aussies was a much needed shot in the arm, especially as the Club was playing at the highest level in its history. For several seasons Donington enjoyed the benefits of our Aussie Allies, but like all good things, it came to an end and another chapter in our history came to a close.
Without many of our experienced players, and playing in Midlands 4, Donington began to suffer some humiliating results. Rugby in general was suffering, and most of our local rivals had suffered the same fate.
The very same clubs that we had aspired to be like, Melbourne, Long Eaton, East Leake and others were dropping down the leagues, and Donington were to follow in their footsteps once again.
A Brief foray into Junior Rugby was short lived as a lot of our potential players were lured to the attraction of the now, regrouping Melbourne, with their academy and the promise of regular games. However without realising at the time, seeds were sown and we currently have four or five very promising players playing for our adult first team ( two are sons of the original team ). A lot of new players came and went, who in any other era would have probably made the grade, but a team in decline, playing at a very high level was no place for young blood.
"You can't keep a good man down". The same applies to a good team. With only a handful of the players from the "Old school" remaining, Donington had two choices, SINK OR SWIM! Tirelessly Mark Leavesly pushed, pulled and generally bullied people into playing for the Club. (I very much doubt that the Club will ever see such devotion and commitment again). The Club had reached rock bottom, and the building process started once again. Mark was determined that his beloved club was not going to sink.
After a brief stabilising period, Donington started attracting new players and a loyal group of “Diehards” such as Dan Keeling, Moose, Mark Body, Spud, Rick Bentley and several others stuck around and moral started to grow. Darren Summers,took over captaincy, and became the longest serving Captain in the clubs history.) The Club decided to enter the "Pennant League", where they could regroup and bring new players on. Only able to run one team it would have been suicidal to continue playing in the now restructured league. Mark took on the role of Coach, and soon the Club started to believe in itself again, winning pennant league 4 and coming runners up in the cup. The Following year saw them finishing third in pennant league 3 and once again runners up in the cup.
Mark Laxton had a couple of great seasons as Captain, leading from the front until Kallan Keenan took over, where he led the boys to win the Top Penant Championship “UNDEFEATED” and only losing to Derby 2nd in the Semi Final of the County Cup.
In 2023, the Club was strong enough and ready to step up back into the Full League. Unfortunately the “RFU” were once again pedantic and refused to allow CDRUFC to take their rightful place back in the “Notts, Lincs & Derby” League, forcing them to play in the Leicestershire/Northampton League. Donington accepted the challenge, finishing a fantastic fourth in the league. Defeating every team in the league at least once except the eventual winners. 2024 sees CDRUFC reinstated back in their rightful “NLD” league, where they will be led by Josh Butler against our old rivals!
