It's great to get the season underway after the decision to delay the start due to the dry and dangerous state that most grass roots rugby pitches were in because of the drought. As a club we fully supported the RFU decision and we are relieved that we have now had sufficient rain to make our pitches playable and safe.

We have looked at how we might mitigate the problem should we continue to have very dry summers. Watering pitches from our supply is too costly but we are looking at the viability of installing a bore hole, something which Driffield and Malton & Norton have done. The cost would be in the region of £30,000, therefore not a decision to be taken lightly.

We had a great season in 25/26 with our women’s team winning NC3 and moving into a very competitive NC2 this season, my best wishes to Katrina Stanton and the team. The men’s First Team agonisingly missed out on promotion when we lost the play off final at York, by 4 points. Considering that we started the season as relegation favourites, the team did us proud. This season the Panthers will play in the RFU leagues for the first time, joining Counties 3 A Yorkshire. This gives them a full season of fixtures, many against the First teams of other clubs. We wish them well.

Work at the club has been relentless throughout the close season with a number of welcome improvements around the place these include;

A refresh of our drinks range at the bar including the reintroduction of Yorkshire Blonde bitter, the return of Theakston’s bitter and the introduction of two new lagers, Porretti and the excellent Mittel. Mittel is brewed at the Pivovar brewery in Elvington and we are proud to add Pivovar to our list of suppliers. We also offer Dusty’s alcoholic ginger beer on draft, a very refreshing drink also courtesy of Pivovar

After sustained feedback about our wine choices we have introduced a new wine list, with a choice of 10 good quality wines to suit all palates at competitive prices.

The Men’s toilets have had a makeover thanks to Barry and Jo Winter’s work over the summer, ably supervised by Dave Gibson

We have just taken delivery of a set of robotic mowers courtesy of Stiga via the RFU. This will save valuable volunteer time in keeping the grass cut and save wear and tear on the conventional mower.

For the first time we have moved away from a printed programme and you will be able to access the matchday programme on your phone by scanning the relevant QR code inside the clubhouse

Our fixture cards for the season are now available in the clubhouse and at some of our local pubs. This year they carry the Women’s and Panthers fixtures in addition to those for the Men’s First Team.

Our gym project at Kilnwick Park has moved forward considerably and the building is now almost complete, it looks great. This has been possible because of the success of our “Raise the Bar” ball in November and a generous donation from a former player. Details of next May’s “Raise the Bar” ball will be out shortly.

Finally I would like to welcome our new main sponsors from Bond International. After a decade of very generous support from Catfoss Finance our main sponsorship brands will be Churchill Tyres and tyresavings.com . We look forward to greeting the Bond’s team to Percy Road throughout the season.