By Andy Miller
April 12 2005

If Mr Jillings and his RFU cronies had been with me, upon arriving at a rain and wind-lashed Orrell ground, they may have seen evidence that gives the lie to their ring fencing theories and their dark dealings behind the Twickenham bike sheds. The poor old steward was almost grateful to shove his head and shoulders into the car, to ward off the elements, and say to me ”sorry lad ‘t’ clubhouse is shut” ,
As it was 12:45pm I thought that the main clubhouse entrance had somehow not yet been opened. “No lad, bloody steward has yet to turn up with ‘t’ keys!!!!” fair enough I thought and brother and I trudged off to the local pub. An ordinary enough pub I wasn’t that surprised to see a comfortingly large number of the Blue and White but was rather taken aback by the sight of the Orrell team tucking into their pre-match mushy peas in the corner. Why?? “Because, lad, the bloody steward hasn’t turned up with keys, oh and by the way, we don’t own clubhouse yet, just the team!!!”

So there it was for all to see. What could have happened to our beloved club if things had turned out differently a mere two years ago. By the time we returned to the ground I wouldn’t have been surprised to see some brushwood blowing forlornly across the pitch and Clint Eastwood chewing a cheroot in the corner of the stand (in a very fetching Blue and White poncho I would hope!!!!). Thankfully the “bloody steward” had turned up and the two brand-spanking new bars were choc full of fairly happy, but very anxious, Bristolians staring out of the large expanse of plate glass onto the pitch and feeling (fairly) sorry for the team who were going through their pre-match warm-up in the rain. It was at this point that first thought of dear old Charlie Jillings occurred. There were virtually no Orrell supporters present. Save the committee members, dressed in their match kit of club tie and jacket, there were probably no more than a handful of die-hard Orrell fans who, by the time, we took our place amongst the Bris. Supporters, on the terrace, were looking like startled rabbits suddenly surrounded by hungry wolves. So it dawned on me that if Premier Rugby; RFU et al remove promotion/relegation there would probably have been 20 people present at this match. The anticipation and sheer, pit of the stomach feeling, of being heralded Champions that afternoon had driven large numbers North to experience it. Don’t get me wrong Bristolians and Wiganites love their team but take the compelling reason to travel a few hundred miles north away and you’re left with Clint in charge putting a gun to people’s head and asking whether they feel lucky and would they prefer to watch a meaningless game or wash their hair. Well do ya punk!!! (Yes I know I’ve switched film genres but work with me!!). How many people would have turned up to watch the Coventry/Exeter game if nothing depended upon it…and how many supporters would have crowded around my mobile phone to hear the latest LIVE updates from our man at the same game. I don’t think we need to put these questions to the board do we chaps???

Enough of the rhetoric as this is supposed to be a match report; and so our glorious boys in Blue & White ran into view from behind the stand and started pretty much as they intended to finish, all out and looking to ensure they fulfilled their cup quarter final approach to this game. Richard Hill had said that Orrell could approach the game in one of two ways; either play with abandon as all sense of pressure was now off as they had, unfortunately, already been relegated or look to do a “professional” job on the league leaders and try and take a prized scalp. Fortunately for all true rugby fans it was the former and Orrell played the type of rugby for which that great club has long been renowned. Thus it was that Bristol were pinned back for the first 10 or 12 mins, despite playing with the wind, before Manu Contepomi got things rocking and rolling with a well taken try, duly converted by Jason Strange.
It was good to see the supporters’ favourite Marko on the left wing after a period of cooling his heels in the United side. However such is the way that the squad system works now under Richard Hill that he appeared to seamlessly fit into the playing patterns. I suppose some would say that it’s not that difficult when you’re playing 15-man rugby but this must make recruitment easier. I mean any winger considering joining Plymouth would have had to have Special Forces training; specialising in surviving alone in Artic conditions with only a few blades of grass and toe-nail clippings to keep them going!!! Meanwhile back at the match Beanie Marsden went over for yet another record making try. However Orrell’s persistence then paid off as they out-muscled Bristol for Spragg the fullback to claim a try for the home side. This appeared to galvanise our West Country gladiators into suitable retaliation and Beanie effectively wrapped the match up on the half hour with two further tries and the valued bonus point. The remainder of the half (at least to this rather one-eyed reporter) appeared to be a case of Mr Bigg, the referee, doing his best Tim Beddow impersonation by mysteriously awarding successive penalties against Bristol for various infringements whilst appearing to allow the same misdemeanours to go unpunished against Orrell. However I guess the truth of the matter was that most of us didn’t mind by then, evident by a growing sense that the game, and points, was “in the bag” and the certain knowledge that Ed Morrison is the only refereeing Mr Big.

So it was that attention started to turn to my mobile phone as live feeds started arriving thick and fast from Coventry. By half time we had the somewhat bizarre situation of Bristol supporters trying to assess whether Cov. could protect a 22 point lead, virtually ignoring there were still 40 mins left at Edge Hall against a committed Orrell side. Whatever!!!

Hilly rang the changes from the start of the second half with Neil Clark, Hobbo and Shortie on for the whole half. Whilst it remained rather stop start for the first 10 minutes or so eventually Berrrrrrrrrnardo went over to put any lingering thoughts of an Orrell revival to bed. Hilly seized his chance and brought Danny Gray, Greg and Kohner on for their respective numbers. Is it just me or does Danny appeared to have benefited from his time with Dings etc. Here, and vs. Rotherham, he appeared to give a good account of himself both physically and tactically. Greg, too, seemed to want to put his marker down for future consideration in the Hill and Haag jamboree coming our way next season. The ball continued to do house visits to every player (that’s 15 people Mr Dawe!!) as it pinged from one side of the touchline to the other. Inevitably this resulted in some people not being at home when the ball knocked on their door but as longs as the lights are on we don’t really care!!! Even the curmudgeonly Graham Dawe surely would not, now, admit that Bristol will bring an exciting style of rugby football to the Premiership ??? Come on Graham give us a smile (that’s more like a sneer, Graham)

By this time my mobile was ringing every 5 mins as Exeter, as expected, start their revival. Supporters groan as I relay that Cov. have missed a good chance and sigh with relief when told that Exe. have just hit the post with a penalty attempt. 22-7 goes to 22-10 to 27-17 and if any of the Bristol players were wondering why we were all so quiet in the last 15 minutes of the second half we were each mentally watching a match taking place about 100 miles south. Bristol continued to build their lead with further tries from Beanie, Clarkie and Hobbo but as the latter dived, dolphin-like, over the Orrell line the phone rang again and a somewhat muted cheer greeted Hobbo, as he ran back to the Bristol half for the re-start, having been informed that Exeter had now closed the gap to 27-22. The rest of the Bristol game became a blur as ALL attention now focussed upon telephones. “What does it mean if Exe. get a bonus point only ?“; “are we champions if it stays that score?” . Barrack room lawyers now stand and deliver their verdict of their interpretation of the RFU rules on promotion from Div. One. Whilst there aren’t too many counsel for the prosecution, because everyone wants to believe that promotion has happened, there does appear to be a decision upon which the jury must deliver a verdict i.e. is it number of wins or is it points difference.
If phones were allowed in courtrooms (and courtrooms were windy, rain-swept terraces….keep working with me!!!!) then a Raymond Chandler novel could not have timed the ringing of my phone any better with the news that full-time had now been reached at Coventry, the score remaining 27-22 in their favour. The jury then delivered an instantaneous and unanimous verdict as the biggest cheer of the afternoon went up to herald Bristol’s return to the Premiership. To a man every Bristol player turned and stared at the terraces from whence said cheer had come and THEY KNEW. You could tell that they didn’t have to be told individually they just knew that all the hard graft, pain, tears and re-building that makes Bristol RFC the great club it was and is right now had, in that instant, been re-paid.


So in one afternoon we, as Bristol supporters, had seen the past and the future. Visiting a wonderful, but troubled, club like Orrell has shown what might have happened to Bristol a couple of seasons ago and by the full time whistle it was almost as if the entire season had been played out that afternoon culminating in the knowledge that Bristol had re-claimed it’s place amongst the so-called elite of English rugby.

Bristol, with a different throw of the dice, could have gone the same way as Orrell but had, instead, risen phoenix like from the ashes of the previous tenure and experience in the premiership. So Scrooge Jillings if the ghost of rugby past and future comes to visit you one night soon take good note of what you are shown. It’s no coincidence that your club, Bath, and Gloucester were all FULL last weekend. It’s no coincidence that the players all hugged each other when they got a and when you are shown the future it explains why all those Bristolians are surrounding your house making your life a misery!!! I know it’s easy to sound rather sanctimonious now that promotion has been achieved but I really think and believe that the whole experience, of the last 2—3 years, has benefited Bristol. “No gain without pain they say”, “you don’t appreciate something until you’re in danger of losing it”…both true but here’s the point all you sugar daddies and so called businessmen in the premiership…..if your club truly represents its city or region then you have the biggest responsibility of all. No that’s NOT to increase profits but to safeguard and be the guardian of the SOUL of that club. If you sell that soul to the financial devil then you have nothing upon which to re-build the club (or business if you still insist upon calling it that). If, however, you protect and nurture it’s soul you show the supporters, the players, the management and even your fellow board members that there is something in which they can still believe, still follow and still invest an emotional AND financial attachment in. Because without that you have a shell, an empty vessel or a South Sea Island bubble all waiting to burst. So if you want to direct your investment into something that will last and give you true return look after your clubs heart and soul. We know ‘cos we’ve been there, done it and we’re just about to buy the t-shirts (see even that’s good for business!!!). If you look after your club’s soul then IT WILL SURVIVE. It will come back up, if you get relegated, because the supporters, players and management can see that a club has a soul and will want to be involved with that and do their best for that club.

If the truth be known I, for one, will miss this Division. Why ?? Because I will miss visiting “real” rugby clubs like Orrell, Otley, Bedford et al. Friendly, knowledgeable supporters, tickets available on the gate and a welcoming clubhouse, win or lose. But just consider the one thing that all these clubs have in common. They all have a soul. Even Orrell, dumped like a jilted lover by their sugar daddy owner, have been able to search through the emotional rubbish bin that filled to overfull over this season and have come up trumps. Because they found it’s heart still beating in amongst the scrunched up trashed balance sheets and cash flow forecasts. The owner was clearly uninterested in love and affairs of the heart but he has, at least, given the supporters and management back their soul from which they can and, in my opinion, will re-build. I’m certain that we haven’t seen the last of Orrell and I think that’s a good thing for rugby. And hey if we get relegated from the premiership again it doesn’t matter. We’ve got soul, brother.

Rugby is a sport; it’s not a business in the meaning that you “owners” are seeking to portray, because it has a soul. Take it from several thousand Bristol supporters who have been allowed to re-connect with their local club and have re-formed an emotional attachment with a club whose beating heart and soul chants Brisssssstol, Brisssssstol, Brissssstol.

Now where that’s “bloody steward” I need a drink!!!!