Dear Millwallians

We’re encouraging all members, as well as your family and friends, to take advantage of a new offer created between the RFU and Amazon that lets you watch England Rugby for free in the Autumn Nations Cup, while also creating much needed revenue for the club.   

The Quilter Internationals kick off this Saturday and will be streamed online via  Amazon Prime. To help grassroots clubs generate revenue, Amazon have worked alongside the RFU to open up registration for clubs to become Amazon Associates.    

This means the club will now receive £3 for every member of the community who signs up to Amazon on a free one-month trial through our club’s unique Associates link below.   

PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU USE THIS UNIQUE LINK  to sign up for your free one-month trial, otherwise the club won’t benefit from your subscription.  

There is no expectation for members to stay on Prime past the trial period. The club will make £3 from each individual sign-up via the unique link, regardless of whether the member stays on past the trial period or not.  

Every little helps in these challenging times, so please spread this message and our unique URL link far and wide – friends, colleagues and neighbours are all welcome to sign up! 

For further rugby content available on Amazon Prime click here   

Regards

Jodie Botha

Communications Officer

Dear Millwallians

Millwall Rugby Club has launched a fundraising campaign which will run to the end of the year.

Why are we fundraising?

The restrictions put in place as a result of coronavirus have cost us months of competitive rugby, interrupted the celebration of the club’s 25th anniversary and affected two of our primary sources of income: the clubhouse bar and match subs. It has now been confirmed by the RFU that there will be no league fixtures in the 2020/21 season, so this loss of income will continue.

Through the continued financial commitment of those with club memberships, the support of our sponsors and the moves we have taken to control costs we are able to cover the club’s overheads this season. However, we don’t just want to survive, we want rugby on the Isle of Dogs to positively thrive. We want to encourage more children and adults to take up the game and experience the health and social benefits that we have enjoyed. Growing the club in this way requires things such as: investment in coaching, first aid and refereeing courses for volunteers; more fitness and training equipment; replacement of light bulbs and batteries in the portable floodlights we depend on for midweek training; provision of physiotherapists to aid in injury prevention and recovery. Under the current restrictions the bar is not generating the money it usually would to spend in these areas, so it is our responsibility to investigate sources of alternative funding.

After consideration of the options, we have decided to pursue a fund matching scheme run by Sport England. In simple terms this means that, if we can raise £5,000 in a crowdfunding campaign, they may match it with another £2,500. As the campaign is being run by the registered charity Friends Supporting Millwall Rugby Club, we can claim gift aid on contributions by UK taxpayers. So, £10 donated could generate another £7.50 in fund matching and gift aid.

We weighed up the pros and cons of fundraising at this time of year, and we are particularly sensitive to the fact that some people will be in difficult financial circumstances. In the end, the deciding factor has been the need to crowdfund while the Sport England fund matching is available.

Please visit the crowdfunder page for further details. https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/millwall-rugby-club-25th-year-campaign

Fellow Millwallians,

As today marks the start of the second national lockdown, I wanted to give you an update on what this means for Millwall Rugby Club's activities for the next four weeks and beyond.

Last night the RFU confirmed that, as of today, we return to Stage A on the Return to Community Rugby Roadmap, which means that no competitive or formal rugby activities can be undertaken until at least Wednesday 2 December. The club is therefore suspending adult and youth training sessions on Millwall Park for the duration of the current lockdown. 

The closure of all hospitality venues also means that the clubhouse bar will be shut for the duration of the lockdown. 

Looking further ahead, it has been confirmed that the 2020/21 league season has been cancelled for all community clubs in England. The RFU is, however, looking at alternative competition models, which would be entirely optional for clubs and have no impact on promotion or relegation. These proposals are expected to be finalised by the end of next week. As a return to full contact rugby is unlikely until Spring next year at the earliest, the club is also in regular discussions with our local rivals about more fixtures under the modified ‘Ready4Rugby’ touch rules. I was among a group of players who travelled to Ilford Wanderers for a match under these rules his past Saturday and can report that, despite the constraints, it felt great to be on the pitch in a Millwall shirt. 

The club’s fundraising campaign will be running to the end of the year. If you can donate or would like to help the spread the word, more information can be found here: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/millwall-rugby-club-25th-year-campaign

I hope that we will be able to resume some form of rugby activity in December, but this is obviously subject to Government and RFU regulations at the end of the lockdown period.

In the meantime, stay safe and enjoy the international games later this month. 

Toby Sanders

Chairman, Millwall Rugby Club

Fellow Millwallians

I hope you are all well. Although I don’t yet have the pleasure of announcing the start date for league matches, there has been progress on various fronts in the last month, which I detail below.

Club captain

Following discussion between the playing chairs, our Youth Chair Scott Vinnicombe has been appointed Club Captain for the 2020/21 season. As both a player and a coach, Scott has been a wonderful servant to Millwall Rugby Club down the years: his place on the honours board is well deserved. 

Return to rugby

We are now at Stage D on the RFU return to rugby roadmap, which allows a limited amount of contact in training in addition to the 10v10 touch rugby which has been allowed since August.  As a lifelong member of the front row union I regret to report that scrums, mauls and contested lineouts remain prohibited in training until we reach Stage E.

The RFU confirmed to member clubs last week that organised rugby training and touch rugby matches are exempt from the 6 person limit on gatherings that was introduced on Monday.

Now that Millwall Park has become less busy on weekday evenings, Men’s training sessions have returned to their usual time of 7.30pm on Monday and Wednesdays. Venus training sessions are now also running on both Monday and Wednesday, from 7pm. The enforced break from competitive matches is a great opportunity to improve our technique and work on our gameplans, so I encourage anyone who is able to do so to come down to training. It is, however, absolutely essential that every adult player attending a training session fills out a Covid self-assessment on the club website: https://www.millwallrugby.com/training-s2021-1

Youth training recommenced on 6 September, with an encouraging number of new players in some age groups. Like last season, we are looking to encourage current players in the adult teams to help out with coaching the youth sides. If you're interested, please speak to one of the playing chairs (email addresses below). 

Taster sessions

This week the club is hosting taster sessions for potential new players and would really appreciate your help in promoting these to your friends, family, neighbours and colleagues. If you are part of any residents’ groups on social media that would be a great place to share the flyer (attached to this email). These will be free and fun training sessions providing an opportunity for those new to rugby or those who have played before to get to know the game a bit better and, if they like what they see, join our friendly and social club.

All levels are welcome, no experience required: all that participants need to bring is clothing suitable for exercise and a pair of trainers or boots. As with all training at Millwall Rugby Club, all sessions will run according to RFU COVID-19 guidelines. The timings are as follows:

Wednesday 23 September

• 7-8.30pm Ladies Taster Session

Sunday 27 September:

• 11am-12:30pm Youth Taster Session

• 1:30pm to 3pm: Men and Ladies Taster Session

If you – or anyone you know – would like to come along to one of these sessions, just message one of playing chairs, who can send you more information and sign you up for the relevant session.

Men’s chair: Shek Palit menschair@millwallrugby.com

Ladies’ chair: Meg Over ladieschair@millwallrugby.com

Youth chair: Scott Vinnicombe youthchair@millwallrugby.com

Clubhouse bar opening

There were a few successful nights of trial opening of the clubhouse bar in August and September, including after training last Wednesday. The clubhouse currently has a members-only maximum capacity of 33, with no more than 6 people to a table and no moving between tables or moving chairs to another table. These restrictions are far from ideal for such a social club as ours, but they are now expressly required by law and are unlikely to be loosened before the end of the year given the current prevalence of coronavirus. Nonetheless, I encourage those who live locally to come down for a drink – keep an eye on the club’s social media channels for opening times.

I have not completely given up hope that, when I next write to the club's membership in October, we will have some indication of when league fixtures can begin. In the meantime, the best any of us can do is to keep ourselves fit and healthy. 

Best regards

Toby Sanders

Chairman

Preseason info for S2020/21

FROM SEPTEMBER 2020 - PHASE D

MILLWALL PARK

LADIES - WEDNESDAY'S FROM 19.30

MEN - MONDAY & WEDNESDAY’S FROM 19.30

The RFU has now moved to Stage D on its Return to Rugby Roadmap, meaning we can bring in 15 minutes of restricted contact (small group tackling and rucking drills) into training, alongside non-contact drills and touch rugby. Contact your Playing Chair directly should you have any questions or comments:

• Meg Over, Ladies Chair - ladieschair@millwallrugby.com

• Shek Palit, Men’s Chair - menschair@millwallrugby.com

GUIDELINES FOR ATTENDING OPTIONAL TRAINING

Please find below the guidelines that must be followed during training sessions. These guidelines will be regularly updated in line with RFU guidance and any updates with be communicated with you. Please ensure you read these guidelines carefully. By attending training, you agree to understanding and following these guidelines.

KEY PRINCIPLES

• Players should only return to training once they are comfortable / able - there is no pressure for everyone to return yet.

• Players must submit a COVID-19 self-assessment form before each training session, before arriving at the session.

• This form confirms you plan to attend the session, and also asks you to confirm that you have not experienced certain COVID-19 symptoms. If you are not sure if you will be able to make a training session, submit one anyway. If you answer yes to any of the questions, you must not attend training.

• Players are discouraged from using public transport to attend training. Run / cycle / drive if possible.

• Players are encouraged to bring their own hand sanitiser for use before / during / after training.

• Hand sanitiser will also be provided by the club for use at training.Players are strongly encouraged to bring their own water bottle.

• There will be no water provided by the club, and no sharing of bottles is permitted.

• Players are also encouraged to bring a towel to wipe off sweat.

• There is now limited access to the clubhouse before and after sessions. Players will be allowed to drop off kit / bags and use the toilet at the start and end of sessions only. You will not be able to access the clubhouse if you arrive late / leave early.

• Players are still encouraged to arrive at training ready in kit.

• Players must maintain social distancing before, during and after training, except whilst playing touch rugby / completing drills

• .Equipment will be cleaned before, during and after sessions. A clean ball will be swapped in every 15 minutes during the session, and players encouraged to sanitise their hands.

• Players should avoid touching their face.

• Players should avoid spitting in the training area.

Have a question in the meantime or just want to find out more? Click here to drop us a line.