THERE was a full house of former players and club members for a Sportsman’s Dinner at Ledbury RFC to launch the official history of the club 130 Years – A Game of Two Halves.

The main event of the evening was a highly entertaining speech from Bill Beaumont, chairman of the Rugby Football Union and the Six Nations introduced by Ian Beer, his headmaster at Ellesmere College and former president of the Rugby Football Union.

The 220ppage book has proved extremely popular with ex players – with one individual ordering seven copies alone.

Copiously illustrated with pictures, Ian Stoddart, the editor has brought off a formidable achievement, pulling together more than 100 contributors, over the last 12 months. Sales of the book have been brisk, with only a few copies left from the original limited edition issued with a commemorative DVD.

Contributors to the book from as far back as the 1940s were present including Bill Masefield and then into the fifties and sixties, with Chalky White, Martin Hooper and then a whole raft of players from the 1980s, such as Robert Kerr, Phil Stearn and even former Malvern RFC player Martin Pocock.

Marstons generously sponsored the event and in turn Bill Beaumont was sent home with a cheque for £500 for the Injured Players Fund – the charity set up to assist rugby players injured playing the game, which Ledbury RFC has made a point of supporting whenever possible.

The event was one of the biggest staged at the club and a huge credit to the organisers, managing to feed and water so many old friends in such a convivial manner!