- Pre-season match schedule - four major fixtures!
- Date for the diary - AGM Tuesday, 22nd June at ODP
- 2021/22 season Memberships available in June - prices held for the coming season
- New LW website coming very soon
- Goodbye to our London Welsh hero John Dawes
- John Taylor becomes LW sole President
- WRU tickets for autumn internationals, deadline 26th June
- Ken Rees, LW Captain and war hero honoured
- Partnership announced between the LW Hub and Swansea University
- Podcasts take a break - back soon for the new season!
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The return of the Dragons - London Welsh 1st XV pre-season matches
Although the pandemic all but wiped-out sport including our beloved rugby for many months, since the beginning of the lockdowns, London Welsh have been preparing for the 2021/22 season. This has resulted in our success in arranging an exciting and spectacular series of pre-season fixtures to start our playing year with a very big bang!
The fixtures include classic matches with some old friends in Wales, and also some new names that will provide a difficult but great challenge for the 2021/22 squad as we continue our journey, climbing back through the league structure.
Pre- Season 2021/22 Fixtures
31 July
London Welsh 1st XV v Pontypridd RFC
London Welsh Druids v Llantwit Fardre RFC
Sardis Road, Pontypridd
14 August
London Welsh v Bracknell RFC
London Welsh Druids v Bracknell Stags
Lily Hill Park, Bracknell RFC
21 August
London Welsh v Brighton RFC
London Welsh Druids v Brighton A
Waterhall Road, Brighton
28 August
London Welsh v Cardiff RFC
London Welsh Druids v Eastern Counties Select XV
Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff
Details will follow from the London Welsh Supporters Club as to match day travel, Supporters Club transport and surrounding events. We will keep Members, supporters and our community fully updated as the pre-season kicks off.
For more background on the fixtures, and to read our Director of Rugby, Cai Griffiths’s thoughts on the pre-season fixtures and the 2021/22 LW 1 st XV Squad, visit our website.
London Welsh Are Coming!
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London Welsh RFC 2021 AGM
A date for your diaries. The LW AGM will be held on Tuesday, 22nd June at Old Deer Park. For our Members, this is the biggest opportunity of the year to hear from the Board about the developments and progress made during the months of lockdown, what can be expected from the upcoming season and also gives the chance to question the Board on the future of our glorious London Welsh RFC!
Further details of the evening, including the start time and any guidelines re Covid restrictions if then applicable, will be publicised on our website and social media in the near future.
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New Season Memberships
Full details of the 2021/22 Membership packages will be released next month, the good news is that prices will remain the same as last season.
We will notify you when Memberships are available to purchase - London Welsh thank you for all your support, particularly throughout a year when little competitive rugby has been possible. Without this support we would not have been able to progress our challenging five year journey and to continue to make London Welsh history - Thank You!
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New season - new London Welsh website!
One development that has been ongoing since before the pandemic hit in 2020, is the establishment of a new website to replace our current one, which is rather unwieldy and no longer fits our purpose.
As we progress along our journey, we need a website wlhich is more flexible for our needs, and promotes London Welsh as a truly professional organisation in the amateur game. We are aiming to launch the new site prior to our AGM in June, and will take the time at the AGM to explain more about this important new step into our future at this meeting.
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Remembering a London Welsh hero - the passing of John Dawes
April 2021 was an incredibly sad time for all the London Welsh family, with the passing of our Co-President, John Dawes.
John was a giant in the world of rugby, a true hero and legend in Welsh and Lions rugby, and a dearly loved and loving friend for all of us here at London Welsh.
John's funeral was held at Llandaff Catherdral on Thursday, 6th May, a link to which can be found here on our website, and also London Welsh's tribute to John.
John Dawes - 1940 - 2021
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John Taylor
Following on from the sad passing of London Welsh Co-President John Dawes, John Taylor, John's Co-President since 2018, will be taking over the helm of London Welsh as sole President.
As a Club we are blessed to have had many of the World’s greatest names grace the turf at Old Deer Park over the years – John Taylor is no exception to this. John takes charge of a Club galvanised and focused following four out of five years in our Five Year Plan, after our reset in 2017. John is raring to go as we look to hit the 2021/22 season with the Club strengthened with some exciting new signings and a very challenging pre-season fixture list.
For more on John’s career, please visit our website. We are confident that John will tackle his duties with aplomb and do the memory of his great friend John Dawes proud. John is rugby royalty in the truest sense, and we wish him success and much enjoyment in his role over the coming years.
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Wales RFU - Autumn International tickets
Wales RFU are taking on New Zealand, South Africa, Fiji and Australia in their Autumn International campaign, kicking off on 30th October at the Principality Stadium. Tickets are available via ballot, for more information on how to apply and the application form, see our website here - please note that all applications must be received by 26th June! |
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Honour for Ken Rees, LW Captain 1952/53
On Friday.7th May on behalf of London Welsh, Mike Talbot, Director of Operations attended the naming ceremony of a GWR train at Swansea Station. This was in honour of Ken Rees, who was the Captain of our 1st XV in the 1952/53 season.
Ken was a decorated RAF pilot who was shot down during WW II, and subsequently incarcerated at Stalag Luft III, the prison camp immortalised in the film 'The Great Escape'. He was one of the expert tunnellers, and on the night of the escape he was in the tunnel but did not escape as they were discovered before he could exit. He was lucky in many respects, as 50 of the 80 who escaped were captured and shot.
Ken joined London Welsh in 1950 playing 77 times up to 1953. He had a Welsh National trial, but this " did not go well" according to his own words, as he played with a broken thumb. Ken passed away in 2014 but will be fondly remembered by all at London Welsh for his heroics on and off the field.
A worthy and well earned honour Ken, your #lwfamily are very proud.
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Swansea Metropolitan University and LW Careers Hub go into partnership
We are delighted to announce a new strategic partnership between London Welsh RFC and Swansea University.
The initiative has been forged with the support of the London Welsh RFC Careers HUB, as part of our strategic plan in supporting graduates through to a sustainable work/life balance in London using the Club as a base and springboard.
This will see Swansea graduates and alumni having full access to the Careers HUB Mentoring and Careers Service as we look to facilitate and assist graduates into their careers in London. It includes access to the London Welsh industry database as we ultimately look to support graduates into employment through our strategic partners.
This is the second strategic partnership in a matter of months following confirmation of the London Welsh partnership with Cardiff Metropolitan University (also a BUCS Super Rugby side).
Find out more on this important initiative on our website here, including comments from Club Vice Chairman and Careers HUB lead Haydn Parry, and the Director of Men’s Rugby, Jonathan Shankland.
The Careers HUB can be contacted via Haydn at: haydn.parry@londonwelshrfc.co.uk
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LW Podcasts take a short break
We’ve now created a library of over 50 London Welsh podcasts, so will be taking a break until August when we will be gearing up for the new season! You can catch up on all the podcasts on your favourite streaming platform - they will also be a feature on our brand new website.
New episodes will be available from August to take us through all the action and reaction for the 21/22 season!
#COYW!
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Our office contact details are as follows:
Office: office@londonwelshrfc.com
Playing Rugby: playrugby@londonwelshrfc.com
Telephone: 0203 887 6960
Remember the office does not have permanent staff so don't worry if we don't answer immediately,
Leave a message and we will get back to you
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