During this unprecedented time which has led to the early conclusion of the 2019/20 season, we are producing a series of fortnightly Friday features about people and groups at Chinnor RFC Thame. First under the spotlight is The Friday Club ...

“I personally get a great buzz from giving back to the sport and Chinnor what rugby has meant for me in meeting new friends, comradeship, socialising and providing facilities for the youngsters in a wide area around Thame.”

Those are the words of Jeff Deighton who with Bob Mitchell founded The Friday Club in 2008.

There is not a person at Chinnor RFC Thame who is not grateful for the work this dedicated team put in come rain or shine, while their commitment to supporting the first XV home and away is only to be admired.

The list of jobs is a lengthy one, with tasks including marking and mowing the pitches, emptying bins, filling pot holes, mending furniture in the clubhouse, painting and electrics.

“We are very lucky in that the 20 or so volunteers we have include most trades,” said Jeff who played for Chinnor between 1975 and 1988.

“We have retirees from carpentry, electricians, builders, plumbers, IT specialists, the police and so on.

“We can therefore cover most minor repairs within the club. As you can imagine, it’s a bit like the Forth Rail Bridge in that there are always painting jobs to do and in season, I would think at least five chairs per week need mending.

“During season it’s on a weekly basis - four pitches to be marked out, barrowloads of mud removed from areas surrounding the clubhouse, filling in potholes, toilet repairs and replenishing soap, towels etc.

“In the short off-season, it’s grass cutting and strimming the ten acres, painting main function rooms and jobs not possible during the season.”

To learn about the origins of The Friday Club we must go back to the 2004/05 season. Jeff and Bob were elected chairman and secretary respectively of Chinnor - a totally amateur club, membership fees and bar takings were the only main sources of income, while they had the cost of the clubhouse and pitches to maintain.

At that time the majority of the maintenance of the clubhouse and grounds was outsourced to a playing member who had his own agricultural contracting business. At the end of that season, the existing operations and associated costs were reviewed.

“We determined that operationally we needed to have more direct control over when grass cutting was carried out,” said Bob, who joined Chinnor in 1974, playing for the third and fourth teams, before the Oxen between 1981 and 1988.

“We also determined that if we invested in a couple of decent line-markers, pitch marking was an operation that could be performed by volunteer club members and would result in a cost saving to the club. This was the catalyst for the change.”

He added: “With regards to the ground mowing, we were in possession of a vintage Ford tractor, its origins are lost in time, and a tyner which our then club steward, Mike Pearman, would use when appropriate to drain the pitches.

“Jeff and I got approval to buy an ‘opper’ to allow us to cut the ground. We approached Risborough Agriculture, as the manager's son played for Chinnor and after some negotiation, which included his boss who played for Banbury who said ’no way’, we did the deal and ground maintenance came in house.”

It did not take long for a small number of members to come on board and carry out the work during the week and weekends.

They also started to do small maintenance jobs in the clubhouse and, over a short period of time, the amount of work began to grow – as did the volunteers, who were mainly retirees but also included a number of working members.

Bob added: “We then decided that it would be better if we could schedule the majority of the work on a Friday morning which would then enable all the volunteers to meet on a social footing as well as working on behalf of the club.

“So we met at 9am for three to four hours and introduced an ongoing list of jobs, which we still have, along with a coffee break during the morning. This break gives the volunteers, particularly during the playing season, time to discuss last week’s first team performance and come up with solutions to any shortcomings!”

It is evident The Friday Club is about so much more than the maintenance of the club. The social aspect is just as important.

Bill Piers, who has coached the U14s and U16s since joining Chinnor in 1998, has been a Friday Club member since 2013, recently handing over the reigns of foreman to Mike 'Whiffer' Smith.

“I used to run and organise The Friday Club, for around six years, but decided to become one of the lads, and now follow the new leader’s requirements,” said Bill.

“It is a very sociable weekly gathering. You get to meet and know a wide variety of interesting and pleasant people.

“It’s good to be able to fix and invent things for the club such as organising the container over on the far side of the ground and getting shelving and electricity installed.”

And what of these trips we hear about?

“To me it was part of the game to finish the season with a tour,” said Jeff, who is also The Friday Club’s social secretary as well as specialist painter.

“I organised what was believed to be one of the first UK club tours abroad to France in 1963 for my previous club Maldon Essex approaching both British and French RFU’s for permission.

“I thought I would extend the idea to The Friday Club and our summer sailing trips off the Essex coast and November trip to Belgium are to look forward to and normally oversubscribed.”

Of course, the work carried out by The Friday Club would not be possible without the support of our sponsors. Thank you to Rectory Homes, Kubota UK, Farol Ltd, Helpful Hirings, Ben Phillips, George Browns of Haddenham, Richard Taylor at RT Machinery Ltd, David Aston, Chinnor Turf & Paving Ltd, Peter Billiard and many more.

If you would like to join The Friday Club, please just turn up on a Friday (once the government guidelines are lifted) and ask for Whiffer.

On behalf of the club, a big thank you to past and present members of The Friday Club.