Down and out

And so the sad story of Haverhill Rugby Club's trouble fraught debut campaign in the Greene King IPA Eastern Counties Division One came to a sorry end last week and the club chose to exit the division. Having found just eight players prepared to make the trip to fellow promoted side Harwich and Dovercourt last Saturday (February 12) for a fixture they won comfortable last year, those running the club thought it best to follow Fakenham's example and opt out of the league before being booted out, and the full consequences of that decision are still unclear.

Where will Haverhill Rugby Club be playing next season? According the Eastern Counties (EC) league, it certainly will not be in one of their divisions. Club chair Ian Forton was crystal clear in explaining to me that any team that chooses to end their EC season prematurely - including Fakenham as well - will not be allowed to play in another EC league next season. The official suggestion from them is that Haverhill should look to compete in the Suffolk Merit League, albeit with Haverhill having to shed the glory and play against second XVs where they previously played first VXs, though at least the shorter journeys and easier games may increase the squad numbers for the senior team. The idea would then be that Haverhill can regroup, and if they can prove to the EC that they can fulfil their fixtures and raise a squad, they can compete in the EC leagues again from 2012-13.

However, the club's understanding seems to be different from that of the EC. Chairman Chris Spencer explained that they had received conflicting advice from the EC and the league secretary, with the latter telling them dropping out would be more beneficial than being expelled. Forton told me that expelled clubs would face a four to five year wait to return to the EC leagues whereas clubs that voluntarily left could return after one season in exile, so the point would still hold true. However, the idea coming from the club is that by exiting they had hoped to return to EC Two next year, not spend a year in the wilderness before then. The club certainly would have been expelled had they submitted to another home walk over after failing to field sides at West Norfolk (on September 25) and Woodbridge (on November 13) this season.

Has there been a mix up or misunderstanding? As yet it's unclear. Spencer told me the club are hoping to meet with an EC representative within the week to discuss their position, and only then will the situation be fully understood. However, Forton was quite clear in telling me that the league's position was that Haverhill will not be an EC team next season, so it would be a surprise to see that view contratdicted.

As for the club's immediate future, that certainly appears to be secure, as Spencer was keen to stress to me. "The future holds a speedy return to competitive rugby and a healthy and flourishing rugby club in Haverhill", he said when I spoke to him for this week's Haverhill Echo (our tomorrow, Thursday, February 17). "This is not the death of the club - we have a thriving junior and youth section, and so this is only about the senior section, so it in no way affects the long term future of the club", he added. First XV coach Andy Price certainly seemed to place a long term future hope on developing players, and Spencer also added that there are numerous promising young players coming through the system that will soon be complementing the first XV.

But saying it is 'only about the senior team' somewhat negates the point that any club's flagship team is its senior side - Haverhill does still have a strong youth section, but ultimately everything should be in place to build up to the senior side, which has been a disappointment this season. They opened with a 74-0 thrashing at high flying Southwold, and things have not improved much since. It was the third game of the season when Haverhill first failed to raise a side, and two narrow defeats (6-3 by Holt and 18-14 by Ely) and a comfortable victory (25-6 at Fakenham, which was later expunged). League leaders Stowmarket reached triple figures when they thrashed Haverhill (104-6), and then they again failed to field a team.

Further thrashings followed in January including at Ely (60-5) and Holt (97-0) as Price appealed for players to bolster the team, to little avail, and Haverhill finally exited the league last week, their spirited home defeat by Stowmarket (33-12) transpiring to be their last game in EC One. The outcome perhaps would have been sooner had it not been for the postponed cancelled fixtures in December. Price told me in recent weeks about how he was using inexperience, retired and injured players, and that the aim had turned from surviving into having fun. Some senior players came to the aid of the club, with Paul Bergin saying it was their 'responsibility' to keep the club going for the younger generations, though operating on a shoestring squad was inevitable going to lead to one thing.

Price said the situation 'leaves us where I thought we would be anyway'. He added: "We were living on borrowed time, as when you only have 18 to 20 players available you can't rest people, and you end up playing people when they need to be rested, so when they have a minor injury they play and that compounds the problem. We only needed a few injuries and unavailability for this to happen." The coach said that he knew EC One would be a 'tough challenge', but said it was one he was 'totally confident of meeting'. Now he has been robbed of that opportunity, both to establish Haverhill as an EC One side and to prove himself as a coach at a higher level.

Will Price stay at Haverhill? It's too early to say, but nobody could blame him for leaving. If a coach can ask for anything from a group of players then its likely to be commitment and effort, something that has been lacking so much it has ruined Haverhill's season. The club was optimistic after promotion last year, finishing just behind Harwich in a close fought title race that placed the top two well ahead of the pack in EC Two. The current problems had not surfaced, and Price, who had promised to get the club promoted within three years, had achieved that goal in two. Now the club looks likely to spend a season in limbo, he may well choose to go to a club with a more clearly defined target that is resourced to achieve it, though Spencer said the club would be keen to retain Price.

But then came all the problems of availability, which seems bizarre considering how well the team did last season. It may have been travelling further and longer, harder games, the loss of a winning mentality - only those players that would not make the effort to play will know. Although Price foresaw the imminent exit of the club from the league, he certainly did not see player availability becoming the issue it has. "I thought we'd have two teams and competitions for places, but that has obviously not come to be", he said. Price had previously slammed the commitment of certain players, hoping to get more available and find new players, but it had little impact in aiding the ailing club. He has said developing a first and second XV and bringing through youth prospects will help the club in the long term, but whether he wants to stay and see that come to pass is not yet certain.

Now the club will face a period of reflection and future planning, namely to address where and why everything went wrong this season and how it can be prevented from happening again. Exile from the EC leagues, even for one season, will likely cause frustration and the indignity of being in the merit league, but it will provide the club with exactly what the EC demand - the chance to show they can fulfil their fixtures, have a full strength and committed squad, and be competitive at this level. Haverhill's fate will be confirmed - probably within a week - and the club will be able to start planning long-term to ensure it become the 'healthy, flourishing club' Spencer envisions, while supporters will be hoping Price chooses to be patient and continue his work at Castle Playing Fields.