Crawley Ladies ready for next challenge
The 2021/22 season saw a Crawley RFC ladies' team win the league having reformed after an absence of over 20 years.
Under the stewardship of Deron Croft-Webb, Jane Silver and Ollie Plunkett, the side entered the RFU leagues for the first time in over two decades last year.
A tentative start to the league campaign back in September resulted in a narrow defeat, but they went on an impressive winning run, claiming victory in nine of their eleven remaining games.
An overall points difference of +311, more than three times that of their closest rivals, is evidence enough of the comradery and hard work which has seen them take top spot in the Women’s NC 3 South East (South) League.
The season was finished off in style with a convincing home victory against Farnham Ladies II in front of a jubilant crowd that celebrated long after the final whistle.
Crawley RFC Club Secretary Ian Thompson sees this as not only the culmination of a hard fought campaign from the side, but also the long journey to reintroduce Women’s rugby back to the club and he hopes that this will spur on further growth in the Women’s game for years to come.
"We pride ourselves on providing the opportunity for everyone to get involved in the sport,” said Thompson. “We were so excited when it became clear that the long held desire to welcome women's rugby back to the club would become a reality.
“Crawley RFC Ladies is a wonderful advertisement not only for the club but for the sport of rugby as a whole.
“Women's rugby is rightly seeing increased investment from the sport's governing bodies and it is the clubs at the grass roots level like Crawley RFC and our contemporaries that underpin growth and success at all levels of the sport.
“It is often said that the rugby community is an extended family, and this has never been more apparent than at the weekend when so many people came out to support our ladies and share in their joy as they took the crown that they have worked so hard to achieve."
Crawley RFC Ladies are excited for the challenges that lie ahead and will begin the process of tackling them at training at the club's ground at Willougby Fields, Ifield.
Training takes place on Wednesday evenings and Sunday mornings and all are welcome to be a part of the next stage of their journey.
