Golden Oldies Rugby – History
For years, and in some cases many, many years, over 35’s throughout Europe, have played Rugby under various names – Old Boys, Old Crocks, Buffties etc but the first Official World Golden Oldies Rugby Festival took place in Auckland in 1979, organised by former New Zealand Player – Tom Johnson – and they have been organised every two years since, alternating from Southern to Northern Hemisphere, by Air New Zealand. In 1985, the World Festival was staged in London, organised by Tony Carter, Jeff Butterfield and their Team. The first European Festival took place in Denbosch, in Holland in 1992 when Teams from 8 countries took part. The European tradition had begun thanks to local organisers from Dutch Exiles led by David Haynes. They introduced the Battered Relic Trophy at this first ever Festival and since then, this Trophy is awarded to the Team showing the most Golden Oldies Spirit during the Festival – on and off the field….The second, was held in Heidelberg (Germany) in May 1994, hosted by the Rugby Union Baden-Württemberg, headed by Chairman Claus-Peter Bach, and attracted 20 teams from 12 countries. The 3rd Festival in 1996 was in Verona (Italy) where Sergio Caggia as Festival Director with his team I Cangrandi were proud to announce that 25 teams had visited the town of Romeo and Juliet. For the first time ever a non-European team participated – Gauteng Oldies from South Africa. The 4th Festival was in Aberdeen (Scotland), the Silver City by the Grey North Sea, where Aberdeen Strollers and Dave McDonald as the President of the Festival Organising Committee, welcomed in September 1998, 20 teams from 10 countries. A Guest G O Ref from Australia participated. The 5th Festival in 2000 was in Moscow (Russia) was exclusively a local Russian event because no teams outside Russia took part due to extreme weather conditions. However 12 Russian Teams participated. The 6th Festival was held in Split (Croatia) in 2002 hosted by local veteran clubs RK Split 59 and RK Dalmatia. Director of the Organising Committee was Siniša Tartaglia. Playing all the games on only one pitch of Nada RFC in the town centre, this event attracted 16 teams from 8 countries. The Elders of Zion (Tel Aviv, Israel) took part as the first team from the Middle East. The 7th Festival in Benidorm (Spain) in 2004 – 31 teams from 15 countries – was hosted by Villajoyosa Rugby Club with Director – Ignacio Davila. For the first time a team from America came to our European Festival – Ancient Aztecs (San Diego, USA) as part of their Planning ahead of staging the 15th World Air New Zealand GOR Festival in 2005. The 8th Festival was held in Zürich (Switzerland) in 2006 attracted 23 teams from 12 countries. The organisers – Swiss Gnomes under the direction of Bob Dean, Nick Wilkinson and Xavier Speckert, with the help of the Swiss Rugby Federation, hosted around 600 participants. The 9th Festival in Madeira (Portugal) in 2008 was hosted by Porto Old Greens, managed by Miguel Vareta and José Filipe Belo and attracted 41 teams from 14 European countries and one GOR Team from Argentina – the first, coming from South America. The 10th European Festival was held in Caernarfon (Wales) when Y GOGS Directors Emrys Jones and Brian Roberts hosted the EGOR Festival in 2010 when 32 teams from 14 different nations with about 1,100 participants enjoyed Welsh hospitality and the EGOR Jubilee Festival. The 11th EGOR Festival was held in Trieste (Italy) from June 14-19, 2012. Directors Stefano de Rosa and Elio de Ana and I TANDOOI F.V.G. Old Rugby Club were the organisers of this event. For the third time, Argentina were represented and joining them from overseas were the Golden Lions from outside Sydney ! An excellent Festival took place in Prague, in June 2013, organised by Andrej Hronec and his Team…and plans are well under way, for the 2015 Festival being held in San Sebastian, Spain. http://egor2015.com
Future Festivals
Any EGOR Member Club may submit a Bid for a future Festival and Guidelines and Festival Criteria are available on our Website. The number of Pitches decide the number of participating Teams and the support of your Local City / Regional Authority is essential….and hopefully the support of your National Rugby Union. Several Cities from throughout Europe are already seeking to Host our 2017 European Festival !! However, we try to encourage all Teams to Host a small one day Golden Oldies local Festival. Anyone wishing further information about our Festivals, or wanting to get involved with a Golden Oldies Team, or thinking of creating a new one…….E–mail – info@europeangoldesnoldiesrugby.com
Funding
The European Golden Oldies Rugby Executive Committees are all Volunteers and as yet, there is no specific Sponsorship for our Golden Oldies Rugby, or Festivals, although we are always looking for a generous Rugby benefactor ….or two! All aspects of Sponsorship are available, from major Corporate Sponsorship, smaller amounts of Sponsorship – with a Financial contribution, Product or Services in kind, Festival Brochure and Pitchside Advertising, also being amongst the options. E–mail EGOR for details. A Newsletter is issued on a regular basis and Advertising or Sponsorship can also be agreed. Sponsor Golden Oldies Rugby……and you will definitely get a Game – if you so wish !! Over the years, Golden Oldies have supported many Charities, both Local and National, usually with the emphasis on Youth / Children’s Rugby and Rugby Charities We endeavour, where possible to make our Festivals eco – friendly.
Committee
President Dave McDonald Scotland
Vice President Dr Sergio Caggia Italy
Vice President Bob Dean Switzerland
Secretary Matthias Schenker Switzerland
Committee – Werner Czerny Germany
Patrick Darricarrere France
Ed Freedman Israel
Andrej Hronec Czech Republic
Etor de Goicoechea Spain
Referee Adviser Ray Mellis
Rugby Europe Rep Menachem ben Menachem
Media Adviser Beat Schneider
World G O Rep The President