Club Focus: Ards RFC

Find out all you need to know about Ards RFC... Who is your President? Ashley Peden Who is your Head Coach? John West & Scott Young 1st XV Captain? Andrew Foster Number of members? Approximately 300 playing and non-playing 3 players to watch? Backs Alex Hendrickse,and Mark Banford, Forward Onisi Burekama Longest serving member? John Dalzell Who is the ‘Club Clown’ and why? Trevor Devlin aka ‘Motormouth’ (you can hear him before you see him) Hardest trainer? Tom Arthur Donnan Club’s unsung hero and why? Billy Dickson (long serving unpaid general factotum) Club song? ‘Tiki Tiki Tonga’ and ‘We’re all going to Davy Lee’s’ What is your Club logo and what does it represent? The Ards RFC logo is derived from the Ancient Corporation Seal of Newtown and depicts a crest (basically a hand on a wreath holding a fleur de lis placed between the horns of a crescent). It was that adopted by the Scottish settler, Sir Hugh Montgomery, who obtained large grants of land in County Down in the early 1600s. Sir Hugh (afterwards 1st Viscount) Montgomery was first Provost of the Borough of Newtown. The club's (and town's) motto 'Fideles atque Fortis' (Faithful and Brave) is adopted from the family of the Anglo Norman Savages who colonised the Ards in the 12th century. Club mascot? Don’t have one How many teams do you field? 3 Adult, 1 Ladies Development, 3 Youth and P1-P7 Minis Most successful achievement? Ulster Senior Cup x2, Ulster Senior League Championship x1, Provincial Towns Cup x2, Bass Boston Cup x1 Proudest moment? A toss up between the first Provincial Towns Cup, the Ulster Senior League Championship and the Bass Boston Cup Tell us something unique that not everyone knows about the club? Lt. Colonel R Blair (Paddy) Mayne, the most decorated soldier of the Second World War, is a former captain of the club. He also played for Ireland and was a member of the 1938 British Isles (Lions) touring team to South Africa Club Contact Details: Email address: ardsrugbyfc@gmail.com Website address: www.ardsrugby.co.uk Social media addresses: Facebook Ards Rugby Club, Twitter @ArdsRugbyClub