The Anti-Assassins Rugby Union Football Club (A-As) was founded in 1950 when three Old Sedberghians, all members of Bury RUFC, Stewart Faulds, Geoff and Arthur Kenyon, were invited to pick a Northern team to play against the masters and Old Boys (The Assassins) of Sedbergh School, Cumbria. This invitation team carried on playing a variety of fixtures, mainly in the North, helping to develop rugby football at leading schools, celebrating special club occasions and raising money for established charities. ‘Semper Mores Boni’, (Good Behaviour Always), is the motto of the club!!
As the Game has changed, the A-As have modified their programme. Initially they played against the 1st XVs of independent schools in the North, such as Sedbergh, Rossall and Stonyhurst, with current Internationals occasionally playing against the schoolboys and always passing on coaching tips over a half-pint of shandy. When the Game went professional in 1995 and players were contracted to their clubs, it became more difficult for current representative players to turn out for invitation sides. At the turn of the century, when regulations forbade adults to play against under-age players, the A-As changed to playing against Old Boys’ teams of schools such as Giggleswick and Kirkham as well as the Oxbridge sides.
One of the main priorities of the A-As’ committee, led by the legendary Monsieur le President Stewart Faulds for 48 years, was to arrange tours to rugby playing locations all over the world. In the amateur days, the A-As visited Australia, Canada, East Africa, South Africa and USA, amongst other countries. Local destinations over the water included Galway, the Isle of Man, Jersey and Ulster and tours were also undertaken to European countries such as France, Holland, Italy and Spain. During the last couple of decades the regular travels abroad have been to participate in Sevens or Tens tournaments. These have included visits to Trinidad for the Caribbean Sevens; Dubai for the International Tens which was part of the World Rugby Sevens; Madrid; Stockholm and more recently to the Ibiza Tens.
In 2004 the Anti-Assassins RUFC teamed up with Wooden Spoon to further promote its charitable work. (Wooden Spoon is the children's charity of rugby which funds projects to support children with disabilities across the UK & Ireland). Following a generous grant from Wooden Spoon, the club became the SpoonA-As and changed its jerseys to the colours of the charity - red, green and white. Each fixture helped with fundraising, increased the profile of Wooden Spoon and encouraged new membership. Several fund-raising events were also held. As personnel changed, and their policy towards support for Rugby Clubs altered, the relationship with the charity has become less formal. It was therefore decided by the Committee in 2020 to revert to the name Anti-Assassins RUFC. The club will however continue to support Wooden Spoon as its' charity.
Past A-As’ players include over one hundred internationals, sixteen England captains and three England captains.
With its origins at Sedbergh School, the club has always maintained a close relationship with that renowned rugby-playing school – Alma Mater of Lord Wavell Wakefield of Kendal, John Spencer and Will Carling ..... all Captains of England. The club initially played an annual fixture against the school but when regulations changed, this fixture was succeeded by the Old Sedberghians which is now traditionally played on the second Sunday of term for the Stewart Faulds Cup. It is appropriate that the albums containing photographs, programmes and various documents of the tours, and other A-As’ matches, which Stewart organised and managed for the A-As between 1961 and 1993, are stored in the School’s Archives. These have been donated to Sedbergh by Stewart’s family and the A-As’ RUFC. The archives are now kept in the Library at Twickenham and can be seen by contacting the Librarian.
An invitation to represent the A-As has delighted many players, be they just good community club members or seasoned Internationals, over the last seven decades. Amongst the legion of distinguished players to wear the jersey are the likes of Peter Winterbottom, (England); Peter Stagg, (Scotland); John O’Driscoll, (Ireland) and Mark Ella, (Australia). The most recent International is David Strettle who first played for England against Ireland at Croke Park in 2007, having been a member of the A-As’ squad that played in the Caribbean Sevens in 2001. Long may the A-As continue to allow the young men of today the opportunity to share our game with players from different clubs and enjoy the camaraderie of non-competitive matches in the United Kingdom or overseas.
Peter Hughes
June 2020
The article above was written by M. le President Stewart Faulds for the brochure produced to celebrate Calder Vale (Burnley) RUFC's Golden Jubilee in 1976. It describes the background and ethos of the A-As in the early days.
When Will turned 17 I suggested to him that the best way to make the transition from schoolboy to senior rugby was to play in it, as I had done all those years before. So we put my theory to the test with an outing for Preston Grasshoppers 4th XV at Vale of Lune. Will was intrigued by the warm-up, which consisted of a schooner of sherry from the communal bottle of Bristol Cream. My explanation for this was that it was low in bulk, highly calorific and slightly stimulant. Will was more at ease, though, with the pint of ale in the post-match bath.
The portly Vale fly-half was licking his lips at the prospect of such a skinny, youthful opponent and, sure enough, within a couple of minutes, he lined Will up for a late flattener. He was standing proudly over his victim when I strolled over and proffered him a left hook, followed by a right uppercut – and there was no further trouble. The young referee was also being a bit of a pain, but he agreed with me that he should abandon his quest to exploit every last one of the most obscure laws in the Lawbook, so that we could all get on with the game.
We had another match together at Davenport, (now Stockport), where Will kicked his goals, distributed smartly and made his breaks, playing with as good an old head on his shoulders as any of the grizzled veterans on display that day.
Shortly thereafter I was asked if I would captain the Anti-Assassins at Calder Vale. Oh, and by the way would it be OK if Will were asked to play as well. Wow! What an opportunity to join a very short list of father and son team-mates at the exalted Anti-Assassins level. Even better, Calder Vale was almost a second home for me in those days. I had presented the prizes on Awards Night, I had spoken at the Club Dinner and I had taken the Shireburn Gentlemen there for a couple of Sunday fund-raisers. I knew I was in for a warm welcome, both on and off the pitch, and I briefed Will accordingly. It ran along the lines of:
“Sam Boyle will buy you a pint afterwards, but he will spend 80 minutes seeking to dismember you one limb at a time.”
Will duly stood a fraction deeper and profited from Mickey Weir’s exemplary service to spend the entire game comfortably out of Sam’s reach. I also told Will that under no circumstances was he to deploy his favourite chip over the top and re-gather tactic, especially in and around his own 22. It worked a treat at Sedbergh, but it would be a recipe for disaster at this level. The game progressed, when, almost under his own posts, Will fielded a rather untidy rolling ball and, to my horror, he looked up, chipped the onrushing pack of Calder Vale assassins, caught the ball on the full, ran 10 yards, slipped the ball to one of our flyers, who was tackled into touch, just short of the try-line.
Will and I crossed on my way to the line-out and the cheeky bugger asked me:
“Dad, what was that you were telling me about the chip and gather?”
Talking of line-outs, our signals involved combinations of straight and curly capital letters. For example, S, curly, H, straight and D, a combination of both, so Q and P together indicated a short throw. Thus, “Quantum Physics” would get all our nuclear scientists in the front row very excited. The late David Leslie, the distinguished international referee, was on duty that day but he was not renowned for his sense of humour. I was particularly irritated by a series of overly pedantic decisions when he caught my eye as I ran towards a line-out. I called the throw in with, “Duff Decision,” cue mirth all round. To his credit, David couldn’t help but laugh!
He wasn’t laughing however a few minutes later when I was defending on our wide left as the quick little Vale scrum half flew down the wing. I overcommitted, (well you would wouldn’t you, aged 48?), and he stepped inside me off his right foot. Old habits, (especially bad ones), die hard and I automatically brought up my right arm in a stiff-arm tackle – the classic coat-hanger. It caught him flush on the chin, which stopped abruptly, whilst the rest of his body carried on and ended up in a crumpled heap at my feet!
Now, in any normal circumstances, it was a red card, indeed, nowadays I might have been banned ‘sine die.’ As I picked the lad up I was mortified with shame and, apologising profusely, I saw an extremely stern-faced David Leslie approaching. I started to explain that it was a reflex action......but I tailed off in embarrassment.
“I’ll give you a signal,” he said, “Absolutely Outrageous! Now go away and behave yourself.” What a great referee!
For all of us of a certain age, and of a northern inclination, the Anti-Assassins set the gold standard for representative rugby in the north-west of England. I first played for them in the mid-1960s when I was in my early twenties and I finished 25 years later playing with my son at the age of 48. Throughout all of those years, and since, we all benefitted from the inspiration and the example set by Stuart Faulds, Ken Woolley, the Kenyons and all their companions of yesteryear.
What a wonderful legacy they have left us and I am immensely proud to have been a part of their story.
Dick Greenwood (and Will) October 2020
Dick Greenwood (and Will)
October 2020
Will, (55 England caps), holding the M.B.E. and Dick, (5 England caps) holding the O.B.E.
Other Fathers and Sons who have played together for the Anti-Assassins include British Lion Alan Ashcroft & Jason of Chester RFC who captained the A-As on several tours; Lancashire player Jeremy Simpson & Dennis both of Waterloo FC and Former A-As’ Chairman, Tour Manager John Gardiner & Andrew both of Sale FC. If you know of any others, please could you contact Peter Hughes: peterhughes@gmail.com
Other families who have had different connections with the Anti-Assassins over three generations include the Ashcrofts and the Gardiners.
Alan (Neddy) Ashcroft of Waterloo FC toured with the British Lions to New Zealand in 1958 and played for the A-As against several schools in the sixties and seventies. Although they did not play for the A-As with their father, both his sons Paul and Jason also played for Waterloo FC and the A-As. Jason was captain of the A-As on tours to South East Asia in 1996; Australia in 1999 and the Caribbean Sevens in 2000 and 2001. Paul’s son Tom went on the tour to Ireland in 2003.
The Gardiner family is the largest A-As’ dynasty, with father John taking over the mantle occupied for so many years by Stewart Faulds. John played for Sale FC and Cheshire whilst being a regular for the A-As. He captained the tour to Kenya in 1982 and then was either Assistant Manager or Manager on six further tours. During this period John became Chairman of the A-As with his wife Sue being Secretary. Son Andrew, also of Sale FC, went on five A-As’ tours and continues the Gardiner family input to the club administration by recently becoming the Treasurer. Grandson Charlie, who plays for Wilmslow RUFC, went on the tour to the Ibiza Tens in 2018. Daughters Fiona and Sally accompanied Mum Sue on the tours to South Africa and Australia. In 2020, Fiona undertook a magnificent task by setting up the website in memory of her father John and continues to be the administrator.
John Little of Sale FC went on the A-As’ tour to Canada in 1967 – the year of Montreal Expo. His son Alistair went on the A-As’ tour to South East Asia in 1996.
If you know of any other A-As with family connections, please could you contact Peter Hughes (peterhughes855@gmail.com).
Apart from tours, the A-As have played a variety of matches since 1959. These are recorded in the article below which was written by M. Le President W. Stewart B. Faulds for the brochure for the 1991 tour to Barcelona.
Website designed by Fiona Gardiner & sponsored by Andrew Gardiner in memory of his father, the late John Gardiner
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