20/02/26 | Matchday Programme
Lymm RFC v Old Redcliffians RFC – Saturday 21st February 2026
Author: John Case
President’s Welcome
Dear Members, Guests, Sponsors and Friends of Lymm Rugby Club,
Welcome to Old Redcliffians RFC – This Saturday, we welcome Old Redcliffians to Beechwood, and as with many of the sides we play in the West League, it is for their first ever visit and our second encounter.
Old Redcliffians were founded in 1918 by former pupils of Redcliffe Boys School (founded in 1571), who on returning from serving in World War One, helped set up the club. During the early 1980’s the club enjoyed a strong period, when as well as playing 6 senior sides on a Saturday, their first team played for three seasons in the John Player Cup and had the pleasure of hosting London Scottish in the third round.
The advent of league rugby saw the club play mainly in the Somerset or Western Counties leagues. However, a turnaround in the club’s fortunes started in 2010 when they won the RFU Intermediate Cup at Twickenham and saw promotion to South West 1. The following season saw another promotion into National 3 for the first time. Unfortunately, they were relegated after one season, but bounced back the following season and have now reached National 2.
The club has a strong Junior section and is proud of the fact that the majority of its senior section is made up of players they have developed over a number of years. As well as providing players for their senior section they have also provided players who have played at a highest level including Gareth ‘Coochie’ Chilcott who played for Bath, England and the British and Irish Lions. Their latest player to represent England and the Lions is Ellis Genge who plays Premiership rugby for Bristol Bears and will be lining up alongside our own Alex Mitchell at Twickenham this afternoon as England take on Ireland.
As I am sure you will agree from this short overview, there are a lot of similarities between our two clubs, and this was very evident when we visited them in October 2025.
We certainly need a win on Saturday to maintain our drive back up the league and to remove any chance of being dragged into a relegation battle. With still only 9 points separating 4th and 10th place in the table, a win can have a very positive impact on the season outcome. Old Redcliffians are currently in 10th place, one place and just 1 point behind Lymm. They have won 3 of their last 4 games and will be looking for a scalp on Saturday to help their league aspirations.
This weekend also marks the 100th apearance for Ste Pilkington – Huge congratulations.
Your support, as always, is very much appreciated. Kick-off is 2.30pm.
Last week’s win at bottom of the table Syston took our 1st team up to 9th place in the table. Both sides struggled with the heavy conditions, and it was questionable as to whether the game would be postponed on Saturday morning following torrential rain during the previous week. But the pitch conditions met the test and it was Lymm who made the most of their chances to come away with the spoils.
Lymm would have wished for, and should have had a try bonus point, but some careless play, and a somewhat strange decision gave the home side a penalty, when Lymm thought they had scored from a rolling maul, frustrated that ambition. Still, overall, we are happy with the 4-point win, which slightly eases our relegation worries.
A full match report by Andy Leach, can be read on the club website via the following link;
Lymm 2nds home game against Manchester 2nds was a bit of a topsy turvy affair, with the lead changing hands on a number of occasions. Having established a sizeable lead, Lymm then fell behind, only to haul themselves back in front and run out 50 – 39 winners.
A weakened Lymm Eagles side could not compete with top of the table Moore away, and were well beaten, 59 – 7. Details of the game can be found at:
Ladies Lunch – Not only are we looking forward to welcoming Old Redcliffians to Beechwood on Saturday, but also to 80 “Ladies of Lymm”, who will be enjoying the excellent food prepared and served by Alan, Lydia, Matthew and the rest of the Lymm RFC Staff.
Women make up 32% of our membership, across Rugby, Tennis and Squash and yet are often unrepresented within the club. This lunch is all about bringing more women into our Club community, shining a light on the importance of girls’ and women’s sport locally and showing our support for our teams – whether you’re a mum, auntie, sister, player, or supporter from rugby, squash, tennis, touch rugby (or all of the above!).
Our guest speaker at the lunch; Catherine Jones is a dedicated mental health advocate and volunteer, heavily involved with the charity LooseHeadz to promote mental health awareness within the rugby community.
She is also recognised for her work with ‘TryIt Rugby’ an academy dedicated to fostering the growth of rugby in Lancashire, by cultivating a vibrant and inclusive rugby community. This is achieved through sessions in primary, secondary, SENS schools and community group work to teach the fundamentals of rugby and make it accessible to individuals of all ability.
Catherine’s most recent accolade is the work she is carrying out with Referees to help make mainstream rugby inclusive for individuals with special educational needs, this includes helping referees and coaches understand how best to communicate with and support all their players including those that are neurodiverse.
Catherine will be focusing on these activities during her talk at the Ladies Lunch and we are excited as a club to learn more about her work and hopefully see how we can ensure we offer the same level of support to our club and our players.
National League Fixtures and Results – keep up to date.
There are now a number of different ways to you can keep up to date with National League fixtures and results;
Mobile Apps;
Apple – National League Rugby App – App Store Android – National League Rugby – Apps on Google Play
Web access;
Follow the teams involved at each level and details of the games at each round, with live updates on match days, via the web using the following links;
National League Rugby – The official website of National League Rugby.
… and our 1st XV and all National Level 2 West results throughout the season via this link;
National League Two West – Fixtures & Results | 2025-26 – National League Rugby
I look forward to a large and vocal crowd at Beechwood on Saturday and have the opportunity to see some fantastic rugby. Please do come and enjoy the atmosphere and hospitality at Beechwood!
Best Regards
John Cartwright (JC), President
Contact: Sponsorship