Read below, or open up attached PDF version of newsletter to enjoy the end of season 2025/26 news reports and club updates. This newsletter shall also be sent out to the club mailing list by email - so please inform us of any contact detail updates, should that apply to you.

CS Stags 1863 – End of Season 2025-26 Newsletter

• Another great season for the CS Stags 1863!

Hello everybody, hope this finds you and yours in good spirits, and keeping well. Well, here’s something to cheer you up! CS Stags 1863 finished off the season with a flourish, winning the last two games in style with bonus point wins, and fending off some strong challenges, to finish in fifth place (out of twelve) in Regional 1 South Central, and remain entrenched at level 5 rugby next season. With Jersey running away with the league title, it wasn’t the second/third position wanted by many in order to go into this season’s play-off places for promotion to National 2 (level 4). But given the setbacks with injuries, and subsequent team selection depletion, it shows the strength the club has in their squad, and the fact many stepped up to the mark to show grit and quality in the run in. Even the losses throughout the season have always been close and narrow, and along with the emphatic wins at the beginning of the season, I’m sure the squad and team will carry over many lessons into next season, holding their head high for ending yet another season with great credibility. Please do look at the stats attached, as the club features prominently in the top five for many of them. So very well done indeed to all the playing squad, coaches, and helpers this season, and long may it continue in the future. Onwards and upwards, Stags boys!

• Farewells, and a lot of sincere thanks are also due!
Firstly, to head coach Oli Bryant, for his magnificent input and contribution these past three plus years or so. Oli departs the club due to a change of location in residence further out to the south west, and we wish him and all his family well, and the very best for the future. The club’s excellent results these past few seasons have been a testament to Oli’s hard work, and skill in gelling the squad into an effective and efficient machine. Not only on the field, but off it, Oli has rolled his sleeves up tremendously and got stuck in to admin and practical roles to help the club out, such as GMS, team rota for transporting kit, and arranging laundry, and we are all very grateful to him. Oli has kindly stated he shall always be available to Stags in the future, if and when he can, so I am sure this is not the last we hear or see of him! “Once a Stag, always ….. etc. “! Additional congratulations to Oli and his wife Georgie on the birth of son Wilder Lawson on Friday 17th April – great news.
Secondly, another who has also got truly ‘stuck in’ and given his all these past seasons, is assistant player/coach Jake Farnworth. Jake is also moving away due to employment commitments from around September 2026 onwards, and he too has been instrumental in leading the squad from the front at training, match days, on the social side, and being the cause of an infectious rise in team spirit whenever he is around. We wish Jake and his family well in his future endeavours, and a sincere thanks to him once again for his fantastic contribution. Jake shall remain an assistant coach until he departs.
Adieu to some players who will be moving on due to work/life circumstances – we wish you well, and thanks so much for giving your all to Stags these past seasons. Visit us soon, keep touch, and there shall always be a warm welcome for you here.
Lastly, the club chair is also stepping down, as has been documented this past year in newsletters, and can I just say what a great privilege and reward it has been to hold that position in this great club these last four and a quarter years. Many thanks to all at the club - committee, members, and former players, for your support and encouragement, and it has been my personal pleasure to contribute something back to my old rugby club, that I played for first in a single season in 1977, and then for a few more years in the early to mid-eighties. A big thank you too to those that are stepping in to take the club forward, and onwards hopefully to greater things, which brings me on to my next point.
• A very warm welcome, and introduction, to all incoming club personnel!
Fred Cracknell – Chair CS Stags 1863
Please join me in welcoming new club chairman Fred Cracknell, endorsed by the committee, and taking on the role officially with effect from 1st June 2026. I say ‘new’, but Fred has been around CS Stags for quite a few years now, as a valued senior player, qualified referee, as well as Middlesex RFU Director of Rugby Development. If that wasn’t enough, Fred has juggled a busy work schedule with throwing himself fully behind the club these past years, and being instrumental in player recruitment, squad retention, and organisation and admin on all fronts as a very valuable member of the committee. So, a very fit person to take on the chair role indeed, very passionate about CS Stags and rugby union, and may I ask you all to throw your support behind Fred and offer him your hand and assistance where possible, as he starts and takes on this position for the club.

Jerry Hedigan – Head Coach CS Stags 1863

We also have a very exciting new plethora of coaching staff that are joining the club pre-season, ready to take over from Oli and Jake. So let me welcome first newly appointed head coach, Jerry Hedigan, and introduce you to him.

Jerry is currently the Middlesex RFU Men’s Senior Coach, and has a lengthy coaching pedigree with Grasshoppers RFC and St. Mary’s University, London to name but a few. Jerry has already been down to training and observed a few times this season, touched base with both Oli and Jake, and introduced himself to all the players. Jerry already knows a few of our players through their involvement with Middlesex Men’s senior rugby, as is the case with our two physio’s Morgan Beale and Dylan Hopwood-Barsacq, who are also associated with Middlesex representative rugby. So please welcome Jerry, and extend your goodwill, encouragement, and support for him as a club, going forward with the squad in the coming seasons.

Continuing the Middlesex theme, Jerry will be ably supported by Luke Povey, who has been a level 2 coach with Harlequins Amateurs for 4 years, and currently a Middlesex Men’s Under 20’s coach as well. Luke knows and has worked with Jerry, as well as club chair Fred Cracknell, so a very welcome addition to CS Stags 1863.

Assisting both Jerry and Luke with training and coaching will be Hayden Hyde, an Irish qualified former Harlequins centre who has represented Ulster ‘A’, and will be joining Ealing Trailfinders in the Championship next season. Hayden has expressed a wish to pass on his experience and skills with CS Stags 1863, has already been down to visit, introduce, and train with the lads on a Wednesday night this season. Hayden shall also be a most welcome addition to our club and coaching squad.
Nigel Rosser – Director of Rugby CS Stags 1863

And last, but not least, please give a warm welcome back to an old associate of Civil Service Rugby Club, Nigel Rosser. Nigel rejoins us as Director of Rugby. He was previously our promotion-winning head coach and has coached senior sides at Rosslyn Park, London Scottish, and in Bengal, India. He is currently a coach at Oxford University RFC. Nigel will be responsible for playing activities, and liaison with head coach as necessary who will be fully responsible for coaching/selection, as well as assisting the club with confirming arrangements for fixtures, pitch bookings and teas, squad oversight and GMS, and I ask you all to collaborate closely with Nigel and assist him in this role.

• Off season, pre-season training, and friendly matches.
No cup matches this year, or sevens rugby tournaments entered either. Here’s wishing the squad a good off-season rest and recouperation, fit for close season training and preparation, and for the coming season 2026/27.
First comes Club Awards Night, which has been confirmed for Saturday 30th May 2026, at The Ship pub, in Wandsworth, 41 Jews Row, London SW18 1TB. Cost will be @ £35/- per person for a starter and main option, with perhaps a free beer thrown in, and there shall be a segregated area set aside for CS Stags. Fred Cracknell will be confirming this nearer the time, and shall post details with food options etc. for attendees to choose, so please pencil this in to your diary for what promises to be a great night/venue for the club to enjoy, and celebrate the season.
Pre-season training will begin Wednesday 1st July, right through to end of August, and shall take the form of usual Wednesday evening slots on the AGP at Chiswick RFC, 7-9 p.m., along with some Saturday morning 10-11 a.m. slots, as well as a few Monday evening slots as outlined by head coach Jerry Hedigan. I’m sure once these are all booked up and confirmed, the details shall be shared on social media with all the playing squad and coaches. Jerry has booked up provisional pre-season friendly matches in August 2026 against Barnes, a triangular team tournament at Eton Manor with Sidcup, and also Hertford away – dates/times/venues to be confirmed by Jerry and Nigel, once again when fully finalised.

• Get in quick, and don’t wait! England home games – 2026 Nations Championship tickets - available right now, with Ricky Hollamby.
Ricky Hollamby (Club Treasurer) has already taken over the club ticketing contact role, and has already handled the initial 2026 Nations Championship club allocations from the RFU. The allocations for the matches in November 2026 came much earlier this year – (January, instead of @ April). So, we do have tickets available for all the matches listed below. Ricky’s email address is ricky_hollamby@hotmail.com – so please get your orders in with Ricky.
This is a 12-team tournament, and shall take place every two years. The tournament is designed to align northern and southern hemisphere rugby calendars, guaranteeing high-profile fixtures to add more structure and meaning to the existing international windows between World Cups. July & November 2026.

England away matches are as follows: July 2026 (No club allocation for these!)

South Africa v England: Saturday 4 July
Fiji v England: Saturday 11 July
Argentina v England: Saturday 18 July

The November 2026 England home matches being played in the Nations Championship this year, are as follows:

England v Australia: Sunday 8 November, KO 15:10
England v Japan: Saturday 14 November, KO 16:40
England v New Zealand: Saturday 21 November, KO 14:10

This will be followed by a “Finals Weekend” - Friday 27 / Saturday 28 /Sunday 29 November 2026:
Friday 27 November, 6 v 6 final - KO 16:40 followed by the 3 v 3 final - KO 20:10
Saturday 28 November, 5 v 5 final - KO 13:10 followed by the 2 v 2 final - KO 16:40
Sunday 29 November, 4 v 4 final KO 13:10 followed by the 1 v 1 final - KO 16:40
Ricky has taken up tickets for all of these games, (excluding only the first day of the finals weekend on Friday 27 November – 6 v 6 and 3 v 3) – but we do have the Saturday and Sunday finals allocations taken up - so please let Ricky have your requests for the games you wish to see. Get in fast!

• Volunteers, membership – your club needs you!
Following previous month’s newsletter appeals, we would still welcome any volunteers to assist the club with day to day running. There are various roles and tasks available in coaching, team assistants, admin, media presentation, RFU liaison etc., and this would not only help the club greatly, but also hopefully offer satisfaction and a sense of team benefit to the holder. Please put your hand up, or let the committee members know if you are interested, and have some spare time and commitment. Also feel free to recommend to any suitable interested parties you may know of that would like to get involved. Thank you.

• Memberships: Please get these in as early as possible.
Your membership, sponsorship, and donations help the club a great deal – so if you don’t already do so, please consider signing up for one of the following to support the CS Stags 1863. The club greatly encourages players, members, and supporters who wish to sign up and donate, to do so early please, preferably in pre-season. This will assist the club in the large expenditure that has to be met pre-season for kit, equipment, referee societies, pitch bookings, website, Veo camera and recording subscriptions, etc. Your cooperation is, as always, greatly appreciated.

Playing -
- Annual £250 either straight into the club account or via this link - https://buy.stripe.com/7sY5kDa5na9g1oPfoG5os0c
- Quarterly £60 upfront £55 per quarter via this link - https://buy.stripe.com/28EdR92CV1CK2sT4K25os0b
- Monthly £60 up front £20 a month, via this link - https://buy.stripe.com/4gMeVddhza9gaZpfoG5os0a
- Players Sponsorship - £350 either straight into the club account (in group bio) or via this link - https://buy.stripe.com/cNidR9a5n8189VlfoG5os0d
If you have an existing direct debit set up from last year, please cancel it, otherwise it'll keep charging.

Non-Playing -
- Affiliate Membership - £120 into the club account or £15 a month via the link - https://buy.stripe.com/dRm6oHcdv8185F5gsK5os0g
- Social Membership - £300 into the account or £30 a month via the link - https://buy.stripe.com/28E00jb9r2GO6J9ekC5os0f
- Full Membership - £1,000 into the account or £100 a month via the link - https://buy.stripe.com/6oU28rgtL818d7xccu5os0e

Club bank details included here, should you wish to do this direct electronically, rather than through the Stripe link on the Pitchero CS Stags 1863 club web site:

CS RUGBY 1863 / 56-00-33 / 48028053

• Dates to look out for off season 2026:

Saturday 9th May – Middlesex 7’s at Wasps FC – (No CS Stags 1863 involvement)

Saturday 30th May – Club Award Night – The Ship - Wandsworth, 41 Jews Row, London SW18 1TB – details to be finalised and confirmed at a later date.

Friday 5th June – Middlesex Clubs Award Supper, 7.00 for 7.30pm
Middlesex County Rugby warmly invites you to the 2026 Middlesex Clubs Award Supper, to be held at Grasshoppers RFC Syon Lane, Osterley, TW7 5PN.
The Supper is on Friday 5th June 2026, with the usual welcomes and speeches, followed by a presentation of trophies to the County's competition winners.
The cost of the Supper is £40.00 per person, which includes a complimentary drink on arrival, table wine and three courses. Our MC for the evening will be our very own Steve Partridge. In recognition of their support that allows rugby to continue to grow, plus-ones and other rugby colleagues are very welcome.
If you, or members of your club would like to attend, please fill out this form via the link below by Friday 15th May.
Book your place here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeDRgWhzPfzy9-gRzFCaTz7VX40Iig1oCuupg55ZR-iBXAwpg/viewform

https://middlesexrugby.com/

Middlesex County Men’s Representative fixtures: (There might well be some Stags players involved)
Saturday 9th May – v Eastern Counties – Chiswick RFC – 15.00
Saturday 16th May – v Essex – East London RFC – 15.00 (TBC)
Saturday 6th June – Finals – Allianz Stadium (TBC)
Look out on the Middlesex Rugby web page for further details and updates:

Middlesex Rugby: Bringing people together to enjoy rugby

Links to CS Stags 1863 websites on Pitchero, Facebook, and LinkedIn below:

https://www.pitchero.com/clubs/civilservicefootballclubru/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/civilstags
https://www.linkedin.com/company/66883452/admin/page-posts/published/

Have a great off-season and summer everyone! Best,
David Chaytor – Chairman CS Stags 1863
Tel: 07976 609 081 - Email: dchaytor@virginmedia.com