Windsor RFC has announced a Centenary Redevelopment Project that is looking to transform the club both on and off the field in the lead up to its centenary in 2022. At the heart of the club’s plans is a complete overhaul of its clubhouse facilities.

James Brayshaw, Commercial Director, commented “The Clubhouse no longer fulfils the needs of our members. With the mix of mini, junior, colts, senior and women’s groups, not to mention social members and visiting teams, the time has come to build Windsor the rugby club it deserves”

James and the committee will be looking to engage key stakeholders and members of the community through a consultancy phase to make sure all options are considered. James added “We will be looking to speak to other sports clubs, especially the cricket club, local schools, the local council, the Crown Estate, the RFU and of course our members over the coming months. We are open to considering new sites for the club but our spiritual home is most definitely Home Park and it would take something special to lose our magnificent view of Windsor Castle”

The club is looking to progress these conversations through 2018 in order to present a shortlist of options by the start of next season. Funding will quickly become the major focus of the project with James estimating a £3million budget being needed to complete the project. Windsor have fallen behind other local clubs in recent years in terms of facilities, and both on and off the field, members are starting to demand more. At a very basic level, we need to look at our training and changing facilities, the positioning of the first team pitch, funding and sponsorship as well as engaging new parts of the community. The ladies and girls game has taken off in recent years but we are noticing a small decline on the male side, especially after colts, mainly as players head off to university. We would also like to reinvigorate the social side of the club and integrate the various different age groups to ensure we operate as one club. At present there is no intention whatsoever to move away from the fiercely amateur ethos of the club so James accepts there is probably a ceiling to the club’s ambition on the playing front at the top end of the regional leagues, or potentially lower end of the nationals. “We would prefer to reward our players with decent kit, good facilities and low bar prices”. Another aim of the project is to see the reintroduction of touring as an annual event. “The minis and vets do this very well but in recent years, the culture of touring seems to have dropped off. We hold like to become both a popular destination for British and international teams as well as starting a cycle of domestic, European and international tours ourselves”.

The club is looking for volunteer support, funding and expressions of interest from any commercial organisations seeking to get involved in the project.

Please contact on james@winshaw.com or 07779 334 552 for further information.