The Board put together a tough and challenging Budget for the 2025/2026 season, but the Board felt that it was a necessary risk due to the additional investment that was required across all sections of the Club

Rugby Clubs have changed and rugby costs are continuing to increase.

It is much harder to get Volunteer coaches, especially for Senior Men’s and Women’s Rugby.

Player welfare is also a prime consideration with physio costs increasing as physios are required for all Senior matches and training sessions and Colts matches. The Club also made the decision to have physio cover at the Minis and U12s Festivals.

Rugby is therefore now ‘very expensive’ and it is paramount that the club generates revenues to cover these costs. This challenge, having spoken to a number of Club Chairs is faced by the majority of Community Rugby Clubs unless they have a benefactor or high level of sponsorship income.

The level of rugby that the Men’s Windsor 1st XV played last season was close to semi- professional with a number of sides paying players, paying expenses as well as finding players employment.

As a Club we have never re-imbursed or paid players for playing for Windsor, and we were therefore competing against Clubs that had a different ethos and often better facilities and this is the main reason why the Men’s 1st XV were relegated in the Play Offs at the end of last season.

This trend, I believe will continue and it appears that it is only a matter of time before such challenges are faced in the Women’s game.

Off the field the Club’s Board were faced with a number of ‘one off’ challenges.

Before the season had even started, we had problems again with the pitches. As in previous years the pitches had not been repaired after the Horse Show and Dog Show. The hot dry summer made matters even worse. This meant in August we had pitches that were unplayable.

Despite numerous emails and meetings with the Horse Show and RBWM, no help or support was offered and as a consequence in August the Directors decided to invest nearly £15K into the pitches at Home Park. This investment was a gamble that paid off as the weather changed and all sections of the Club had pitches that they could play and train on throughout the season. The new Pitch 5 is now probably one of the best pitches. It is a shame that it is so far from the clubhouse. If we had not taken these steps, a wet winter could have resulted in the pitches being unplayable due to lack of grass. The poor state of cricket outfield that has not had similar investment reinforces this case,

To cover the cost of this unbudgeted investment the Club launched a Pitch Fund Appeal. It was disappointing that we were only able to raise just over £3K to cover the investment since this was done to benefit all sections of the Club and to ensure that rugby could be played in Home Park.

Fund Raising and generating income needs to become much more effective. If the club wanted to borrow finance or secure grants to improve our facilities, our accounts show that we are good at spending money but not very good at generating extra funding over normal revenue sources. This is further highlighted by the fact the Club had to cancel the Summer ‘One Club’ Event due to the lack of support.

The Club was also rocked by the adverse publicity from the 3 articles in the Sunday Times. Many members may question why the Club’s Board did not make a statement.

I sought RFU and legal advice and the Directors agreed to follow their advice of making no comment in response to the article despite myself, Ian and Alan being contacted by the Sunday Times on numerous occasions. This was due to myself being under RFU Confidentiality Clauses which the Club and its Directors respected.

The articles did have an impact on Windsor RFC commercial and sponsorship income as existing sponsors either withdrew their sponsorship or raised questions.

It was not the right environment for the Club to seek new sponsors with so much adverse publicity in the public domain

The good news is that the Club was united and the Club was able to ‘ride the storm’.

The Club owes a debt of thanks to all the Directors, members, supporters, parents and rugby clubs who showed support to Windsor RFC during this difficult period.

Special thanks must go to Marlow Ladies who came to the club on a Friday evening for dedicated Women’s Training Session and to league opponents in Regional Thames 2, including Harpenden RFC, whose President gave a very supportive speech to Windsor RFC at a league lunch at the time the articles were published.

In the end, despite all these ‘Off Field’ challenges the club had a reasonably successful season. The Men’s Dev XV secured promotion and the Dames retained their status in NC2. The Youth section continues to thrive, and we had girls matches taking place at U12s, U14s and U16s. The latter taking place due to an effective clustering arrangement with Hungerford.

At the start of 2026, Windsor RFC had some positive news which should ensure that there is a bright future for rugby at Windsor RFC at Home Park Public.

For the last 4 years I have been involved in discussions with the Crown Estates regarding their plans to take over the management of Home Park Public from the Council. As I am sure that you appreciate that I was unable to make many public comments on this, but I was delighted in January 2026 when RBWM agreed to the proposal for the Crown Estate to take over the management of Home Park Public from April 1st 2026.

Special mention must be given to Councillors Mark Wilson and Devon Davies for all their hard work in supporting this proposal. They both recognized the challenges faced by Windsor RFC as regards pitches and facilities ( ie not being fit for purpose for Women and Girls Rugby). They also recognized that RBWM would not have the necessary funds to invest in Home Park.

The Club needs to build an effective partnership with the Crown Estates to enable Windsor RFC to have better playing, training facilities and long term better changing room facilities that are fit for purpose and meet RFU standards.

With the new management there will be changes and there will inevitably be a few problems but it is important both sides work together to develop an effective working relationship.

The first change that I want to highlight is Car Parking at Home Park Public.

The good news is that the Crown Estates do not want to charge car parking for members of Home Park Public Sports Clubs when undertaking sporting activities.

The Crown Estates have been transparent by stating car parking revenues from Home Park Public will be re-invested back into Home Park Public.

It is important that as a Club we support the Crown Estates on this, I realize it may be unpopular to some people since new car parking passes can only be issued to members of Windsor RFC with an up to date membership card.

The Club’s Board, in addition, has recently put a detailed Business Plan together with a number of key strategic objectives for the period ( 2026/27- 2029/30) focusing on the following key areas:

One Club Culture
Senior Men’s Rugby
Senior Women’s Rugby
Colts Pathway
Youth Rugby
Financial Sustainability
Facilities and Clubhouse
Community & Partnership Development.

As I am sure that you will appreciate this is a very detailed document, so it is the intention of the Board to share an edited version in due course with members.

This will be a working document and will be refined over time but at least the Club’s Board has a structure to work with going forward.

On behalf of the Club, I would like to thank our paid staff. Jen and Tony and all the kitchen and bar staff. A big thank you and also to all the people who volunteer and give their time to make Windsor RFC a successful community rugby Club that many Clubs would envy.

This includes my fellow Board Members, Mangers in Senior and Youth Sections, Youth Coaches and First Aiders, Referees and all those that post on social media. A special thanks to Bev and her assistants who ensure that the club shop is open on a Sunday. Roly Snooks for his work as Facilities Manager and Anne Crawshaw as Membership Secretary. Anne, as you may be aware has decided to step down so the club are looking for a new volunteer to take on this important role. Please speak to Tanya Snooks, another volunteer who as Volunteer Co-Ordinator is always looking for new volunteers. Apologies if I have forgotten anyone.

At Windsor RFC we have a tendency to focus on the negatives rather than the positives

The Club will not always get things right. There will always be differences in opinions as the club has a diverse and inclusive membership. We just ‘ALL’ need to work through these challenges and communicate more openly and in an effective way.

Volunteers are the life blood of any Rugby Club, and it needs to be remembered that Volunteers give up their valuable time for the benefit of Windsor RFC.

The club needs more volunteers to get involved to take the club forward. Like most clubs there is a situation where over 500 people have differing views on what should be done but very few put their names forward to help.

To finish and my final point of my report.

The last 12 months have been the most challenging year of my life. Who would have thought since the last AGM and following the adverse publicity in the Sunday Times that I would have had to outlay in excess of £10,000 on legal costs and seek professional medical advice for mental health reasons. I would not have been able to cope without the love and support from my wife and family who saw me through some very dark times.

As you can I imagine I did question if I should walk away from the game and a club that has been part of my life for nearly 50 years but the Board’s Directors, members, parents of Windsor RFC and the wider Windsor RFC community have supported me through this difficult time. I want to ensure that Windsor RFC continues to thrive as a diverse and inclusive Community Rugby Club. There is no place for discrimination or bullying and harassment of any kind at Windsor RFC no matter their sex or ethnicity.

My solicitor has advised me that I should not make any further comment as I am still considering my options. I am also in discussions with the RFU regarding a statement that can be shared with Club Members, Sponsors and potential volunteers

I would like to inform members that I and Windsor RFC have co-operated fully with the RFU throughout their investigation and the RFU advised my solicitor that I had been cleared of all charges on the initial complaint. The RFU have also confirmed that there will be no charges against Windsor RFC or any other officers of the Club. The Club were made aware of this outcome at the end of July prior to the articles being published in the Sunday Times.

Despite what has happened to me personally and the Club and its Officers it is now time to draw a line under what has happened over the last 12 months and move on.

This is season we must work even harder together to build a stronger club with all sections working together and supporting each other as ‘ONE CLUB’ so that we ensure that it is a safe and enjoyable club for everybody!

As I have said, if you have some spare time please contact our Volunteer Coordinator Tanya Snooks as we are always looking for help. For the coming season we have already have some new younger people on board.

Mike Crawshaw
Chair Windsor RFC