Stourbridge Rugby

🏉🐾 PANTHERS LEADERSHIP TEAM 2026/27 🐾🏉

We’re pleased to announce our Panthers leadership team for the 2026/27 season! 💗💙

Leading the Panthers on the pitch this season will be:

🐾 Captain: Millie Bassett
🏉 Vice Captain, Backs: Lauren Taylor
💪 Vice Captain, Forwards: Jasmine Faulkner-Harper

They’ll be working alongside our brand new Head Coach Gareth Simpson, who joins Christian ‘Rhino’ Lewis and Manager Darren Bassett in leading the Panthers into the new season.

It’s an exciting new chapter for the Panthers as they head into their fifth season, during our historic 150th anniversary year.

Congratulations Millie, Lauren and Jas on your appointments, and a very warm welcome to Gareth. We’re looking forward to seeing what this team can achieve together this season! 🐾🏉

🎉🐾 HAPPY BIRTHDAY KIRSTY! 🐾🎉 We’ve already celebrated one Stourbridge birthday today, but we’re not finished yet... it’s also Happy Birthday to Panthers player Kirsty Tildesley! 🥳🩷

We hope you have a brilliant day Kirsty and enjoy the birthday celebrations 🩷💙

🎉🏉 HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOEL! 🏉🎉 Our first September birthday is none other than Joel Hodgetts! 🥳

Sorry Joel, I had to use this photo as this moment was a real professional highlight for me 😂 and, given that a season-long injury meant we didn’t get to see you in a rugby shirt too often (if at all?) last season, it might possibly have been your highlight of the season too! 🙈

Here’s hoping this season brings a little more rugby and a lot less time on the sidelines! 🤞🏉

Happy Birthday Joel from everyone at Stourbridge Rugby.

🚨🍻 ONE WEEK TO GO... DON’T MISS OUT ON £30 TO SPEND AT THE BAR! 🍻🚨
If you’re planning to renew or join Stourbridge Rugby Club for our historic 150th season, now is the time to do it!

🎁 Purchase your 2026/27 membership by midnight on Sunday 6th September and we’ll add £30 CREDIT to your Bar Card to spend at the club. That’s £30 towards your matchday drinks, post-match pints or a few rounds throughout the season... 🍻

And with membership prices FROZEN at 2025/26 rates there’s even more reason to get yours sorted before the deadline.

💳 GET YOUR MEMBERSHIP HERE:
https://form.jotform.com/Stourbridge/202627-srfc-membership

💙 MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS INCLUDE:
⭐ Free entry to all First XV home league games (£10 on the gate price)
⭐ Reduced Bar Card prices on selected drinks
⭐ Free on-site gym membership for over 18s
⭐ 50% off room hire
⭐ Reduced-price member tickets for selected club events
⭐ Access to our new Stourbridge Rugby WhatsApp Community

💰 NEED TO SPREAD THE COST?
Klarna is available at checkout, giving you the option to pay in instalments.

👥 PARTNER SOCIAL MEMBERSHIP
You can also add your spouse or partner to any Full Club Membership as a Social Member for just £31, giving them almost all the benefits of Full Club Membership too.

Please note, Partner Social Memberships are not eligible for the £30 Bar Card Credit and do not include AGM voting rights.

🤔 NOT SURE WHICH MEMBERSHIP YOU NEED?
Follow the link and use our handy flow chart to find the right option, or contact the club office at [email protected] and we’ll be happy to help.

⏰ ONE WEEK TO GO...Don’t leave that £30 behind. Get your membership sorted by midnight on Sunday 6th September and start our 150th season with £30 already waiting for you behind the bar! 🍻💙

Thank you, as always, for supporting Stourbridge Rugby Club. We can’t wait to welcome you back for what promises to be a very special season. 🏉🎉

🏉🌙 FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS 🌙🏉 Next up at Stourton Park, we welcome the RAF U23s for a Friday night pre-season fixture under the lights!

📅 Friday 4th September
🏉 Lions v RAF U23s
⏰ 8:15pm KO
📍 Stourton Park
🎟️ FREE ENTRY FOR ALL
🍻 Bar open

We welcomed the RAF U23s to Stourton Park in November of last year where they ran our winners against a Royal Navy side and we're looking forward to having them back again this year.

The Stourbridge side will primarily feature players from our Lions team, supported by a number of First XV players, giving our wider Senior Squad another valuable run-out ahead of the competitive season.

Friday night rugby, under the lights, with the bar open... a pretty good way to start the weekend! 🍻🏉

Come down and support the lads! 💙

🎉🏉 HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIKE! 🏉🎉 -Today’s birthday is none other than Hoppers Captain Mike Steven! 🥳

Mike might officially name himself as Captain of our Hoppers, but more than that, he is the leader of this team.

Alongside the wider Hoppers ‘leadership group’, Mike has created something that is about much more than just rugby; a team of men who genuinely look out for one another and support each other through the good times and the bad. That sense of camaraderie is a commendable achievement 💙

They’re also a massive part of the social side of our club and, as most of us know, the Hoppers know how to have a REALLY GOOD TIME! 🍻😂

Happy Birthday Mike from everyone at Stourbridge Rugby. We hope you have a great day! 🍻🦗

🏉 PROJECT 150 🏉 - As Stourbridge Rugby Club enters its 150th year, the Committee is launching Project 150, an independent review of how the Club operates today and how we can ensure it is fit for the next 150 years.

A full statement was sent by email at 6.30pm this evening to all 2025/26 members, along with new members who have already joined for the coming season. A brief synopsis is below.

From 1st September, Steve Hewitt, former CEO of Gymshark, will spend 4-6 weeks looking closely at the way we operate across all areas of the Club, including our office and administration, bar operation, facilities, rugby structures, financial foundations and how we communicate with our wider membership.

This is not an audit. It is an opportunity to look “under the bonnet”, understand what we already do well, identify where we can improve and ultimately develop a five-year strategic blueprint for the Club.

Steve is giving his time and expertise independently, having seen his son Oli progress through Stourbridge from M&J’s to C**ts before recently signing a full-time senior contract with Gloucester Rugby.

We are also pleased to confirm our Committee for the 150th season:

Neil Mitchell, Chairman
Mike Dyson, M&J’s
Chris Roe, Facilities
Paul Davidson, Club Secretary
Richard Baron, Commercial
John Waldron, Chairman of Governance
Alf Edwards, President
Miles Edge, Senior Vice President

We also welcome Nik Bayley and John Parkes to the Committee, primarily representing our Mini and Junior membership.

Louise Hibbert, our General Manager, is a full-time employee with overall responsibility for the operation and development of the club. Louise also sits on the Committee in a non-voting capacity and is directly involved in Project 150, working to help secure the long-term future of the club.

Sarah Wallis has also accepted in principle the position of Treasurer, with the precise remit to be defined following Steve’s review.

📧 If you were a 2025/26 member or have already joined for the coming season and have not received tonight’s email, please email [email protected] and a copy will be sent to you after the Bank Holiday weekend.

We will keep members updated as Project 150 progresses over the coming weeks and months.

Here’s to building the best version of Stourbridge Rugby Club for our next 150 years. 💙

🎉🏉 HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALEX - Today we’re wishing a very Happy Birthday to Hoppers and Lions player Alex Hurrell! 🥳

Sorry Alex - we know today’s photo might not be the best one we’ve ever shared, but it IS a Player of the Match winning photo, so we think that makes up for it🏆 and let’s be honest, finding a photo of Alex with his clothes on proved more difficult than expected... 😂🙈

There’s been plenty for Alex to celebrate recently too, after getting engaged to his girlfriend! 💍❤️

🎉🏉 BELATED BIRTHDAY WISHES! 🏉🎉

A couple of belated Happy Birthdays from yesterday... we should have posted these at the time, but some of us may have enjoyed the return of pre-season rugby a little too much! 🙈🍻 Sorry!

A very Happy Birthday to Hoppers player Joe Middleton 🦗 and to graduating C**t Archie Samuel, who celebrated his 18th birthday! 🎂

Archie has now officially made the step up from the C**ts into our Senior Squad, so a big season ahead for him! 🏉

Hope you both had a brilliant birthday and enjoyed the celebrations! 💙🩷

🏉💙 What a way to welcome rugby back for the 2026/27 season!

A brilliant afternoon bathed in glorious sunshine saw Stourbridge run out 33-19 winners against Huel Tring, with a Player of the Match performance from Callum Corcoran. 👏 It was also great to see some familiar faces in the Tring side and welcome them back to Stourton Park.

It was fantastic to have so many of you back with us too, it felt like we’d never been away! Thank you, as always, for your brilliant support.

🚜 50/50 FARMERS FUND DRAW 🚜
As you know, yesterday’s 50/50 draw was raising money for the 9 local farmers affected by the recent wildfires.

We’ve decided to make the draw a ROLLOVER across all of our home pre-season fixtures, giving us the chance to raise even more for the farmers and build an even bigger prize pot!

Yesterday you helped us raise an amazing £470:
🚜 £235 currently raised for the farmers
💰 £235 currently in the prize pot

We have taken contact details from all ticket holders, but please KEEP HOLD OF YOUR TICKETS! 🎟️

Keep an eye on our social media and website for updates on the growing prize fund, your next chance to enter and confirmation of when the winning ticket will be drawn.

And finally, in classic Stourbridge style, we couldn’t just ease quietly into pre-season... 😂

The celebrations continued after the rugby for Jasmine Faulkner-Harper’s birthday. If you thought you saw the characters from Shrek wandering down Wollaston High Street last night... you weren’t wrong, it was our Panthers! 😂🫏👑🐭

Rugby was well and truly back in style! 🩷💙