Calling all rugby fanatics: Thornhead Lane, West Derby is the place to be if rugby is your chosen sport. Sefton Rugby Football Club, which has existed for more than a century, wants to enlist the help of Liverpool’s students in a bid to develop the best young talent in the area. Treasurer and former club president Dennis Lee said: “We try to our best to bring in students from the Liverpool universities as they’re always very eager to play. They show willing, and that is what this club’s all about.”

Although many may not even be aware of rugby in Liverpool, Mr Lee insists the game is as popular as ever, and added: “People think everyone plays football because of Liverpool and Everton's football teams, but that’s not true. We’ve been here since 1907, that’s not too long after those clubs were established. But generally we do get good responses from the young kids who live in the West Derby area, as well as players travelling in from Widnes, Warrington and these kinds of places.”

For many years, Sefton has used its success to become a strong, reliable team within the suburbs of Liverpool, and it has taken on a role which has become a considerable help to the youth of West Derby. Mr Lee said: “Some areas of Liverpool can be quite dangerous, and those areas are not too far from West Derby, but over the years, I believe that teaching the young kids some respect has helped them along the way.”

The club began targeting students over five years ago as numbers for all their teams began to drop, as the lull, according to Mr Lee was due to a lack of rugby on television, and a lack of talent within the national side. He said: “When England were doing well, we never had a problem, kids would watch them winning games, come and watch us and want to play, then all of a sudden it stopped. We then began advertising for players in the local press and the majority who came from Liverpool John Moores or Liverpool University and they’ll always be welcome.”

Shorthand Sue

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