Cooke Rugby Football Club in Belfast will be 100 years young this season. A variety of events and activities will be held to mark the occasion culminating in a festival of rugby next April.
Speaking about the celebrations new President Ian Callaghan said:
“We are very keen to involve former members in the celebrations, as after all they helped write and are part of Cooke`s proud history.”
“Today`s members of course have their own and important part to play and, we need more new members to ensure we can walk towards our future with confidence; they are assured of a warm welcome”
“Our website cookerugby.com (e mails to secretary@cookerugby.com) is a good place to keep in touch with club activity and to view details of coming events or, to contact us.”
Dipping into the club`s history Ian noted:
“The club has come a long way since inception in 1910. In those early days we played nomadically at various grounds in the Rosetta and Knockbreda areas close to Ravenhill. By 1912 the records show we had a bank balance of £1 and in 1919 that we had moved pitches to Pirrie Park – home today for Methodist College.”
“After Pirrie Park we played at Ravenhill itself (prior to purchase by IRFU in 1923) before moving to Upper Galwally in 1927. Our first clubhouse was opened in 1963, our second in 1970. Interestingly Upper Galwally was rented from Methodist College and ultimately became the Forestside Shopping Centre when we moved to our second permanent home at Shawsbridge in 1991”
“For rugby the 30 acre Shawsbridge site provides 4 full size floodlit pitches with training areas and a modern clubhouse with gym. The contrast between the facilities we enjoy now and the £1 bank balance back in 1912 illustrates how far the club has come in bricks and mortar terms. However it is the people in it that make a club what it is”
Asked about the key to success Ian added:
“The success of our journey, so far, and the reputation we have established is characterised by the sheer hard work, loyalty and, vision of our of predecessors and underpinned by a professional approach to managing the club and its assets”
“We also have an ethos which respects and welcomes members, irrespective of background and have benefited from the resulting rich mixture and diversity“
Some Intersting Facts About Cooke RFC
• Cooke Rugby Football Club plays in Qualifying League 1 of the Ulster League and is the oldest junior club in Belfast,
• Since 1991 home for the club has been the former Stranmillis College grounds in an unrivalled 30 acre plus setting at Shawsbridge, Belfast
• Cooke moved to the ground as part of a negotiated deal essentially swopping its former Upper Galwally site (now part of the Forestside centre) for larger, modern and new facilities at Shawsbridge
Facilities at the site currently comprise 4 rugby pitches with training areas, 2 cricket squares and an astro hockey pitch; the large modern clubhouse includes a gym.
• The club was formed in 1910 and played at Ravenhill Park until the ground was purchased for the Ulster Branch IRFU in 1923; Pirrie Park was another playing venue
• Cooke`s `genesis` lies mainly in a young peoples` Bible class belonging to Cooke Centenary Church on Belfast`s Ormeau Road
• The club did not settle into a permanent home at Upper Galwally until 1927
• Former TV presenter Ernie Strathdee is one of several international caps from Cooke; he played scrum half to Jack Kyle in Ireland`s 1948 Grand Slam win and previously Captained Ireland
• Tom Watson of Cooke was the first representative of a Junior club to be elected as President of the Ulster Branch IRFU
• In more recent times Cooke has fielded a number of female internationals including the late Rosie Gallagher who was instrumental in the growth of the ladies game in Ulster
• Many Cooke players male and female have represented Ulster at Junior level
• A highly proactive and successful mini rugby section draws huge numbers of kids from over 40 schools, and as with the senior club, operates on a whole community basis
• We believe that sport has a valuable role to play in our society in breaking down barriers and in providing players with life skills e.g. communication, team work and respect as well as improving health and fitness
• In the early days players changed in a black tin hut using the adjacent stream for washing and did not enjoy the luxury of plumbed hot and cold water until the late 1940s which cost £68 in old money to install
• In 1954 the Upper Galwally grounds were purchased for £1,200; the first pavilion was opened in 1963 and typically at that time the members did most of the work
• In 1970 a new clubhouse was built at a cost of £30,000 marking another major step forward in Cooke`s development
• 1982 saw further improvement with completion of new playing surfaces and a refurbished bar and lounge which echoed to the stories from memorable tours including Hawaii
• The rugby club is one of several clubs in a family which includes Cooke Collegians Cricket Club and Cooke ladies Hockey Club
