CHIPPENHAM Rugby Club are celebrating after they were named Sports Club of the Year at last week’s awards.

The Allington Field outfit, whose first team won the Bath Combination Cup last season, also received the RFU’S Whole Club Seal of Approval last year and club captain Bobby Lyons was delighted to see his club honoured.

“It’s fantastic because you always go to ceremonies like that and write yourself off at first but doing it for the whole club is brilliant,” he said.

“I felt a bit guilty accepting it because there should have been a thousand-odd people there because it really is from the under sixes, right up to first-team level, right up to the people who have been there for 70 years. Chairman Mark Parry said: “We now have over 100 volunteers at our club.

“That could be on the coaching side of things, where we’ve got 60 people who are qualified coaches, or as administrators or on the committee. Our mission is to make sure that everybody plays from a young age right through to the first-team.

“I have to say that we’re chuffed to bits with the recognition.”

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