Interesting Rugby Pics
While sorting out my online photo archive recently I came across correspondence I had a little while back with local man Philip Darling....
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Our Heritage
A blog by club historian Keith Gregson
Keith Gregson
Oct 291 min read
SRFC and the World Rugby Museum
I have mentioned in a number of blogs the fact that we are lucky to have one of the most complete club archives in the country. For a...
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Keith Gregson
Oct 221 min read
1873 Club and Our Heritage
SRFC is one of the oldest rugby clubs in the north and, thanks to the efforts of administrators across the years, has an archive which...
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Keith Gregson
Oct 101 min read
Thanks, Jon
A nice little e-mail from former SRFC player and groundsman Jon Buddington - now in charge of the wonderful University Parks Sports...
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Keith Gregson
Oct 12 min read
More From Jack Thompson
The previous blog noted correspondence from the descendant of Victorian club member Jack Thompson. She sent a number of fascinating...
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Keith Gregson
Sep 191 min read
An Interesting Plate
Recently I wrote about correspondence received concerning a Victorian club member called Jack Thompson. Research shows that he was an...
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Keith Gregson
Aug 131 min read
Lost E Mail Update
I have just been contacted by a descendant of Victorian club member 'Jack' Thompson filled with fascinating detail. Unfortunately I have...
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Keith Gregson
Aug 121 min read
The Future of Our Heritage
Due to commitments outside of historical research over the next few months there will be no new articles. However the site remains a...
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Keith Gregson
Jun 281 min read
Baseball at Ashbrooke
Folks crossing Ashbrooke's grounds during school time will have seen the pupils from St Aidan's playing baseball ( or softball/rounders)....
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Keith Gregson
Jun 131 min read
Ashbrooke and the Americans
Folks may be a little surprised to find an international cricket competition being played partly in the United States - as it is with the...
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Keith Gregson
Jun 72 min read
From the Bowls Board (3/3)
Our final First World War veteran to appear on the Bowls board is perhaps one of the finest amateur sportsmen Sunderland has seen. Read...
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Keith Gregson
May 312 min read
From the Bowls Boards (2/3)
See the previous blog for the background to this blog which concerns - Thomas Reginald Sewell (SCFC/FWW 194). He was born in Crossdoney...
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Keith Gregson
May 242 min read
From the Bowls Boards ( 1 of 3)
Bowlers new and long standing often declare an interest in the boards on the bowls pavilion walls. These boards list officials and...
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Keith Gregson
May 82 min read
Ralph Milbanke Hudson - Founding Cricket Member ( 2 of 2)
The previous blog took Ralph's story from his birth in 1813 up to the formation of our cricket club in 1834. At the time Ralph was only...
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Keith Gregson
Apr 292 min read
Ralph Milbanke Hudson - Founding Cricket Member (1 of 2)
It has been noted on a number of occasions that Sunderland C C can be proud of the fact that it is recognised by sport historians as the...
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Keith Gregson
Apr 172 min read
The Remarkable Elliots
Reference was made in a recent blog to the old time links between cricket and rugby – links which have, in some respects, been broken due...
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Keith Gregson
Apr 162 min read
Time For Bowls
The bowls’ season is with us once more, affording us another opportunity to look at the unique cross sport links that exist in our club....
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Keith Gregson
Apr 122 min read
Coming Together
Rugby and Cricket have always been close. Before the demands of both the sports today it was common for sporting folk to play cricket in...
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Keith Gregson
Apr 101 min read
Cricket - Lovely Cricket!
The grounds around the country are soggy and it doesn't look like there will be an easy start to the season! However it is a good time to...
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Keith Gregson
Mar 211 min read
Good News For Girls' And Women's Rugby
It was good to read a club communication which suggested that Girls' Rugby on a Monday evening had really taken off. With a number of...
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Keith Gregson
Feb 91 min read
Celebrate 150 years and our invaluable kit discovery
My 150th anniversary Sunderland RFC book is now on sale at the club. The book is in two parts. The first part looks at the club's very...
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Keith Gregson
Dec 24, 20232 min read
More on Boxing Day
Thanks to Billy Kidson - one of the founding members who lived into his 90s; 'The club was able to record that the first official game of...
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Keith Gregson
Dec 12, 20232 min read
JOIN US ON BOXING DAY!
150th anniversary of Sunderland (Rugby) Football Club, Ashbrooke Sports Club 12.00 -2.00. Tuesday 26 December 2023 sees the 150th...
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Keith Gregson
Nov 22, 20233 min read
BBC’S JEFF ADDS TO OUR ARCHIVES
Jeff Brown is one of the best known figures in North East England. For years he has fronted BBC TV’s ‘Look North’ programme with a...
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Keith Gregson
Nov 11, 20231 min read
REMEMBRANCE
It was a moving occasion on Saturday when the poppy wreath was placed in front of the Last Stand at Ashbrooke before the 1st XV game...
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Keith Gregson
Oct 3, 20231 min read
Food For Thought for the rugby lads
Have a good look at this! https://worldrugbymuseum.com/from-the-vaults/uncategorized/william-webb-ellis-what-we-know
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Keith Gregson
Sep 5, 20233 min read
Well done, lads!
It was great to see the lovely coverage of Sunderland CC's 1st XI League victory in the Echo yesterday and to see a return to the top...
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Keith Gregson
Aug 30, 20231 min read
He Played At Ashbrooke!
This has just gone onto the World Rugby Museum web site https://worldrugbymuseum.com/from-the-vaults/players/juan-arzuaga As you will see...
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Keith Gregson
Aug 23, 20232 min read
WHAT A HANDICAP!
This Tuesday I had the pleasure of sitting at a table in the Bowls Pavilion at Ashbrooke and looking at one of the oldest and most...
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Keith Gregson
Aug 14, 20234 min read
Sunderland RFC & The World Rugby Museum
https://worldrugbymuseum.com/from-the-vaults You will find 16 articles about Sunderland RFC by me on the site above and can access them...
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Keith Gregson
Aug 14, 20232 min read
A Guide To The Site
As things start to look up at Ashbrooke I will attempt to reinvigorate the Our Heritage Site. Below is a list of all the articles I have...
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Keith Gregson
Mar 25, 20232 min read
Facing A Challenge - the 1970s
It is no secret that financing a club such as Ashbrooke is never easy. Even when the great and good of Sunderland ran the club in the...
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Keith Gregson
Mar 20, 20232 min read
1987 – A Hundred Years On – The Club
May 30 1987 marked the hundredth anniversary of the opening of Ashbrooke. In 1887, the new combined home of Sunderland Rugby Football...
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Keith Gregson
Mar 10, 20231 min read
When the Cossacks came to Ashbrooke
Across the years Ashbrooke Sports Ground has seen massive crowds for events – some sporting and some non-sporting. The record stands at...
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Keith Gregson
Nov 22, 20192 min read
ASHBROOKE HERITAGE AND EDUCATION – LESSON TWO – CRICKET IN SUNDERLAND
Sunderland Cricket Club is thought to be the oldest sporting club in north east England to have records kept and maintained since it...
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Keith Gregson
Nov 16, 20192 min read
Ashbrooke Heritage and Education - A New Venture
For the last few weeks the weekly blog has concentrated on the run up to the re-dedication of the stand as The Last Stand and the club’s...
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Keith Gregson
Nov 9, 20193 min read
Unveiling the Last Stand - An Appropriate Fixture
Saturday 9 November sees the re-dedication of the stand at Ashbrooke and a 1st XV fixture with Winlaton Vulcans. This is an appropriate...
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Keith Gregson
Nov 1, 20193 min read
The Last Stand - Remembering Other Ashbrooke Sportsmen
'On 9 November Ashbrooke Sports Club will be holding a ceremony of re-dedication for its century old and recently refurbished rugby...
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Keith Gregson
Oct 29, 20192 min read
Remembering our England Players
In the week leading up to a great day for English rugby and a fortnight leading up to the dedication of The Last Stand, it is an...
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Keith Gregson
Oct 25, 20193 min read
The Last Stand (2/2) - Remembering the Rugby Players
'On 9 November Ashbrooke Sports Club will be holding a ceremony of re-dedication for its century old and recently refurbished rugby...
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Keith Gregson
Oct 25, 20192 min read
Nice to hear from you, Jon!
Many Ashbrooke Folk will remember Jon Buddington – rugby player and groundsman at Ashbrooke – and indeed the whole family who had links...
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Keith Gregson
Oct 18, 20193 min read
The Last Stand - Remembering the Rugby Players (1/2)
On Saturday 9 November Ashbrooke Sports Club in Sunderland will be holding a ceremony of rededication for its century old and recently...
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Keith Gregson
Oct 11, 20192 min read
Oh Brother!
Followers of the Rugby World Cup cannot have failed to notice that the All Blacks have been able to put three brothers out on the park...
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Keith Gregson
Oct 4, 20192 min read
Ashbrooke's Prestigious Bowls Trophy
The bowls section of Ashbrooke Sports Club aka Sunderland Bowling Club is very strong at the moment with both male and female members...
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Keith Gregson
Sep 26, 20192 min read
Look Out For The Programme!
Sunderland RFC has been in existence for almost 150 years. During that time, the match day programme has been something of a moveable...
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Keith Gregson
Sep 25, 20196 min read
Ashbrooke's Finest Day - June 9, 1926
As an incredibly exciting Ashes series comes to a close, club archivist Keith Gregson reflects on a fascinating historical link between...
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Keith Gregson
Sep 13, 20191 min read
…AND MORE ON OUR ATHLETIC HERITAGE
It looks like last week’s athletics’ blog was well timed. Not only did many club and Strollers’ members take part in the Great North Run...
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Keith Gregson
Sep 6, 20192 min read
A HERITAGE OF ATHLETICS
Although Ashbrooke Sports Club has never had an athletics section as such, it has always had strong links with athletics. The opening day...
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Keith Gregson
Aug 30, 20192 min read
Preparing for 'The Last Stand'
A recent heritage blog featured two magnificent photographs of Sachin Tendulkar, (one of the greatest cricketers of all time), batting at...
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Keith Gregson
Aug 27, 20192 min read
AND GEOFFREY CAME TOO …
The interest shown in the last two blogs on Sachin Tendulkar reminded me of an interesting Ashbrooke link with another cricketing great –...
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