But first, I’m sorry to report that Collin Osborne, Director of Rugby at Wimbledon RFC for the past five years, is leaving the club. Collin has been a loyal and committed leader of our adult rugby. I know many of you have enjoyed spending time with Collin and benefited from his wisdom. I’m hugely grateful to Collin and I wish him well on his next venture.

But now to the future. With immediate effect I am delighted to say that Steve Hill (pictured above), most recently Richmond Rugby’s Director of Rugby has joined the club as Director of Rugby. During his tenure there, Richmond gained promotion from National Two South to National One, and then twice from National One to the Championship - a league they competed in for six seasons. Since leaving Richmond, Steve has been a coaching consultant for the Ukrainian national rugby team.

As well as running our senior rugby operation, Steve will be instrumental in building our player pathway so as many players as possible continue to enjoy their rugby at Barham Road.

Clearly, we didn’t get the result we wanted at the end of the season and we will play next season in the fifth tier of English rugby in Regional 1. But we are no less committed to the success of our senior men’s and women's teams. To maintain our prominence and positioning we want to play in National League 2 and will do everything we can to get back into that league.

Steve is an RFU Level 5 Coach who, apart from his time at Richmond Rugby, has previously coached at Harlequins, was Director of Rugby/Head Coach at Oxford University RFC and Head Coach of England Students.

Steve Hill wanted to share the following with the club: “I am delighted to be joining Wimbledon RFC. It is a club at the heart of the Wimbledon community and one with real potential for growth. Whilst my focus will be on the coaching of the senior men’s teams, it is my intention to bring my knowledge and experience to assist the many hard-working volunteers who operate in all areas throughout the club”.