Sad Saturday at Sedgley

This is where I should be this afternoon but, of course the place is deserted, only an hour before regular kick-off time.

This is Sedgley Park Rugby Club, a happy little club which has moved up the pecking order. The part-time pros on our first team play at level 4 of the English game, in National League 2, where we were having a highly successful season when, one year ago, the pandemic put an end to such non-essentials.

In addition we run (or used to run) three amateur teams who play on Saturdays, and age-group sides on a Sunday, everything between under 18s and under 8s.

For the time being, we sports fans are kept entertained and relatively sane by the elite-level athletes on our TV screens. In the last day I have watched rugby from Bristol, cricket from Canberra, and golf from Dubai. The rugby match between Gloucester and Northampton kicks off in a few minutes, as I type this. 

One day, sometime in an unknowable future, the Sedgley Park clubhouse will be packed, the stand and terraces will be buzzing. But not today.