Park reviving in the old-fashioned way

One of the English game's grandest names is finding a new lease of life thanks to a return to traditional values

Something is stirring in Roehampton and it's almost like the re-emergence of a long lost friend. On a prime piece of real estate at the junction of Upper Richmond Road and Priory Lane, the cry of "come on the Park'' can once again be heard to the discerning listener above the traffic of the South Circular. Rosslyn Park are very much alive and doing rather well.

When the game went professional Park, who had been doing their thing at or near the top level of the domestic game since 1879, decided that such a vulgar stampede was not for them. For RP read RIP.

This was the club that produced the archetypal amateur player in Andy Ripley – still a regular at Roehampton – as well as John Scott, Maurice Colclough and Peter Warfield, not to mention Prince Obolensky.

"Park didn't take that route for pragmatic reasons,'' Terry O'Connor, the club's manager and coach, said. "Nobody stepped forward with a few million pounds to spare. On principle we're an amateur club that doesn't pay players. There's a lot of goodwill. Some like to think we're a bastion of amateurism, but we're as good as any below the Premiership in the way we set ourselves up. We're a most attractive club for people who don't expect to get paid and we're playing with style and ambition.''

They are ambitious enough to want to earn promotion from National League Three South, where they are proving a cut above the opposition, averaging more than 40 points a game. On Saturday they expect a crowd of around 500 for the visit of Lidney, who are second in the table. Three clubs will be promoted to National League Two, one from the south, one from the north and one from a play-off between the runners-up.

Park, who have always enjoyed links with the City, run three senior sides, a development team, four social XVs, a ladies' section and minis, all told about 400 players. Park were demoted last season, since when they have lost one player and gained several who have considerably strengthened the first-team squad. In the front row they have the ex-Gloucester prop Josh Hooker and a Canadian hooker Charlie Keenan; at centre Masatoshi Mukoyama from Japan and Brian Meinung from Waikato via Exeter, and at half-back Sam Howard, also from Exeter, and Mike Friday from Wasps.

Friday, who joined Wasps when he was 18, left the Premiership club last summer. The arrival of Rob Howley probably had something to do with it but there was a lot more. "At 30 I thought it was the right time to move back into the real world. You have to do it sooner or later and it's better to do it on your own terms. I have no regrets.''

Friday, who helped Joe Lydon coach the England Sevens squad, has taken a job as a chartered surveyor in Mayfair. "Rugby is now part of my life, not my whole life. I can get to Roehampton from work in 20 minutes and they offered me a free rein on coaching, which is something I want to pursue. I instil my own ideas and they have bought into it. They don't just go through the motions. Also I still wanted to play and there's no money so we're all in the same boat. Another reason for joining is that there's a lot of property people at the club so it could help my career. It's back to rugby the way it used to be. I speak to the Wasps players, who by comparison are in Disney World.'' Friday may not have as much free time as he used to, but on the other hand he only trains on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Rosslyn Park are three leagues below the Zurich Premiership, three above Richmond and London Scottish, capital high-fliers who got their wings burned and crashed to earth when the elite was reduced from 14 clubs to 12. It has left the London landscape a bit bare. Only Harlequins regularly play on a Saturday while Wasps have moved to High Wycombe, London Irish to Reading and Saracens to Watford.

There is the possibility of the Premiership being expanded again, to accommodate two conferences. Blackheath, another famous name, also flirted with the big-time, setting up a company with investment from overseas with the aim of building a squad good enough to break into professional rugby. It quickly ran into trouble and Blackheath are now neighbours of Rosslyn Park in National League Three South. Even in the Premiership only a few clubs turn a modest profit and to listen to the others, you expect to find them selling the Big Issue outside the offices of the Rugby Football Union. There is a big difference in playing standards between the top tier and National League One, which is dominated by Rotherham and Worcester, and those two will have to spend a lot more if they go up.

Rosslyn Park, heavily defeated by Rotherham in the Powergen Cup this season, may be playing an ambitious game, but just how ambitious are they? "Our goal is to win two promotions and we think we could survive in National League One,'' O'Connor said. "After that who knows? Rugby is still in transition and by then the picture may have changed again. Whatever happens it has got to make financial sense and be sustainable. We are a members' club with a good set-up. We don't owe anybody anything, whereas a lot of clubs are struggling to make ends meet. We have been described as an anachronism. I would say we are a traditional club and people like playing for us. It's all about the players and they're not turning up to make a buck. I'm not against paying players but at the moment it's not an issue.''

O'Connor is no relation to the venerable rugby writer of the same name, although he once gatecrashed the press box at Twickenham. "I didn't lie. I just said I was Terry O'Connor. I got kicked out.'' After retiring from the Met Police during which he served in the Royal Protection Force at Windsor Castle, he had a spell coaching at London Irish before landing a full-time job as manager-coach at Roehampton.

"The arrival of Mike Friday has been really good news. He's brought a professional edge. We already had talented players and we're raising the standard although they can only give so much of their time. We also have a superb army of volunteers who don't even get their phone bills paid. We are making things happen at the moment but to go all the way you need a huge amount of money or a fabulous brand. We're a bit like a sleeping giant.''

Some would prefer to let sleeping giants lie. After 124 years Park are in no rush to gamble everything on life in the Premiership. But nor can they forget where they once were.