the committee
Our key committee members are made up by a number of people, fore-mostly; but not exhaustively:
Intelligent, unassuming and relentless John spent 33 years in the police service, for the most part as a detective involved in combating serious and organised crime and is now currently working for the National Crime Agency. John has been involved in rugby since being a small boy, playing for and then later taking a club official role for his home force of Nottingham Police. This is where John met Pete Oram, our EPRUFC founder. Pete asked John to join him in setting up the EPRUFC and he immediately jumped at the chance and still tells us constantly 6 years later that it’s one of the best decisions he’s ever made! For the first 3 years John was our Club Secretary and has been our Vice Chair ever since. When we asked him to tell us why he gives his time and energy so freely to the club he said…
“From the start it’s been an absolute privilege and honour to be a part of the best Team and Club I’ve ever been involved with and it still is today. I often have to pinch myself as it’s just such a pleasure and one I love every minute of. For me giving up my time (and the odd sleepless night) is worth it to ensure we provide the best possible platform for the boys to perform to their highest level, whilst maintaining our core rugby values and Club ethos of which we are so proud. There have been so many highlights for me over the years, but I feel some of the best so far would be… beating Australia Police in Hong Kong in 30 degrees of heat, in one of the world’s greatest cities or beating Wales Police at Cardiff Arms Park in the 2019/2020 season! Both fantastic victories! It’s about being a part of our amazing journey as a Club, which goes from strength to strength, but ultimately for me I would have to say it’s about watching the lads building life-long friendships and rugby memories, which will live with them forever through the fantastic game we all love.”
Dick is one of our hidden gems… Born and bred in Pontypool, South Wales he spent 6 years in the Royal Navy between 1974 and 1980, based at the Air Station in Portland, Dorset and HMS Tiger.
His organisational skills; which are second to none, were first crafted there. One of his claims to fame is that in 1976 he ran for the Portsmouth Field Gun Crew in The Royal Tournament at
Earls Court, London. Dick has notched up 40 years’ service with South Yorkshire Police based in Sheffield, 30 year as a serving Police Officer and 10 years in a support staff role. For 32 of those years he has worked within the Intelligence Department. He likes to keep himself extremely busy and has been the secretary of the South Yorkshire Police Rugby section for the past 17 years. One of our original faces since the club’s inception, Dick was recruited to be the Club Secretary in 2017 and has been keeping us on track since then.
A man of few words; unless it’s actually about rugby and efficient to the end, when asked why he’s works so hard for the club he simply said…
“It gives me great pleasure to be involved in Police rugby and see the benefits of togetherness and friendship through sport.”
Lynne has been the Treasurer since our inception and we are blessed to have her sharp mind and eagle eyes on the numbers. Lynne became involved with EPRUFC through her connection with West Yorkshire Police RUFC, following the tragic death of her husband, Colin Cramphorn, Chief Constable of West Yorkshire in 2006. Colin had a great love of rugby and throughout his long and esteemed career he still found time for the sport, where he was Deputy in RUC and acting Chief of PSNI West. In memory of their great Chief Constable West Yorkshire decided to have a memorial rugby match against the Police Service of North Ireland team and out of that match West Yorkshire Police RUFC was reformed. After several years, the idea of forming an England Police team came about and Lynne was asked to be the treasurer. When asked why she stays involved with the club Lynne said…
“It’s an honour to be Treasurer of EPRUFC and even though I am no longer a serving police officer it allows me to enjoy the sport of rugby and helps keep me connected with the wider Police family.”
Ian is the man that makes all the fixtures, player logistics and sponsor hospitality work. He just seems to pull it all together effortlessly and seamlessly, even though it’s a mammoth task. He joined Thames Valley Police in 1997 where he stayed for 6 years, until becoming a family man facilitated his return to his home town in Gloucestershire where he has worked for Gloucestershire Police ever since. Involved with CID, intelligence and Serious and Organised
Crime for the majority of his career he is currently DCI of Gloucestershire’s response to serious criminality. Playing rugby at a National Honours level as a school boy rugby has always been
a key part of his life. Since having his boys Fletch has become heavily involved in coaching and refereeing their team. Being in his mid-forties hasn’t slowed Fletch down as he continues to play rugby and is aiming to play with his son, in his son’s clubs second team next season! When asked his reasons for giving up his time and energy to the EPRUFC he said…
“Having played for and been involved with Police Teams since joining and having managed the Gloucestershire Police team for the last 10 years I believe Police Rugby is a fantastic institution, but it has struggled in recent years to maintain its status across the Country. I joined the England Team at its inception, seeing this as a fantastic opportunity to give Police Officers an aspirational goal of representing their country. As the fixture’s secretary I am in regular discussions with the other national Police Teams and love the challenge of pulling together the ultimate goal of an Annual Police Home Nations Tournament and for it one day to be played alongside the Senior Professional tournaments.”
Phil has a pedigree knowledge and execution of rugby that clearly shows on and off the field. With 25 years’ service in the force, most of that as a detective in specialist covert operations his strategic and sharp mind has also benefited his career outside the job too. Playing rugby at a County and National level until a career ending injury at the age of 34, rugby has always been at the pivotal point of Phil’s heart. Although that spelt the end of his playing career it was not going to be the end of his deep relationship with the sport. After taking his coaching badges he was mentored into the field of refereeing by Chris White ex international referee and after 86 games in his first season, Phil was hooked. His focus and ability to understand the game on all levels allowed him to progress from the lower leagues to ultimately the Premiership level, working as part of the refereeing team at the European Heineken Cup, six nations, U20 six nations and World Cups. When answering the question of why he’s part of the EPRUFC he said…
“In truth originally I saw it as an opportunity to develop as a coach. Benefiting from working with more experienced coaches than myself, aspiring to learn more and to be better than I was at the time... to grow and develop as a coach and to enhance my leadership skills. I recognised that the evolvement of the section was a very important thing and I wanted to be part of that in whatever role I could. I always had aspirations to be in charge of the section and a hidden passion and desire to be part of something special. I have loved seeing how the section has evolved over the years. We have got better year on year not only on the field, but off it as well. I am so proud of the buy-in from everyone to make this an inclusive and successful team. Most importantly, we are all in this together. Players, coaches, physio, helpers, sponsors and committee, each as important as each other in their roles... Since taking over as DOR in January 2019 I believe I have brought professionalism to the section that I have curated through my time as a professional referee. Enabling purposeful structure, with a passion and desire to succeed and become the very best police rugby nation not only in the UK, but the world. My hope is that I have brought openness, honesty, integrity and created a squad that rugby playing police staff from all over England are desperate to be a part of. Mostly I just love this stuff!”
Gav has at least two sides to him… the quintessential family man, with two beautiful daughters and a happy home in Leatherhead. On the flip side he is a high flying, highly organised, deeply focused go getter. After 20 years in the Met with several varying key positions of responsibly in the force, he is currently a Superintendent, responsible for Response Policing in South West
London. Yet again another person bitten by the highly infectious rugby bug as a boy he has played at various levels, Captaining the Met team from 2003 to 2009 and culminating in 3 caps for the British Police. After the end of his playing career Gav has gone on to team manage the Met from 2010 to 2017, along with taking up coaching qualifications and being a director of the Met Sports club to name a few. In 2019 he agreed to become Team manager for the EPRUFC and we haven’t looked back!
When asked why he agreed to take this role he said…
“It’s an absolute privilege to be part of the England Police RUFC. My two passions of Policing and Rugby come together at a National level, which means I get to look after some of the most talented players in England, work with amazing advocates of rugby on the committee and witness superb rugby around the UK with friends. I get immense satisfaction in supporting them all in delivering on and off the pitch and I look forward to many successful seasons ahead!”.
Imogen is literally the glue that holds us together on and off the pitch. One of the foundation pillars of our “temple of rugby” we are always hugely indebted to her dedication, ultimate professionalism, medical and pastoral care to the team; and even sometimes to the committee the day after a particularly joyous celebration of a win. Originally qualified as an osteopath with many years of experience running her own private clinic, Imogen decided to get involved with the rugby world from the early 2000’s. She decided to take her RFU level 2 and 3 in 2011, via the RFU team. Operating at a local community rugby level to start off with and then moving on to work with the Notts Police rugby team and NLD county rugby as well. Shortly after this she took her level 3 course in Twickenham with the RFU. In 2015 Imogen was approached by a member of the Notts Police committee and asked if she would be interested in working for an England Police team.
The rest is as they say, history. When we asked her what she loved most about being part of the EPRUFC team she said…
“I was speechless when I was invited to apply. I wrote out a full cv and a list of my achievements and qualifications, never really thinking it would come to anything. I was absolutely honoured to be invited for a trial; and then offered the opportunity to become the team physio. I totally love my job! I am incredibly blessed to spend my life doing something I truly enjoy – even when I find it massively stressful or exhausting it’s all ultimately worth it. The players and the committee are my extended family… Some might say I fuss too much, nag too much or mother them all way too much, but that’s because I care so much. This club is fantastic, the support and unity between us all is hard to beat – I love the ethos, we really are a rugby family and I am hugely proud and blessed to be able to be a part of it.”
AJ is our unsung hero, dealing with more sweaty, muddy, man smelling kit than any one person should do in a life time! He makes sure that everything is ordered with the supplier,
perfectly organised, pristine and ready for match day, without one ounce of drama. Although his apartment may resemble a JD Sports Warehouse on the days leading up to a match, nothing is ever missed or forgotten. With nearly 19 years’ service in the Police with most of those within CID, he got involved with police rugby when he played for and then later became the Secretary of the West Yorkshire Police Team. This is where AJ met Pete Oram and decided to become part of the England Police Rugby committee when it was created. When asked the reasons behind why he continues to be part of the EPRUFC family he said this…
“Having been involved from the outset I have tried to ensure I’ve played my part in making the ethos of the squad a truly inclusive one, striving to help create the best team we possibly can. Within my role as the kit manager I get to see things from all levels, in the changing room, on the pitch side and in the boardroom and it allows me to have great holistic view of how the club works. On match day, kitman, to water boy to general dogs’ body, I’m always happy to help in any way I can. Trying to make the experience a step up from force level and make it as professional an experience as we can do for the lads, to ensure they feel the honour of pulling on that jersey and representing England Police. I have a deep love of rugby and being part of EPRUFC gives me an opportunity to still be involved, now my body won’t allow me to play. I am honoured to be part of this section and I’m looking forward to continuing the experience over the years to come”.