Sue Gardiner
At the Annual General Meeting of the SpoonAAs RUFC on Tues 25th July, a chapter of A-As and SpoonAAs closed, when Sue Gardiner retired as Secretary, after faithfully serving the club for thirteen years.  During her time in office, she saw the evolution of the IT age through which she mastered computers, databases and spreadsheets.  She also helped to ensure that the administration of the Anti-Assassins continued smoothly when the club became associated with Wooden Spoon to become the SpoonAAs.  All this at the same time as being a caring Grandmother, hard-working President of Sale FC, an enthusiastic long-distance walker and a long-suffering Wife of Chairman John.  What a Lass!! 
Thank you Sue for the charming way you have kept us all in order and ensured that the ethos of the A-As has continued.  Monsieur le President, Stewart, would have been proud of you.  Sue may have put down her mouse, but I am certain that we will see her at many events in the future and, who knows, maybe on another tour or two!!  At the AGM, Past President Ken Woolley appropriately presented Sue with a DVD and a couple of books on the Coastal Walk.

Graeme Marrs
The Queen is dead.  Long live the King!!  Graeme Marrs, a member of Birkenhead Park, and immediate past President of Cheshire County RFU, has succeeded Sue as Secretary.  Graeme is a most loyal SpoonAA.  Few will forget his generous hospitality during our two visits to Trinidad for the Caribbean Sevens or his sterling efforts to ensure that the squad always had sufficient supplies and clean jerseys.  A bon viveur in the truest sense of the word!!  Members should now address enquiries regarding International Tickets to him - graememarrs@therfu.com or by phone on 0151 652 1536 (H).

Maurice Parker
Congratulations to A-A member Maurice Parker, who was elected President of Lancashire County RFU for their 125th season.  He follows a long line of former A-As who have been President of the Red Rose County, including of course our Founder President, Stewart.  As well as playing for Manchester FC and Vale of Lune RFC, Maurice also found time to father Guy who until recently has also played for the SpoonAAs, thus maintaining the family tradition of our club.

Membership
We are inviting playing members to join the Wooden Spoon via the SpoonAAs. The AA’s still welcome Benevolent Patrons who pay by standing order, should you wish to support the AA’s by this process and 216 people do, please contact the Treasurer John Aikman – jkga@supanet.com or by phone 07870 162454. Annual subscription is £15.  Non-players are also welcome to join the Wooden Spoon via the SpoonAAs. Simply complete the membership form and write SpoonAAs in the box (stirred into action by) under the Direct Debit instruction on the reverse of the application form.

Next Season
The fixture list for next season shows an expanding list of XV-a-side fixtures with travels to different parts of the country to enable the regional Wooden Spoon committees to raise funds.  West Hartlepool, Old Novaportians, (the first time for a 350th anniversary), Taunton and the Royal Navy all appear for the first time, whilst we will be re-visiting Richmond and Cambridge University.  We still remain true to our heritage by playing the Old Sedberghians and also Stonyhurst Old Boys.  Our Rugby Manager Jon Eagle has done fantastic work in enlisting the support of an extensive team of Match Managers to select and manage teams for these fixtures.  

Hopefully, you will be able to get along to see some of our fixtures and possibly meet up with old friends again – what a pleasant surprise it was to see Kenya tourist John Collingwood at Richmond last March!!  Arrangements for each of the fixtures can be obtained from any of the Officers, the Match Managers or on the SpoonAAs’ website.

Sevens
To help spread the word of Wooden Spoon further, we will be playing in at least four Sevens Tournaments next season, including defending our title in Madrid.  The 50th Sunshine Sevens at East Grinstead will be a new one on our schedule.  Our Sevens teams help to recruit younger members into the SpoonAAs and has come about due to the enthusiasm of John Aikman, ably assisted by Dave Muckalt of Manchester Grammar School, Brian Gornall of Kirkham Grammar School and Dan Harrison of Sedbergh School.   

Dubai Tens
SpoonAAs will make a return visit to Dubai to play in the International Tens Veterans Tournament which will be played on Thurs 30th November, Fri 1st December and Sat 2nd December.  The squad is being assembled by Jon Eagle and will be captained by former England International, Steve Ravenscroft.  On the last two days the renowned IRB Sevens will also be played in a magical party atmosphere.  It is pleasing to learn that Dave Strettle, who was with the A-As in Trinidad and is now with NEC Harlequins, has again been selected for the England Sevens Squad.  We will all be giving him a cheer as England strive to retain their title!! 

Dubai Tens Supporters Group
Graeme Marrs is co-coordinating arrangements for a Supporters Group to travel to Dubai.  The party will depart Manchester on Mon 27th November and return on Mon 4th December.  They will be staying in double deluxe rooms at the Hilton Dubai Jumeirah Hotel.  The cost per person, including flights, 7 nights hotel accommodation, SpoonAAs’ stash and Wooden Spoon membership will be approximately £1,250.  

There will also be the option of a place at a table in a VIP Hospitality area at the stadium for the two main days of the Tournament, with a seat in the VIP stand. This enables you to watch 13 hours of non-stop Sevens, featuring England, New Zealand, Fiji et al., and the finals of eight of the other events, including SpoonAAs hopefully!!  It will also be possible to watch matches in the other ten events played on the three pitches at the back of the main stadium.  The package will include entry into the ground, breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea buffet, 5 complimentary beverage vouchers p.p.p.d. and a souvenir programme.  The cost for the two days per person will be £400.  

This is a very special opportunity to enable you to visit the incredible city of Dubai, stay in a luxurious hotel adjacent to the beach, support the SpoonAAs and see the first round of the IRB Sevens series, all in the company of like-minded A-A tourists.  Graeme stresses that this is not a ‘boys’ solo.   Wives or partners will be more than welcome.
Don’t miss out.  For further details, contact Graeme on graememarrs@therfu.com or by phone on 0151 652 1536 (H).

Sponsorship
We are actively seeking sponsorship for the SpoonAAs as we have no immediate source of income. Sponsorship falls into two categories, Match Sponsorship and SpoonAAs Sponsorship. The latter can be a simple donation or your company logo on the team kit.
For further information of how you can give you support, please contact johndewhurst@aol.com

Communications
In order to improve our communications with members, we are updating our records of postal and e-mail addresses. If you would like to receive SpoonAAs’ information on a regular basis, including pre-match details and match reports, please forward your e-mail details to Peter Hughes - ofpeh.higham@virgin.net

Postal mailing to all members is a costly business, (ever increasing), and in future will be restricted to once a year.  If you still wish to receive the Newsletter and Fixture Card, please contact the Newsletter Editor: Peter Hughes on ofpeh.higham@virgin.net or 01282 771120.