A Welcome from Club Captain: Mark Halls
Dear all, I would like to start by welcoming everyone to the website of the oldest rugby club in the world. Since the age of six I have been an avid rugby fan and player, and in all my experience I have never found a club that is comparable to Guy's Hospital RFU, and thus it is a great privilege to be the club captain for the '07-'08 season. In the previous season ('06-'07) Peter Gretton, the previous club captain, lead the team both on and off the field and took the 1st XV to the United Hospitals (UH) final, where we produced a fantastic level of rugby and nearly rolled St. Mary's (now formally known as imperial medics) over. In the final, and throughout the season, Guy's have been fortunate to boast many young players who have brought new and exciting aspects to our game. With this in mind, and without wanting to disrespect my predecessors, I hope to improve our standing within Kent 1 and push for promotion into London 4, in addition to giving St. Mary's a run for their money in the UH final.
As a club we not only offer a competitive level of rugby at our 1st team level, but we are able to consistently produce winning 2nd and 3rd teams (having both won their respective UH finals in the '05-'06 season), as well as a highly respected 7's team ('06-'07 UH 7's champions). Thus I would like to extend an invitation to all, regardless of playing standard, to come to the club and join the individuals that make this unique club what it is.
In the previous season the club saw large forward steps being made in the quality of the rugby played at Guy's, in no small part due to our coaches Steve and Elaine. I hope to continue this trend by working closely with Mike Forsythe (the student 1st XV captain), to produce a style of rugby that is both fun to watch and play. For this to be achieved much training will be required to integrate new and old players, and so I urge everyone to attend training, as with this the quality of rugby played by individuals and the team can only improve.
This website was launched five years ago and since then it has grown tremendously and a huge amount of information is now available, such as fixtures, team lists, VP occasions, club days, match reports and committee minutes, not forgetting the massively popular message board! I hope that the website will continue to raise the profile of the club, and make the various captains jobs easier.
I look forward to meeting the new members of the club, working alongside our young and enthusiastic committee both on the field and in the bar, and I sincerely hope that we can build on our efforts last season, and move forward to greater success.
Mike Forsythe
A Welcome from GKT Student Captain: Mike Forsythe
My name is Mike Forsythe and I'm your student 1st XV captain for the coming year. I'd like to firstly echo the club captain in welcoming you to GKT rugby club, the oldest rugby club in the world. This is my second year on the GKT committee having held the position of social secretary last year. It has been a ambition since joining the club to captain a successful Guy's team, and having spent 2 years in the student and club 1st XV, and I feel immensely privileged to have the opportunity the fulfill this aim this year.
I'm looking forward to working closely with Mark Halls, and continuing the great improvement we saw last year. Mark was instrumental in instilling an excellent attitude towards training and our approach to matches, and we are all confident he's going to be a hugely successful club captain. There are some incredible talented rugby players involved with the club, and with hard work on and off the field, we can push for promotion in both the student and club divisions.
There is a great history involved with GKT rugby, and a fantastic camaraderie and social scene coupled with the high quality rugby we aspire to. We are looking forward to welcoming a new batch of players and embarking on a successful season, both on the field and off.
If anyone has any questions or queries do not hesitate to get in touch, I can be emailed at michael.forsythe@kcl.ac.uk, or get in touch by mobile on 07729 354521.
