Mark Carrick

On the evening of 30th September, Millbrae was packed with members for the AGM. Club President Drew Young welcomed attendees, and acting secretary Graham Duncan presented the previous year’s minutes.

Chairman Brian Williamson gave a “year in review” presentation, highlighting the club’s successes both on and off the pitch, as well as its contributions to the local community. General Manager Graeme Ferguson then provided an overview of sponsorship efforts, followed by Director of Rugby Gordon Kotze, who detailed the club’s coaching and team structure.

Frazier Climo from the Ayr Community Rugby Trust gave an update on community activities and outreach in local schools. Finance Director Neil Reid presented the financial report, explaining the auditing process for charity accounts.

Members were then asked to vote on an amendment to the articles of association to increase the number of Directors from five to eight and vote for the new board of directors. The votes were counted, the resolution passed, and the process was ratified by a show of hands.

We are delighted to announce the new board of directors for 2024/25, who bring a wealth of knowledge and experience:

• Brian Williamson
• Drew Young
• Graham Duncan
• David Beattie
• Neil Reid
• Neil Howie
• Richard Longmuir
• Billy McHarg

Ayr Rugby Club Girls’ Section recently hosted U12 and U14 tournaments at Dam Park 🙌

Over 80 girls participated, and the standard of rugby was very high. All the players had a fantastic time and enjoyed the opportunity to compete against so many other teams.

Teams from Stewartry, Marr, Greenock, Cambuslang, Cumnock, Newton Stewart, Irvine, and Oban took part, making it a great showcase for girls’ rugby.

Our girls train every Monday and Wednesday from 6pm to 7pm, and we are currently looking for new players—no experience necessary! 💪

If you’re interested in getting involved in girls’ rugby in Ayr but are unsure where to start, email us at:
👉 robynn@ayrrugbytrust.org

Subject: Notice of Ayr Rugby Football Club, AGM – 30^th September 2024

We are pleased to invite you to the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Ayr RFC Ltd, which will be held at 7pm on Monday the 30^th September at Millbrae, Alloway, Ayr. The purpose of the AGM is to review the previous term to 31^st of March 2024 and to appoint the board of Directors for 2024/25. There is also a special resolution to amend the charity articles increasing the number of directors from five to eight. 

The articles of association allow the first AGM to be a term of up to 18 months to allow for the first financial accounts and charity audit to be completed. The successive AGM’s will take place every 12 months.

This will be the first AGM since the club became a charity and we have made significant progress on and off the pitch. Ayrshire Bulls finished as the most successful Super Series side, the men’s 1^st XV won promotion to the Premiership, the ladies 1^st XVs won their league, the men’s 2^nd XV won their league and promotion playoff. Success continued across the club’s youth section with the U18s boys repeating the national Shield and West Cup victories of the previous season. 

There has also been significant progress with the physical development of the club with the purchase and repurposing of Dam Park Stadium, completion of phase 1 of the Millbrae development and the commencement of phase 2. By the new year, Millbrae will enjoy new vehicular and pedestrian access from Murdoch’s Lone and a new state-of-the-art all-weather championship-sized pitch. This will enable us to maximise the number of training sessions and games played at Millbrae across all sections. This has been made possible by the funding and guidance given by Alan Macdonald and The Macdonald Legacy.

The success of Ayr Rugby Football Club takes a huge effort that is only possible with the help and support of our members, volunteers, sponsors and partners. Your participation is vital to the continued growth and success of our club.

Agenda Overview:

• Approval of Previous EGM Minutes
• Chairperson’s Report
• Financial Report
• Proposed Amendment to Charity Articles
• Election of Directors
• Any Other Business

We have received and verified 8 applications for the role of Director/Trustee for Ayr Rugby Football Club Ltd. The following links include a summary of the applicant’s experience and their proposed contribution to the role, instructions on how to vote at the AGM by proxy and a link to the AGM annual and financial report. 

Supporting Documents:

We look forward to your active participation and attendance. If you have any questions relating to the content of this notice, please contact us at trustees@ayrrugbyclub.co.uk 

Warm regards,

Brian Williamson
Chairman, Ayr Rugby Football Club Ltd

Daily Record – Ayrshire Live – By Paul Behan

An exciting new chapter begins as the diggers move in to begin work on the latest part of what will be a wider “re-planning” at Millbrae.

Phase two of Ayr Rugby Club’s multi-million pound redevelopment at Millbrae has begun.

Ayrshire Live can reveal that contractors have moved to begin preparatory work in what will eventually see the building of a new multi-sports all-weather pitch– to the east of the current pitch.

Also included in the phase two development is perimeter fencing, new team dugouts/shelters, access paths to the north and south of the pitch and new floodlighting.

The proposals are the latest plans for a wider “re-planning” of the Premiership club’s home ground. The cost of phase one, which involved building a new access road from Murdoch’s Lone, was around £1m. Phase two will cost around £1.7m to complete.

Club chairman Brian Williamson said: “Work has started on phase two and will be finished in January. Phase one, which is the new access road in, is pretty much complete. And the second phase started this week.”

Ayrshire Live has learned that the new access road to Millbrae will open at the same time as phase two. This is to ensure that contractors can use the undisturbed route to get to and from the current construction site with ease. Carrying out the work is the Malcolm Group.

Mr Williamson said: “The muti-sports pitch is going to be so beneficial, it’ll have provision for 11-a-side and seven-aide football and more.”

It is hoped that, when the multi-million pound redevelopment of Millbrae is complete, Ayr’s facilities and community links will seal its place as one of the top community sports clubs long into the future.

Mr Williamson said: “As a club we’re very conscious of the fact that we need to be winning on the pitch. At the end of the day we are all about community, we are all about reaching out and we’re all about our charity objectives, but you have to produce a winning team on the pitch too. That’s the same in any sport and that’s a difficult balance.”

“But we think we have good players, good coaches and a good youth section. There’s a lot of different things that make up this club and the community are a big part of that too.”

Jewitt & Wilkie Architects, the firm behind the initial planning application for phase two, said: “The proposals represent the second stage in moving towards the delivery of a range of improvements at Millbrae which will improve the ability of the Rugby Club to reach out further and strengthen its already highly developed destination/hub for a range of community activities.”

Mr Williamson also revealed that fund raising to help finance the ambitious plans for the stadium, and its surroundings, will continue.

In terms of the club’s phase three redevelopment, this will involve the replacement of the existing clubhouse with a new state-of-the-art facility; including a lounge bar, beer garden, restaurant and multi-purpose function room, studio space, as well as modern team changing facilities and a community gym, all subject to planning approval.

Papers in relation to phase three have now been lodged with South Ayrshire Council for consideration.

A major catalyst in the overall redevelopment is a £3m investment in the club, known as ‘The Macdonald Legacy.’ The legacy honours club member and former 1st XV player, Barry Macdonald, who died suddenly in December 2020.

A Walking Rugby group turned out at Scotstoun on Saturday 7th September before the Glasgow Warriors game.

Including ARFC, Ardrossan Rugby Club and Cartha/Queens Park played a round robin of games and ARFC came out on top.

After this, the 3 groups lined up when the Glasgow and Connought players took to the pitch. At half time in front of several thousand spectators in the stadium the 3 groups combined to form 2 teams and gave a demonstration of Walking Rugby during the interval. Good fun had by players and spectators.

Subject: Notice of Ayr Rugby Football Club, AGM – 30^th September 2024

We are pleased to invite you to the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Ayr RFC Ltd, which will be held at 7pm on Monday 30^th September 2024 at Millbrae, Alloway, Ayr. The purpose of the AGM is to review the previous term to 31^st March 2024 and to appoint the board of Directors for 2024/25. There is also a special resolution to amend the charity articles increasing the number of directors from five to seven.

The articles of association allow the first AGM to be a term of up to 18 months to allow for the first financial accounts and charity audit to be completed. The successive AGMs will take place every 12 months.

This will be the first AGM since the club became a charity and we have made significant progress on and off the pitch. Ayrshire Bulls finished as the most successful Super Series side, the Mens 1^st XV won promotion to the Premiership, the Ladies 1^st XV won their league, the Mens 2^nd XV won their league and promotion playoff. Success continued across the youth section of the club with the U18s boys repeating the National Shield and West Cup victories of the previous season.

There has also been significant progress with the physical development of the club with the purchase and repurposing of Dam Park Stadium, completion of phase 1 of the Millbrae development and the commencement of phase 2. By the new year Millbrae will enjoy new vehicular and pedestrian access from Murdoch’s Lone and a new state of the art all-weather championship sized pitch. This will enable us to maximise the number of training sessions and games played at Millbrae across all sections. This has been made possible by the funding and guidance given by Alan Macdonald and The Macdonald Legacy.

The success of Ayr Rugby Football Club takes a huge effort that is only possible with the help and support of our members, volunteers, sponsors and partners. Your participation is vital to the continued growth and success of our club.

Agenda Overview:

1. Approval of Previous EGM Minutes
2. Chairperson’s Report
3. Financial Report
4. Proposed Amendment to Charity Articles
5. Election of Directors
6. Any Other Business

In advance of the AGM, the board would like to invite applications from our membership and from the wider community, to become a director of Ayr Rugby Football Club. The following links include an application form, role description and accompanying guidance notes. Interested parties should read the guidance notes carefully and return their application by Wednesday 11^th September 2024. The applications received will then be abbreviated and made available to the membership by the 16^th September 2024, along with instructions on how to vote at the AGM or by proxy.

The financial report is still with the accountants/auditors and will be made available to members before the AGM.

Supporting Documents:

We look forward to your active participation and attendance. If you have any questions relating to the content of this notice, please contact us at trustees@ayrrugbyclub.co.uk

Warm regards,

Brian Williamson
Chairman, Ayr Rugby Football Club Ltd

Introducing our captains for season 24/25, Shelley Main and Blair Macpherson

On appointing Blair, men’s head coach Grant Anderson commented, “Blair has demonstrated over the last 5-6 years that he is the natural leader of our rugby club. His leadership skills both on and off the field speak for themselves and the level of respect that the Ayr rugby community has for him is clearly evident. He has been really receptive to my ideas and rugby philosophy, and is keen to lead us into battle once again. He also benefits from having a wealth of knowledge and experience supporting him with vice captains, Ed Bloodworth, Cam Reece and Bobby Beattie.”

Ladies head coach Andy Duncan on announcing Shelley as this years captain, “Shelley was chosen to be captain this season due to good consistent levels of performance for the last couple of years. She is really positive on and off the pitch which hopefully can continue to spread through the team further developing the culture. She has her own work ons to challenge her in a new leadership role, but I have full trust in her ability to do so while leading from the front. She will be assisted by Rachel Kilday who provides a calmness and experience to hopefully allow players to take on feedback in a way that gets the best response out of them.”

On 17^th August this Walking Rugby group took part in the 30^th anniversary celebrations of Moffat Rugby Club in the Community.

Great fun all round and now looking forward to turning out at Scotstoun on Saturday 7^th September before the Glasgow Warriors game against Connacht.

A great start has been made to pre-season training for this year’s U18 group with a full squad of 30 players in attendance. 

It is clear the lads are moving up the age grades when many of them either arrive in their own car or are putting their L plates on to leave Doonside!

Head Coach Johnny Leitch says, “The boys have worked really hard in the close season and have come back in good shape and have made a great start to pre-season. We are very much looking forward to the challenge this season and the expanded conference structure”.

Congratulations to Jake Paton who has represented Glasgow & West U18’s and both Cammy Mcgarey and Dan Simpson for representing Glasgow & West U17’s. 

A good number of boys attended Glasgow & West trials earlier in the summer and all the boys should be proud of how they represented themselves and Ayr RFC.

The first game of the season is a pre-season friendly against Marr RFC on 17th August with the first Inspiresport National 1 Club Conference away at Currie Cheftains on 24th August.

Scottish Rugby Player and Give Blood 4 Good Ambassador Ollie Smith is encouraging everyone to book an appointment in Ayr this August.

You can book an appointment in Ayr for either the 5^th, 6^th or 7^th August at the Citadel Leisure Centre. Sign up to give blood at www.scotblood.co.uk or by calling 0345 90 90 999 (phonelines are open Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm).

Ollie recently visited his old stomping ground Ayr Rugby Club to encourage the rugby community to step up and donate.

‘I first donated blood during a blood drive organised by the great team at Give Blood 4 Good, a charity set up by my family after my brother, Patrick, passed away in 2019. He was a massive advocate and supporter for donating blood and donated many times prior to his untimely death.

I only see the positive benefits that giving blood has and how it can really help those in need. The fact that it only takes around half an hour out of my day to potentially save up to three lives is enough for me to donate.

One of the best things about giving blood is definitely the rewarding feeling after you have donated but also meeting the lovely staff at the donor centre who are so friendly and chatty whilst you’re donating… plus the treats at the end, has to be a Tunnocks tea cake for me!

My advice to first time donors is don’t be nervous about giving blood and make sure that you’ve had plenty to eat and drink prior to your appointment.’

Donations can drop by around 20% during the school holidays so there’s never been a better time to sign up and support Scotland’s patients.

Each donation can save or improve the lives of up to three people.

Sign up to give blood at www.scotblood.co.uk or by calling 0345 90 90 999 (phonelines are open Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm).