CELEBRATING BLACK HISTORY MONTH

Did you know that in Berkshire in the 1970’s and 80’s there was actually a rugby team called Reading West Indians RUFC!

To celebrate Black History month Berkshire RFU are showing our support to this annual festival to commemorate the lives and contributions of all those with African and Caribbean descent to the county of Berkshire Rugby and those who have been in and around our game for at least the last 50 years.

Reading West Indians RUFC were set up by a two Redingensians players Joe Bell and Kenmore Hinds. They had joined the Redingensians RUFC club in 1973. They were one of only a few sides with others including CIAC (Cardiff Internationals Athletic Club) who were recently featured on a BBC documentary “codebreakers” (see BBC iPlayer).

FORMATION OF READING INDIANS RUFC

The guys were playing on a Saturday for established clubs sides across the county but there was a strong Old Schools alumni circuit around who played on a Sunday. These included teams such as Old Stonehamians, Berkshire College of Agriculture OB, Old Dowegians (Newbury), Forest OB as well as company teams and teams who were were yet to form full Saturday sides such as Hungerford, Kingsclere, Compton, Berkshire Press, Beehive (Drones), British Telecom. As part of this there was a team called “Reading Fire Brigade“ which included Redingensians players including Richard “Scooby” Maynard, Danny Mullins and Alistair Verdin. What became more and more apparent with the team was that although they had some strong technically skilled forwards they lacked pace and creativity in the backs. With the growth of black players within the Redingensians teams it soon grew with the inclusion of Joe Bell, Ken Hinds, Clairmont Gaskins, Clyde Noble being invited to play and the side started its evolution.

**Reading West Indians RUFC – 1979**
Standing LTR: Tim Bell, Linsday Kalanouski, Terry Walters, Lester Hinds, Clairmont Gaskin, Julian Eames, Richard Best, Douglas, Colin Willman
**Kneeling LTR** – Andy Alleyne, Joe Bell, Clyde Noble, Ali Verdin, Chris Carter, Junior Hinds, Ken Martin, Ken Hinds

By the 1975/76 the side has transitioned to Reading West Indians RUFC in their own right but they would not have been able to sustain their growth had it not been for the support of lifelong President Dudley Figg. Dudley was a Reading school old boy and who sat on the committee of Redingensians as well a being a trustee who became lifelong member in 1980’s. He was an avid supporter of the Reading West Indians team and ensured that the team played at Redingensians ground for free for many years. In their first season (with minimal funding) the team were also able to play in “borrowed” Redingensians kit and the team was treated as an extension of the club. (which was never forgotten).

Players in the first few seasons included Joe Bell, Ken Hinds, Lindsey Kalanouski, Terry Walters, Lester Hinds, Andy Alleyne, Colin Willman, Tim Bell, Clyde Noble, Clairmont Gaskin, Junior Hinds, Micky Bell and Ken Martin.

**Dudley Figg**
Lifelong President Reading West Indians RUFC

THE SQUAD OVER THE YEARS

DEVELOPMENT AND PATHWAY

By the early 1980’s the side had created such a positive and successful reputation for running creative rugby resulting in many more players wanting to turnout from around the county and beyond.

Joe Bell recounted the number of times he used to hear from the opposition “Don’t kick it” shortly following by “… I told you not to kick it “as the Reading West Indians (who had a no kick always run it policy) would invariably score or make numerous yards. For many players this opportunity to express themselves was a real calling and so many players recalled their “Sunday” rugby as a drive to enable them to progress at their current or future Saturday clubs.

With the ongoing success and reputation the alumni of national players who represented RWI included; Tim Bell (Redingensians, Harlequins & Bayonne), Micky Bell (Reading Abbey, Harlequins, London Welsh & Berkshire), Mark Brown (Barking, Wasps), Peter Clovey (Reading Abbey, Harlequins, Berkshire), David Norville (Reading, Richmond and Berkshire), Roger Hamlyn (Redingensians, Richmond), Floyd Steadman (Saracens Capt), Audley Lumsden (Bath & Gloucester) as well as a multitude of players who represented other clubs throughout the county and beyond.

Tim Bell (Harlequins) and Audley Lumsden (Bath) playing against each other

They were also featured in several national newspapers as well on BBC 2’s “Rugby Special”.

BERKSHIRE CUP

Initially Reading West Indians played friendlies and then competed in the Berkshire Sunday Cup and Midweek KO Cup. Over the years the side became stronger and began entering the Berkshire County Cup competing against established teams across the county. They were successful against many teams over the years (Inc. Aldermaston RFC below) and in their heights in the county cup they played against Reading RFC (who were at the time riding high in what is now known as level 2 rugby) and were unlucky to come away with a 10-0 loss which was testament to the growth of the team during this period.

Reading West Indians RFC vs BERKSHIRE COUNTY XV

Reading West Indians also played against the Berkshire county side in a charity game for sickle cell anaemia. The game was played on Sunday March 11th 1987 at Redingensians ground and included players such as Floyd Steadman (Saracens, scrum half and Captain), Tony Lyons (Sale flyhalf) the three ever-present Bell brothers were also out in full force with Tim Bell flying back from Bayonne where he was now playing professional rugby in French D1, while Micky had moved from Harlequins to London Welsh.

Reading West Indians RUFC vs Berkshire RFU (Sickle Cell Charity Match)
11th March 1987
**Standing LTR** – Webster Springer, Franklyn Richardson, Michael Hall, Wayne Foncette, Peter Clovey, Curtis Hutson, Graham Bailey, Rodney Hutson
**Kneeling LTR** – Dave Harper, Joe Bell, Tim Bell, Floyd Steadman, Jimmy Morrison, Micky Bell, Tony Lyons

SEVENS

The team carved out a very strong reputation on the sevens circuit and playing and winning many tournaments around the country including; Swansea, Wrexham, Porthcawl, Aberaeron, Harpenden, Harrogate, Voyagers (London Welsh), Abingdon, Cwmtawe, Sunshine (East Grinstead), Hendon, Beehive as well as the Berkshire Sevens. The Berkshire Sevens was one of the biggest sevens tournaments in the country (alongside the Middlesex sevens). It attracted all the major sides in the South East of the day including national teams Wasps, Harlequins, Richmond, London Scottish, Rosslyn Park. Reading West Indians became the only Berkshire side to ever reach the Cup final losing a closely contested final against London Scottish in sudden death extra time. London Scottish went on to win the National title at the Middlesex Sevens at Twickenham in the same 1991 season.

**Standing LTR** – Wayne Foncette, Abdul Atta, Mark Cuggy, Tim Bell, Segun Johnson, Mark Alexander.
**Kneeling LTR** – Mark Brown, George Rowbotham, ??, JJ Bell, ??, Audley Lumsden

TOURING

One of the most memorable moments for Reading West Indians RUFC was when they went on a tour to the Caribbean in 1989 with over 60 members in the touring party. They toured to both Trinidad and Barbados playing against both national teams as well as club sides. The tour was an overwhelming success and remains a lifelong memory for all those who toured.

Reading West Indians RUFC Caribbean Tour 1989
(Barbados & Trinidad)
**Standing LTR** – Joe Bell, Mark Marnell, Danny Mullins, Ian Mcintyre, John Sabini, Richard Porter, Lloyd Stirling, John Baker, Wayne Foncette
**Kneeling LTR** – Tim Bell, Rupert Newson, Folo Odobayo, Franklyn Richardson, Godfrey Romeo, Simon Ennis, Ken Hinds, Mark Cuggy

LEGACY OF READING WEST INDIANS RUFC

Many of the Reading West Indians players offspring and family continued to play in the county including Damion Bell (Rams), JJ Bell (Rams), Jamal Richardson (Rams), Daniel Norville (Reading Abbey), Reuben Norville (Reading Abbey Youth, now Henley RFC) etc.

LONDON NIGERIANS RFC

After many seasons the influx of players included several from London’s African community and this continued the legacy of the Reading West Indians Rugby in a different guise as London Nigerians were formed in the early 90’s to enter the newly developing league system. London Nigerian RFC formed in 1991. The club started competing at the bottom of the Middlesex league in 1992 , securing eight league promotions in its first 10 years and ultimately sealing a position as one of the top amateur sides . Along the way the club won the Middlesex Cup on multiple occasions and also qualified for the then end of season Middlesex Sevens competition competing against the national teams in the finals with Segun “Arthur” Johnson, Tokes Dove-Edwin being key links from the legacy of Reading West Indians.

LIFE AFTER RUGBY

Many of the Reading West Indian RFC players have given back to Berkshire Rugby since hanging up their boots with many going onto coach both in local club and county rugby namely’ Wayne Stewart Berkshire RFU U18s (for ten years), Joe Bell Redingensians RFC colts, Tim Bell (Rams RFC 1st XV coach), Franklyn Richardson (Rams Colts), Mark Alexander (Reading RFC Youth teams), Audley Lumsden (Berkshire Men’s Sevens), Wayne Foncette (Reading RFC Youth, Berkshire County U17/18 and Men’s Sevens).

Berkshire RFU Sevens Team
Inter County Finalists 2018/19

RACING CLUB ACADEMY

This continues today with Berkshire based Racing Club Academy being formed to help support a development and pathway for players from multiple heritages and cultures who have come through school rugby and or academies. The team exists to enhance their skills and aid their progression into clubs, colleges and universities playing expressive, fun loving but high intensity rugby in sevens as well as invitational 15’s.

Racing Club Academy alumni includes; Andy Christie, Timi Obatoyinbo, Manu Vunipola (all Saracens), Harrison Obatoyinbo (Toulon), Joel Kpoku, (Lyon), Max Ojomoh (Bath), Lennox Anyanwu, (Harlequins), Ben Christie (Wasps & Richmond), Jonny Matthews (Glasgow Warriors), Jonathan Kpoku, Suva Maasi (both Coventry), Vaha Halaifonua (Poland national team) , Cameron King (London Scottish), Lewis Barrett (Nottingham), Josh Barton (Exeter) and many more playing in the BUCS Super League (More details on this team can be found at https://www.instagram.com/racing_7s/

CIAC (Cardiff International Athletic Club)

The CIACS RFC known as the “Kayaks” were formed in 1946 by a group of young men from the Docks (Tiger Bay) of Cardiff. They brought many players through their ranks including the legend Billy Boston (Wigan and GB) Jonny Freeman (Halifax and GB), Colin Dixon (Halifax, Salford and GB) who became part of the codebreakers but more for not being able to get selected in their home town so moved on to professional clubs. They became a partner club to Reading West Indians RUFC (where the RWI toured and played against) which lives on to this day.

BLACK HISTORY MONTH CONTINUES

As part of the Black History month we have taken the time to speak to several former players from different clubs to find out more about their pathway through rugby and in their careers afterwards.

Read below the following stories as part of the celebration of Black History Month.