Welcome on Board Sam Stuart and Ralph Appleby
Following the departure of loyal servant, player and Head Coach Keith Laughlin, who made the decision to step away from rugby for work, business and family reasons at the end of last season. Blaydon RFC have appointed Newcastle Falcons player Sam Stuart to replace him, with Ralph Appleby joining him as forwards coach.
These exciting new appointments are aimed at building on the solid foundations laid by Keith and the team this season. Although Blaydon finished 14th out of 16 teams this season, we accumulated 30 of our 42 points in the last 2.5 months of the season, winning 5 of the last 11 games.
Sam Stuart has already been involved as Backs Coach at Blaydon over the last 2 seasons and is making the step up to Director of Rugby. A current foot injury aside Sam is a well established member of the current Falcons first team squad and has at least another year on his contract at Kingston Park.
Joining Sam as Forwards Player Coach is Ralph Appleby who has been a cornerstone of Darlington Mowden Parks front row for the last 14 seasons playing 351 times for the club, so he brings with him a wealth of experience at National 1 Level.
I am sure you will join me in welcoming Sam to his new role and Ralph to the club as we look to build on last seasons strong finish and firmly establish ourselves in the new (14 team) National 2 North.
Chris Nunn
Chairman Of Rugby
