BRADFORD and Bingley RUFC will be hoping for more stability after beginning the new campaign with an uncertainty surrounding their future.

The Wagon Lane club lost their league opener at home to Morley and on Saturday (11th) they were scheduled to travel to Pocklington.

However, they had to pull out of the fixture due to having an insufficient number of players available to play the match- a concerning predicament given the season is only two weeks in.

And reflecting on the start of the campaign, B&B’s head coach, Hugh Gumbs, admitted it has been challenging for those involved with the club.

He said: “It’s been real difficult coming back to competitive rugby if I’m to be perfectly honest.

“There are a lot of players who are unfortunately no longer involved with the game at the club and it’s been a bit disjointed at the moment.

“A lot of the players decided they didn’t want to play and then we were waiting for players to return from university and jobs, so it has been a difficult start, which involved a stop-start pre-season and that resulted in us not being able to prepare properly in even having friendlies.

“We’ve lost between 20-30 players over the covid period so I think availability is going to be our biggest concern throughout the season and I’m sure it will be the same for other teams.”

Gumbs added: “What led into the Pocklington game being postponed was that a number of people pulled out from our side on the Thursday night before the game.

“We also had a possible Covid scare as well so we had to be responsible in what we were doing.

“I’ve got a real concern for the player’s welfare. You must make the environment safe for the players to play in so you can’t go to a fixture, like Pocklington, under resourced and expect the players to be competitive.

“We have a duty to make sure the players can go out there in the best possible way, so for example, you can’t really play a winger as a prop. It just doesn’t work and the lack of numbers we had available going into that fixture meant we had to make the decision to pull out of it.”

Gumbs also stressed the importance of the club working together to source localised talent, to ensure a more stable future for Bradford and Bingley Rugby Club.

He said: “The club has done some brilliant work to develop players in the youth teams, but I think we need to continue to work to ensure we retain players and find new players locally.

“The youth sides will take a few years to come to fruition, so we now need to be more in tune to what the players needs are and to what is happening locally.

“The club have responded to try and bring more numbers in, but it came too late for the Pocklington game.

“We need to push on as a club and as a team because if the work stops, we may not prosper and instead become a dinosaur and not exist, but the work has started and there are some positive signs for the future, whether it’s through the youth teams or looking for rugby players in the local area.”

Bradford and Bingley will return to action this weekend as they host Scarborough on Saturday, following the return of several players.

Their North One East rivals Cleckheaton, are also at home, as they take on Morpeth.

In Yorkshire One, Bradford Salem entertain Old Crossleyans, while Baildon will be on the road at Hullensians in Yorkshire Two.

Old Grovians and Keighley are in Yorkshire Two action as well, with the duo at Northallerton and Wensleydale respectively.

Finally, in Yorkshire Three, Wibsey are due to host Bramley Phoenix.

Back to Bradford and Bingley, and for those interested in playing amateur rugby, the club are continuing their search for local players so feel free to contact head coach, Hugh Gumbs, on: hughgumbs@hotmail.com

Training sessions take place on Tuesdays and Thursdays at Wagon Lane, Bingley (6:45 PM).