Messages near and far reach Chesterfield Panthers in centenary year, as club ensures its history is part of its future

A host of events took place through 2019 as the club marked the historic milestone in style, which finished with an exhibition aptly named 'The Scrum' at Chesterfield Museum.

It showcased the club's origins from its first notice in the Derbyshire Times on 15th November 1919 to memorabilia and pictures of players to have worn the kit in the 100 years that followed.

The exhibition ran from October of last year to January of this year and led to a flurry of enquiries from current generations of former players who were interested in their relatives' pastimes.

“It's been very well attended and has had a lot of interest from what the people at the museum have told us,” said club president Graham Bell.

“People near and far have looked at our history and commented it was a good show. The club's name goes across a massive area.

“Old members have got in touch and turned up with old photos, programmes and stories to share.

“We've had enquiries from grandchildren of players who had played in the 1920s and '30s wanting to know if there were any photographs or information about their grandparents.

“We had one enquiry from a great-grandson, who lives in Canada, of a former player who played for the club in the 1920s. We were able to point them in the right direction.”

To celebrate the start of the centenary, the club put on a free fireworks show.A centenary dinner followed, attended by 150 past and present members and friends. The evening included the unveiling of a plaque by former club president David Forbes, containing 100 names for 100 years, of people who have and continue to give their time to the rugby club.The plaque is mounted on the clubhouse wall at 2012 Dunston Road as a reminder of what hard work can achieve.Since then there has been a 'RugFest' camp over, a vintage car rally, the museum exhibition, a race night and centenary raffle to raise funds and make the celebration “a great success,” said Graham.

“A lot of the pieces from the museum exhibition have gone back up in the clubhouse while other bits have been stored away and will be there for whoever needs it next, maybe in another hundred years’ time.”

On behalf of the club, he thanked NIBE Energy Systems, Banner Jones Solicitors and ASDA Foundation for their support as well every volunteer who contributed.

“It's a massive thank you to everyone who invested time or money over the past 100 years to make the club what it is now,” said Graham. “It’s a very successful club. A lot of the members are coming through from the juniors and the club is used by the community a lot - that is the inheritance.”

While on the pitch, all the club's teams proudly wear red and white hooped shirts displaying the centenary badge, to ensure the club's history is part of its future.