Patrick Kidd looks back at the 2025/26 season.
Most predictions on social media age as well as a glass of milk on a hot play-offs afternoon in Richmond, but I accidentally called one correctly last August.
“Now do I read too much into pre-season friendlies and get carried away with optimism?” I tweeted. “Two matches against Championship teams, ten tries scored, competitive for 70 minutes v Bedford and then beat Richmond 33-14. Encouraging…”
Fool, Kidd, fool! Those whom the gods wish to destroy they first make encouraged. The confidence soon took a dent when we needed a last-second penalty to beat Bishops Stortford in the first home game amid thunder and lightning (yeah, OK, gods of rugby, you made your point) and then lost to Rosslyn Park. Maybe top six was more our goal.
And at the point of tweeting I hadn’t even seen some of these new signings. The Osborne rampage was still to become a familiar sight. Smeaton? Scragg? Who were they? Only giants who would play in all 28 matches of the season to come.
Yes, 28, though back in August most thought it would be 26, after which only the top team would go up as usual and everyone else would go off on their honeymoon or something. Sorry, Billy and Georgina.
Speaking of which, I see from the Bedford match report that someone called Harding scored a try from a rolling maul. A phrase that became a weekly cut-and-paste.
Bravo to the RFU for introducing play-offs, which gave us the chance to earn proper league fixtures with Bedford and Richmond next year. It made the final weeks of the season more exciting.
(And not just for us: applause, please, for our friends and neighbours at Old Colfeians who came through four play-off matches, all away from home, to reach Regional 1.)
Looking back, the key moment possibly came on April 18 as I sat in the stand at the Utilita watching our seconds play Richmond and word came through that Sale had beaten Plymouth. That result changed everything: it meant that second place was in our hands. Home advantage in the first play-off might be crucial.
We took on Plymouth at the Utilita under blazing sunshine. The crowd was huge and the beer flowed from the pop-up bars wisely placed around the ground. They sold 616 pints from the one by where we stand, which I hope will be noted for next year. Pour it and we will drink.
Blackheath were amazing that day. Everything clicked against a team who looked much larger when they ran out but were soon blowing in the heat. The defence was superb, as ever. The set-piece dominated after conceding an early scrum penalty. The Club’s eye for a half-chance was sharp, their pace electric. Had Tom Hughes really run the Marathon 13 days earlier?
And so to Saturday, a hotter day and an even bigger crowd that must have boosted the players’ spirits. On the trains from Eltham and Waterloo I saw lots of Club shirts. A friend texted from the Sun in Richmond saying that the pub had been taken over by red and black. It was not quite the 10,000 who watched Club v Scottish in 1894 but there were times when it sounded pretty close.
Many had travelled a long way. My Dad had come up from Dorset, my friend Rob had brought someone from Michigan, others I knew had flown in from Lima and Miami. Some had even come from north Kent and that can be the most challenging journey if Southeastern is in a funny mood. Mike, a regular with us on the sidelines, messaged to say he was following the game in Tashkent, where he was on an ill-timed holiday.
I shook so many hands of people I recognised as I wandered round before the match. It reminded me what a wonderful community we have. And there in the stand, his beard more majestic than ever, was Des Brett! The former hero of the Club front row had brought some friends from Southwold, for whom he is still propping into his fifties. It felt like 70 per cent of the RAG was for Blackheath. The roar when Club came in after their warm-up was immense.
One of Blackheath’s strengths has been consistency of selection but a change had finally come in the front row, where Archie Holland and Rory Marsh had been so reliable since the mid-season injuries to Will Davis and Andy Boye. Marsh was abroad so we needed another prop. Des could have done it but he didn’t have his boots, so they whistled up Corrie Barrett, recently of Plymouth and Ulster. In the warm-up he looked the part.
Mark noted that this meant our props were Holland & Barrett. A sponsorship opportunity for next season? Victor wondered if we should also sign Malcolm Marx and Ben Spencer, then reflected that we were already well-served at hooker and scrum half.
Any doubts faded from the kick-off. Blackheath were quick and aggressive, harrying Scottish into knock-ons and rushed clearances, while the fans drowned out the bagpipes (though those who booed the opposition should save that for the Valley).
You can read Graham Cox’s excellent match report but the potted version is that Raff Hollister put Oscar Hirskyj-Douglas through under the posts with a perfect pop-up pass before (ctrl-C, ctrl-V) Harding scored a try from a rolling maul and then a splendid team move sent Hughes over in the corner. Sam Morley added the conversion from the touchline and it was 21-0 after 28 minutes.
The only question seemed to be whether we would keep Scottish to nil. It took until the 77th minute for them to score but Morley kicked two penalties — only the tenth and eleventh that Club have taken all season, which says something — to remove any doubt. By the end, the bagpiper was playing The Last Post.
Four hours later, I looked to the left as my train approached Eltham and saw that we were passing a Championship ground. And in the evening sunshine it looked beautiful
So ended a glorious season, my 21st of watching the Club. How far we had come from 2022, when we were relegated with an astonishing 15 losing bonus-points. Full credit is owed to the remnants of that side, especially coach James Shanahan and captain Ed Taylor, for ensuring that we bounced back immediately.
Now wonderful things are happening under Tom Stradwick and Billy Harding. A massive thank you should be paid to everyone who has played a role on and off the field in getting us into and eligible for the Championship, a height we have not reached this century. I am sure that the players and the club will be ready to meet that challenge come September. Let’s make sure that we are there in good number and loud voice to support them.
Patrick and his son, with Club Captain Billy Harding
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