Latest News

Oxton Parkonians are set to play their first 3rd team game in what is probably some 15 years, this team has been set up by our previous head coach Ryan Evans in an effort to try and encourage players to get back into the game. Pictured above is Paul, who in his younger days played first team, but is now planning on returning at the age of 46 to play in the 3rd team, the boys certainly get older than Paul for sure!

Save the date ladies and gents, 20th September 3pm KO, and come and watch some social, fun, and exciting rugby at Holm lane where we play Fylde. 

Women’s Softball Cricket

We're coming to the end of our Women's Softball season, and it's been another huge success. After a competitive season playing in the Cheshire Softball Division 5 (Wirral League), this Wednesday we saw our women's team knock New Brighton off the top spot, securing the championship title ourselves. This will be the second consecutive year the team have won their respective league - well done to everyone involved, a great achievement! 

To add to the on the pitch successes, they have also reached the Semi Final of the Cheshire Cup. This is a fantastic achievement making it through to the last 4 teams out of 44 team entries across the whole of Cheshire, whilst juggling 14 league games across the season. Credit needs to be given to the commitment, support and organisation that goes into this new section by the captains, players and volunteers officiating games. The Semi Final will be played at Holm Lane on Wednesday 27th August. If successful, we will play in the Cheshire Cup Finals Day which will be hosted by Warrington CC on Sunday 14th September. 

It has also been a good season in terms of recruitment and development. We are seeing the benefits of players switching from rugby to cricket and vice versa and joining through general word of mouth / social media. These players have enjoyed their first taste of softball and have been playing in softball festivals across the Wirral. The squad also have first hardball development game scheduled against Birkenhead Park on Sunday 10th August. Hopefully, this will be the start of a women's hardball section, and our next development of the section. 

The women's achievements are superseding a lot of the bigger more established cricket clubs on the Wirral, which is fantastic to see and offers further strength to the future growth and development of our club. 

Cricket

Five games to go in what has been a challenging season – results, injuries and availability-wise.

Unfortunately, the Second XI are firmly rooted at the bottom of their table, with relegation looking almost certain.

The First XI are in a slightly better position but certainly not out of the woods. Hopefully, a few decent results will see us safe. The 1s also reached the Cheshire Plate semi-final.

Now, on a more positive note:

U13s finished a respectful mid-table 5^th in a league dominated by our well-established neighbours from across The Wirral. U11s finished one place above bottom, winning a couple of games and coming close in a few too. As it was their first hard ball season the coaches/management (Tom Cubbin and Rory Cringle, both of whom have been doing an excellent job over the last few seasons) and the Club couldn't be prouder of them. Both teams did very well with one or two making it into the Second XI without looking out of their depth. This is thanks to more excellent coaching and management of our U13s under the expertise of Adam Westwater and Liam Fenney.

The Sunday Development XI stood strong under the novice captaincy of Fletcher Handley. We welcomed some cross-over with a few of our rugby brothers making themselves available and enjoying the experience both on and off the field. Still a few games left and please support.

The Midweek XI had another successful and enjoyable season, with the final game providing such a great finale to their season.

Back in June, we held a very successful celebration to mark the Cricket Club’s 75^th Anniversary.

On the younger cricketer front we, i.e. Helen and Greg, decided to try something different this year, moving away from the national programmes of All Stars and Dynamos. It was a huge success offering the course at a cheaper price, while bringing in a lot more profit to the club. The course also attracted double the number of kids. Unfortunately, we had to turn more away due to not having a sufficient number of volunteers to adhere to safeguarding numbers. We will be looking to repeat this success again next year, but we will need the volunteers. If anyone is interested in helping out for an hour each week, please reach out to us. That said, our thanks go out to all those that did volunteer on Friday evenings – much appreciated.

Jonny Beaver and Mike Burrows oversaw the successful introduction of the latest technology with the purchase (through fundraising) of the FrogBox and associated electronic scoring. These developments keep us up with other clubs. This type of progress does put in a position where we are seen as a serious cricket club and help attract much-needed players.

Finally, coming up on Sunday 24^th August (Bank Holiday weekend) is the annual OPCC 6s Day, where the teams will play for the Steve Fletcher Cup. Please get this date in your diary if you haven’t already done so.

Men’s Rugby

Preseason training has commenced under the guidance of coach Andy “Skinny” McKinney and captain Campbell Clayton, with a strong level of participation observed.

We have arranged preseason warm up games for the following dates:

9^th August away at Ormskirk and we will be playing for the Taff memorial trophy.

16^th August away to a round robin against St Anselmian Mavericks and Port Sunlight

23d August away to Hoylake

Friday 29^th August evening game 2nd team away to New Brighton 3rds

This year, we're set to play in the Cheshire Cup (fixture and date pending) and the Primo Drinks NW League Cup. The preliminary round will be a double header with our league match against Birchfield on 4th Oct 25.

We are delighted to announce that our first team kit will be sponsored by Phil Stevens of PS Events. Thanks Phil.

The Rugby Committee would like to welcome Skinny and Campbell and wish every success for the forthcoming season.

Women’s Touch Rugby

The Women’s team had a busy and rewarding season, playing in eight fixtures across various Wirral clubs. Mostly fielding two teams, results were mixed and often influenced by player availability, but the team showed great spirit throughout. A special thanks to the senior men who supported us at away fixtures—your presence was truly appreciated.

We proudly hosted the tournament on 9th July at Holm Lane, which was a fantastic success. The event was well-supported by the entire club, and we are especially grateful to Alan Morris for generously sponsoring the food for the second year running. Huge thanks also to our grounds team for marking out the pitches for the night—they were great to play on and widely praised.

Our End of Season Presentation Evening took place on 18th July at the club, celebrating the achievements of our players. Congratulations to all our worthy winners and thanks to Mark for his coaching! The hall looked stunning thanks to Danielle and Paige, and we are grateful to Frank Rogers Law for sponsoring the evening.

We are now back to Thursday training sessions at the club at 6.30-7.30pm, before moving to Birkenhead School at the end of October for winter training.

Interested in joining us? New players are always welcome! Contact Sarah McDonnell, team manager, or simply come along on a Thursday. All contact details are available on the club website.

Junior Rugby

Pre-season has started positively for the juniors. The under 11s, 12s and 14s have been training on a Tuesday evening, the u16s on a Thursday and the minis on a Sunday. Numbers have been promising, even with this being a peak period for holidays. We are continuing to actively recruit new players, particularly for the under 12s and minis. 

The under 16s took on a very strong St Mary’s team on the 2nd of August and narrowly lost by 2 points. It was great to see so many supporters cheering them on, particularly our seniors. The team have come a long way in the last few years and continue to develop into a very difficult team to beat. 

GAMES ARE :

• 07/02/26 – England v Wales KO 16:40
• 21/02/26 – England v Ireland KO 14:10

FOR THOSE MEMBERS WISHING TO APPLY FOR TICKETS PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING :

i) As a guide, last season ticket prices were:- Premium Category £169, Category 1 £149, Category 2 £130, Category 3 £112, Category 4 £80 and Juniors £33. 

ii) P.Mullen must be notified by email of game, number of tickets and CATEGORY of tickets, additionally mobile numbers also need to be given. P.Mullen email address is mullen55@btinternet.com. Applications to be made no later than 13th August 2025.

iii) Please do not send monies with applications. P.Mullen will secure the tickets from the RFU GMS as soon as it opens on the 27th Aug 2025 and an automatically generated E Mail from the RFU GMS site will then be sent to the applying member. The E Mail will ask the member to visit the GMS website to pay for their allocated tickets WITHIN 48 hrs of receiving the forementioned E Mail, otherwise the tickets will go back for resale. Prior to receiving their tickets the member will need to of downloaded the Twickenham Stadium app to their mobile phone. The members E Tickets will then be sent to the app a few days before the game.

iv) The club do not receive an allocation for away games, however, the club can apply for away game tickets. Please note it is pot luck and we can only apply for a max of 2 tickets per game.



v) The club are allocated a specific Number of tickets for each game, as such if any game is oversubscribed by members then the Rugby Club Committee will decide who is successful or not.

We are saddened to announce that Ryan Evans is departing as first team head coach at the end of this season. Ryan has been in the role for 4 years and has seen the club through some hard times. 

Here’s what he had to say: 

“My time at Oxton has come to an end. Yes that’s it you read it right, I am leaving my post as Oxton Parkonians Head Coach. 

4 years I started “coaching” these unbelievable players, but every good thing must come to an end. The club has progressed beyond measure in the last 4 years, from winning just 4 games in my first season as coach, to potentially finishing runners up in the league this 24/25 season.

I am no qualified coach, I’ve no experience in coaching and took the role because I wanted to work with the lads, make them better and to put this great club back on the map. I have without doubt achieved way more than I expected when I took the role on and that’s thanks to every player who has played, from starting to benching, I will be forever grateful to each and every one of you.

To every player new and old thank you, thank you for your time, efforts, commitment, passion and most of all willingness to turn up and play and train, you are the real reason the club is where it is today. The 25/26 will soon be upon you, so I have but a few final requests, please please please stay committed to improving, support the new coach and captain and keep working hard to push the club next season.

My role does not see me exit the club, I’ll remain on the rugby committee so you haven’t seen the last of me. Take care all and maybe, just maybe, see you at pre season. Much love onions, Ryan.”

We wish Ryan every success in his future endeavours.

Fellow Oxton Parkonians, this is your call to arms! Our First team are about to play their most important league game for many seasons.

For the first time in most of your memories, we are playing for possible promotion against a Caldy team who will be out for revenge after our last minute one point victory over them on 28th September. It looks like our second team game at home has already been conceded by Northwich, so we need to get as many supporters onto the touchline at Caldy as possible to be able to roar on the mighty 'Onions' as they seek to do the double over our illustrious neighbours.

What a glorious end to an already very successful season it would be to crown it with victory and second spot in our league with the possibility of promotion and to follow that up with a celebration at the club dinner and awards evening back at Holm Lane.

This is a winner takes all occasion and your clubmates would appreciate all the support we can muster to act as a 16th man and offer vocal but good natured support for the last 80 minutes of the season.

GAMES ARE :

• 1/11/25 – England v Australia KO 15:10
• 8/11/25 – England v Fiji KO 17:40
• 15/11/25 – England v New Zealand KO 15:10
• 23/11/25 – England v Argentina KO 16:10

FOR THOSE MEMBERS WISHING TO APPLY FOR TICKETS PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING :

i) The RFU have now notified clubs of the dates for the above games only. Regarding ticket prices the RFU have not yet issued them, as a guide, last season ticket prices were:- Premium Category £169, Category 1 £149, Category 2 £130, Category 3 £112, Category 4 £80 and Juniors £33. 

ii) P.Mullen must be notified by email of game, number of tickets and CATEGORY of tickets, additionally mobile numbers also need to be given. P.Mullen email address is mullen55@btinternet.com. Applications to be made no later than 14th April 2025.

iii) Please do not send monies with applications. P.Mullen will secure the tickets from the RFU GMS as soon as it opens and an automatically generated email will then be sent to the applying member asking them to visit the GMS website to pay for their allocated tickets. Prior to receiving their tickets the member will need to of downloaded the Twickenham Stadium app to their mobile phone.  The members E-Tickets will then be sent to the app a few days before the game.

iv) The club are allocated a specific Number of tickets for each game, as such if any game is oversubscribed by members then the Rugby Club Committee will decide who is successful or not.

It is with the deepest regret I have to report the death of Bill Murray who passed away peacefully on Tuesday 25th February.

Bill was an Old Boy of the school who excelled in rugby captaining the Old Boys as well as representing the Army. He was also instrumental in forming a rugby team at John Moores University where he held the position of the First Governor of the University.

Our thoughts and condolences are with his wife Pat and family. A true "Birkenhead Boy" made good, he will be greatly missed by all who knew him.

Bill's funeral will take place on Monday 31st March at the Church of Our Lady and St. John, Telegraph Road, Heswall at 2.30pm followed a gathering to remember Bill at Heswall Golf Club, Cottage Lane, Heswall from 3.30pm until 5pm

Ken Cooke

OPAL Chairman

The Annual Past Players Reunion event will take place on Saturday 15th February 2024 from 12noon.

The day will include a buffet lunch (£5), the 1st XV at home to Wallasey (2.15pm KO) and plenty of memories and tales of long ago.

Everyone is very welcome, see you there!

Steve Barnett

Chairman

Oxton Parkonians

Dear Member

Club Newsletter January 2025

Firstly, we would like to wish all our members and their families the happiest possible New Year.

As with most years, 2024 was a challenging year for the club but thanks to the efforts of everyone who volunteer their time and skills to the club across all areas, we continue to meet these challenges. We look forward to growing the club through 2025.

Moving forward we will be sending newsletters on a regular basis, so you are all kept informed about what is happening at the club.

Community Matters

Following on from last year’s great fundraising success for the Wirral branch of MNDA, we have decided to fund raise for a charity each year.

We are proud to say that for 2025 that Tim, Alison, and the Hassall family have agreed that we can fund raise for a legacy for their late son Will. Will was part of the Old Parkonians family for many years and he was taken far too soon. 

We will provide more details about the legacy fund and how we will support it, once it is all finalised.

Grounds

We are still exploring options to fund more extensive repairs to the 1st team ruby pitch, but once current season ends, we will be looking to carry out works to the worst areas. We will let you know more towards the end of the season but volunteers are needed to help with the work.

Chris Beckett is also progressing a possible ECB grant to carry out verti draining and sanding off the cricket outfield which also serve as additional rugby pitches.

Senior Rugby

Rugby has finally returned after a hiatus due to bad weather and the Christmas break.

Both teams returned to action on Saturday 18^th January and recorded great wins. The 1^st team won 66 – 12 against a Wirral team to continue their rise up the table. The 2^nd team won 31-12 against a strong Southport team and remain top of their table.

Training has resumed on a Wednesday, 7pm to 8pm, at the Birkenhead School all weather pitches at McAlester Field. The training is showing dividends in the match performances, so please continue to support each other and the coaching team.

Junior Rugby

After a successful 2024, the junior section head into the new year full of hope and optimism. Player numbers are at an all-time high, with all age groups progressing incredibly well over the past 12 months.

Our under 7's and 8's continue to develop well under the guidance of Rob, with very good numbers each week.

Our under 10's continue to go from strength to strength. Player recruitment has been incredibly successful for this team, who week in week output in fantastic performances against any team they face. They are one to watch for the future.

The under 11's are working well through a transition. They have a very strong core of players and are looking to build on this as the season goes on. We are hoping for a flood of new faces when the players head to senior school later this year.

The under 13's are an incredibly tight knit unit, and an absolute credit to the core values of the club, and the game of rugby. Phenomenal teamwork, an excellent sportsmanship ethic and a credit to Parkonians.

The under 15's are developing into a force to be reckoned with. Multiple opposition coaches have commented on just how far this team have come. A couple of years ago, this team was in danger of disbanding, but due to the hard work of Dave Corker, and the support he is receiving from other coaches on a Thursday and Sunday, they are stronger now than they have ever been.

Women’s Touch Rugby

A big thank you to Sue Hillan / Neuro Independence for the sponsorship of the new training tops and balls.

Training has resumed on a Thursday evening, 6.30pm to 7.30pm, at the Birkenhead School all weather pitches at McAlester Field. 

Cricket

Pre-season nets will start soon. We are anticipating a change of both venue and day/time. Please keep an eye on the usual social media platforms for updates.

Adam and Greg are stepping down from their roles as junior secretary and AllStars Activator. It is essential that these roles are filled. If you think you can offer some time to assist, please contact anyone on the committee.

Hopefully, we won’t have the same horrendous weather as last year and soon we will be looking to start our pre-season pitch preparations. If you fancy topping up your tan whilst sitting on the roller for an hour, please offer your services.

Finally, our skipper, Danny, continues to shine in his adventures down under. No excuses if he doesn’t hit a half century in his first game back!