The idea of setting up a rugby team in Manchester for men who identify themselves as gay or bisexual was first discussed in a conversation between two friends, Simon Stanley and Duncan Leckie, at a house party in Manchester in August 1998. Simon had played rugby in the past and was a keen follower of the game but Duncan had never played before, having been put off playing from experiences at school. Both were in their late 20s and had heard about the Kings Cross Steelers in London which, in 1996, had become the first rugby team specifically set up to provide a supportive playing environment for men who identify as gay or bisexual. “Why don't we set one up in Manchester?” they asked.
In January 1999, Simon Stanley and Duncan Leckie had a meeting in the Metz Bar, Manchester with Alan Stone, a representative from the Rugby Football Union (RFU) and Chris Galley, the Secretary of the Kings Cross Steelers at the time. In this meeting they received helpful advice from Chris about setting up a new club as well as support from the RFU. From the Steelers' experience, they found that indeed there was a pool of gay and bisexual men who wanted to learn to play rugby for the first time, or who wished to recommence playing after stopping, for whatever reasons. The Steelers had provided this unique and supportive environment which had appealed to many.
On 9th March 1999, after several weeks of advertising around Manchester's gay village and in local press, the first meeting was held at Via Fossa bar, Canal Street to see if there were enough people interested in a rugby club. To Simon and Duncan's delight, 15 people showed up and there followed a lively and enthusiastic discussion about setting up the new rugby club. Alan Stone from the RFU was in attendance and announced that he could recommend a coach, David Smyth whom, he went on to unfortunately mention, “has coached several girls rugby teams”, at which there was much laughter amongst everyone in the room! Sadly, a few years later, Alan died of cancer and the Club will always be thankful for the help he provided to the Spartans, as well as his work with the RFU and his passion for rugby.
On 24th March 1999, the first training session of the Club took place in the indoor sports hall at the Y-Club, Manchester, coached by David Smyth. Over 20 men participated and there was a mix of rugby experience, ability and age. Training continued to take place every Wednesday evening but moved after two sessions to the Sugden Centre, Manchester University. Soon there was additional training on Sunday afternoons at the public sports fields at Hough End, Manchester. It must be mentioned that David Smyth proved to be a superb coach for the Club. He brought with him many years of rugby playing and coaching experience and was full of enthusiasm and patience. He was approachable and endeared himself to all members of the club and a strong bond was formed with him and his family to the extent that he even brought along his two sons, Chris and Jonathan, to training who were teenagers at the time and who were keen rugby players themselves. His wife, Elaine, also later became Treasurer of the Spartans for a few years. David should be credited for much of the success of the Spartans' formation and establishment and all in the Club are extremely grateful.
During April, May and June 1999, new members were joining each week and friendships were formed with post-training socialising in the gay village of Manchester. It was during these drinking sessions amongst new friends that possible names for the rugby club were discussed and an initial suggestion was 'The Manchester Village Maulers', village being a reference to the gay village. Eventually the name 'The Manchester Village Spartans' was agreed and the club emblem of a Spartans helmet was designed and a club motto was decided upon, Unione fortior which, roughly translated, means Strength through Union.
The cost incurred from hiring the Sugden Centre on Wednesdays and Hough End training fields on Sundays was having to be borne by members at considerable cost but after Duncan Leckie (now Club Chairman) successfully applied, the Club's funds for venues was boosted by a grant of £300 from the NHS Manchester Health Authority. A few years later, the Lesbian and Gay Foundation (LGF) charity also became a monetary supporter of the Spartans. Both of the above sources of funding recognised the positive impact that the Spartans was having on the lives of gay, bisexual, and indeed straight men who were being given access to sport and exercise and a healthier lifestyle.
It was in the summer months with training continuing twice weekly when the Kings Cross Steelers, in an act of support, challenged the Manchester Village Spartans to their first rugby match to take place in August 1999. The Spartans then had an event to focus on, to be organised and prepared for, an actual rugby match, and training picked up in its intensity. The first rugby kit was generously paid for and sponsored by John Hamilton, the promoter of Hellfire (no longer in existence) and Poptastic (still very much going!). The first kit's shirt and socks were red and the collars, cuffs and shorts were black. It was received just in time for the Mardi Gras celebrations where the club joined the parade through the streets of Manchester for the very first time. Needless to say, the sight of so many men in rugby kit was a huge crowd pleaser and the Spartans are proud to have participated in each Mardi Gras (name later changed to Gayfest then Pride) parade ever since!
The next day, on 29th August 1999, at the Armitage Centre by Manchester University, the Manchester Village Spartans took on the London Kings Cross Steelers in what is historically the first rugby match in the northern hemisphere between two 'gay' teams (there had previously been a game of touch rugby between two gay teams in Australia). Captained by Neil and watched by a crowd of around 200 people, the Spartans had a squad of 20 players and participated as a team for the first time. They put in a tremendous performance buoyed on by the large crowd, even managing to score two tries (first from Mick and the second from Chris Smyth). However, the opposition scored four tries and the final score was Spartans 10, Steelers 22. After this historic match, medals were awarded to all players by John Hamilton, our promoter, and the first Spartans Man of the Match award went to Jonathan Mayor. The Steelers were impressed at how far the Spartans had come in such a short time and amongst everyone there was a sense of tremendous achievement and celebration.
Following on from their first match, the Spartans continued to train twice a week and were keen to arrange a second fixture. In December 1999, a match was organised against a local team at the Armitage Centre, however at the last-minute it was cancelled by the opposition. The Spartans, feeling disappointed by the no-show, got chatting to a university team from Hulme Hall who had also turned up only to have their match cancelled as well. In the true spirit of the game, a match was quickly arranged and, despite all the efforts of the Spartans team (and some tried harder than others) to catch the youthful and nimble university students, they proved far too fast and skilled and ran through many tries to win 78-0. Still, the Spartans were encouraged with the experience gained and felt progress was being made playing against a 'mainstream' rugby club. The Hulme Hall players even invited the Spartans back to their Halls of Residence where both teams socialised together long into the evening. Perhaps it was due to the newly formed friendship, or perhaps due to an early recognition of the unique Spartans spirit, or simply because they'd actually just thrashed the Spartans, that Hulme Hall insisted on a re-match which was eventually held in March 2000. Remarkably, the score of 78-0 was repeated but that did not stop the two teams celebrating the encounter with post-match drinks in the Hulme Hall bar. The Spartans were experiencing inclusiveness as well as the camaraderie and brotherhood of rugby at its best.
Between the second and third matches a Spartans player, Ian MacDonald spoke with a work colleague about their common rugby interests. It transpired that Ian's colleague played for a local team called Old Salians RUFC who were struggling to field adequate numbers of players for their various teams. A meeting was set up in February 2000 between Ian and Simon (Spartans vice-Chairman) and Roger Bottomley (Old Salians Chairman) and through delicate negotiations, a partnership was formed. In a deal that benefited both clubs, the Spartans would be able to use the facilities for training at Old Salians which included their rugby pitches and changing rooms. They would also be able to use the rugby pitches for the occasional match fixture. In return, the Spartans would provide players volunteering to play for Old Salians in Saturday league matches. This also provided vital match-playing experience. David Smyth continued as coach but Sunday afternoon training moved from Hough End to Sale and the Wednesday evening training became combined with the training run by Old Salians.
Old Salians RUFC was a historic, hundred-year-old rugby club which, up until the late 1990s had five teams. However, due to the dwindling supply of youth players after Sale Grammar School ceased playing rugby, plus the emergence of the professional game and richer clubs in the area, by the time the Village Spartans came along they were managing to field only two teams in the leagues. The new partnership got off to a good start as straight away, several Spartans players managed to gain places on the Old Salians 2nd XV and play in competitive Saturday league matches. One or two more experienced Spartans players were offered places on the Old Salians 1st XV.
It is fair to say that both groups were a little unsure of each other at first. How would the Old Salians players react to the Spartans? Would there be any homophobia? Or how would the Spartans come across to the Old Salians? Would they fit the stereotypes of gay men? It was an interesting time because each group was made up of individual characters, extroverts and introverts but they quickly found common ground in the game of rugby and a sense of humour in the bar. Jokes flew regarding the fact that the Spartans had joined the Old Salians when their backs were well and truly 'up against the wall', or had only shown interest due to the name of the Chairman, Mr Roger Bottomley! The Spartans named one Old Salian called Dewey, 'Julie' and were also amused to have first been demonstrated the benefits of a nail brush by an enthusiastic straight lad in the bath! It all helped to reinforce the relationship between the two clubs and this partnership proved to be one of the most important moments historically for the Spartans as it is where they are still based today. Several seasons were played with this partnership, but unfortunately, despite the pool of players from both Clubs, after struggling in the 2003/04 season the Old Salians dropped out of the league. They returned for another attempt in the 2004/05 season, only to drop out again for the final time and they folded.
Despite the gradual decline of Old Salians, the Spartans continued to develop and write their own history. The London Kings Cross Steelers challenged the Spartans to a re-match, this time at their home ground at East London RFC, near West Ham. This would prove to be the Spartans first tour and the whole Club was very excited at the prospect. Having lost and gained a handful of different players, but still pretty much the same team as their first, the Spartans team headed to London in a coach with a small group of enthusiastic supporters. The date was 6th May 2000 and the rugby pitch was hard on a baking hot day making the efforts of both teams exhaustive and punishing. This account, written from the Spartans perspective, recalls the tremendous effort from the Spartans who had spent many weeks preparing for the match.
An initial try was scored and converted by the Steelers which did not make the visitors' heads go down. Later, in his début for the team and playing as scrum-half, Matt Whiteley sneaked a quick solo run round the blind-side of a scrum and dashed up the line past the Steelers winger to score his first ever try for the Spartans. Brilliant! Later, after several moves from the backs, Matt Ince scored between the posts too. Neither Spartans try was converted but they were in the lead 10-7. The Spartans clung on to their lead for the rest of the hard-fought match but, after some very dubious refereeing decisions (referee being the Steelers President at the time and a former Tory MP!) the Steelers scored again with only 5 minutes to go and took the score to 12-10. However, in what is now a part of Spartans Legend, a focused push by the Spartans front pack secured the ball for the backs who passed it down the line to the 40 year-old winger Paul Wright who strode away down the wing to score in the dying seconds of the match. The Spartans had won their first match, in only their fourth attempt with the score 15-12!
Afterwards, the beer (and Duncan's cider with ice) did indeed taste sweeter with the first victory and there was much celebrating and partying with the Steelers afterwards. On the tour bus on the way home the next day, the first Spartans Kangaroo Court was also held with just as much justice missing as the items of clothing! For the next few years the Spartans and Steelers met annually with the Steelers visiting Manchester in 2001 and the Spartans travelling to London in 2002. However, as the two Clubs have developed with busier league schedules, plus the fact that there are other 'gay' teams to challenge, this fixture was not maintained annually. However, the rivalry between the two clubs is still strong and matches take on a higher level of intensity and competitiveness whenever the teams meet in tournaments.
The Spartans held their first Annual General Meeting on 20th May 2000. The Club adopted its first Constitution and took the first steps to becoming part of a local Rugby Union (later accepted into Cheshire RFU). Committee elections were also held for the first time and Duncan Leckie stepped down as Chairman and Simon Stanley was elected to replace him. The following week, on 27th May the Spartans held their first Annual Dinner in the function room at Old Salians clubhouse. This was a chance for everyone to celebrate the creation and growth of the Club after only one year.
The Spartans were soon in action again on 29-30th July 2000, taking part in the London Gay Games (promoted by Walthamstow Forest Council) where a rugby sevens tournament was organised in addition to other sports such as hockey (for girls) and football (definitely for girls). It was here that the Steelers and Spartans did battle again and for the first time met members of the recently formed gay team from Washington DC, the Renegades. This tournament was the first international rugby sevens tournament for 'gay' teams and prompted discussion amongst the leaders of the Spartans, Steelers and Renegades about the promotion of rugby within the wider international gay and lesbian communities. These were the first steps towards the subsequent formation of the International Gay Rugby Association and Board (IGRAB).
More partying in the summer of 2000 was enjoyed when the Spartans travelled to Scotland to help celebrate Ian MacDonald's 30th birthday. Ian had arranged a fixture against Falkirk RUFC (a club close to his home town) and, despite the out-of-season date of 12th August, the Falkirk players duly turned up with enough players to field two teams. It seemed that the challenge to take on this new and unusual team had appealed to many! At half-time the score was 14-14, which the Spartans were thrilled with as it was a score-line they had not had against a mainstream team before. The second half was a different affair though with the Falkirk team shored up by numbers from their 1st team, and the final score was 44-14. Still, the Spartans were very happy with their efforts and were warmly received by Falkirk RUFC in their clubhouse bar. They were impressed that the Spartans played so well in only their fifth match and presented the Club with a commemorative plaque. Historically, this was the first match for the Spartans against a fully established Club within the RFU, and one in a foreign country. Certainly it was the first rugby match featuring a 'gay' team in Scotland.
