On 22nd September 2000, the Spartans played their first match as an affiliated rugby club. It should not be forgotten the pride and excitement which was felt by the players and supporters as they travelled as a team to play Eccles 4th team. With both teams facing each other before the match started, Ian said a few words about Mark Bingham and his love of rugby and how he had helped inspire so many people. A minute's silence was observed and the match was dedicated to his memory. This match was even more historic as it turned out to be the first win, 22-10, for the Spartans against a mainstream club. Everyone felt enormously proud and happy to be a Spartan.
On 11th September 2001, the 'gay' rugby community mourned the tragic loss of Mark Bingham, a player in the San Francisco Fog who was a passenger on United 93, one of four aircraft to be hijacked by terrorists. It is believed that Mark Bingham joined other passengers in an attempt to overpower the hijackers, however the aircraft crashed in a field killing all on board. It has been concluded that the efforts of the brave passengers including Mark, saved the lives of many people on the ground by preventing the plane from hitting one of a number of high-profile targets in the US capitol. Just a few months before, the Spartans had played against Mark and his San Francisco Fog team-mates in the tournament final in Washington DC and everyone was shocked and saddened by the news of his death.
Only a couple of days later, on 13th September 2001, Manchester Village Spartans RUFC was accepted into the Cheshire Rugby Union. Ian MacDonald, the Spartans Secretary who had managed the application wrote,
“I believe this a landmark in the history of our club, perhaps I could say it brings another chapter in the club's history to closure and leaves us at the beginning of a new and exciting one. I was going to say a few words about what that meant to me here, but read something earlier which changed my mind. It says what I want to far better than I ever could:
(An email from Mark Bingham, upon finding out the Fog had been accepted as a permanent member of the Northern California Rugby Football Union) When I started playing rugby at the age of 16, I always thought that my interest in other guys would be an anathema -- completely repulsive to the guys on my team -- and to the people I was knocking the shit out of on the other team. I loved the game, but KNEW I would need to keep my sexuality a secret forever. I feared total rejection. As we worked and sweated and ran and talked together this year, I finally felt accepted as a gay man and a rugby player. My two irreconcilable worlds came together. Now we've been accepted into the Union and the road is going to get harder. We need to work harder. We need to get better. We have the chance to be role models for other gay folks who wanted to play sports, but never felt good enough or strong enough. More importantly, we have the chance to show the other teams in the league that we are as good as they are. Good rugby players. Good partiers. Good sports. Good men. Gay men weren't always wallflowers waiting on the sideline. We have the opportunity to let these other athletes know that gay men were around all along -- on their little league teams, in their classes, being their friends. This is a great opportunity to change a lot of people's minds, and to reach a group that might never have had to know or hear about gay people.
Let's go make some new friends...and win a few games.
Congratulations, my brothers in rugby.
Mark Bingham
It is very much my hope that we will strive to make these sentiments a living part of the Village Spartans.
With much joy and regret,
Ian.
Manchester Village Spartans RUFC was now part of the wider Rugby Union and applied to enter the Manchester & District Fixtures Pool, which existed before the current Miller Homes leagues. The Spartans were able to list themselves as available for matches in the Pool, and arrange matches with other teams of a similar standard. The Spartans were not ready for a league which would demand weekly matches but the Pool provided the flexibility to play when they wished to.
In the remaining months of that year, the players continued to play matches for Old Salians but continued to arrange monthly fixtures from the Pool. These were Lostock (home) on 20th October, Old Bedians Vets (home) on 24th November and Macclesfield 4ths (home) on 15th December.
On 12th January the Spartans played an away fixture against Macclesfield 4ths. Between 25-27th January, the Spartans ran another invitational Rugby Clinic for their American friends. Players from Washington DC, San Francisco and Los Angeles visited Manchester for a weekend of rugby coaching, partying, a friendly match and some more partying.
Over the rest of the season the Spartans arranged several matches from the Pool and continued to field players for Old Salians on a weekly basis. 9th February Old Bedians Vets (away), 2nd March Broughton Park 4ths (away), 16th March Old Salians (home) and 13th April Lostock (away).
At the end of the season in June 2002, the Spartans travelled all the way to San Francisco to compete in the inaugural Mark Kendall Bingham Memorial Cup, hosted by the San Francisco Fog. With the expansion of 'gay' rugby throughout the world, Club members of IGRAB had been moving towards establishing some kind of international 'gay world cup' tournament. However, after the tragedy of Mark's death on 9/11, there was more determination than ever to create the tournament as a fitting tribute to Mark and the values he held regarding the inclusiveness of gay people in all sport, especially rugby. As the International Rugby Board recognised, this was the largest international 15-a-side amateur rugby tournament anywhere in the world.
To help keep down costs, the Fog very kindly hosted individual players in their homes. Partying on the tour included joining in with the annual Pride march and going on sight-seeing trips. On the rugby pitch, the Spartans played well but only made it as far as the semi-finals of the tournament, earning Third Place in the subsequent play-off. The tournament was won by Mark's rugby team, the San Francisco Fog. It was an inspiring experience for all who participated.
