Bingham Cup, San Francisco 2002
The club at the first Bingham Cup, San Francisco, June 2002. The Spartans finished third of eight and have never missed a Bingham Cup since.
The season the Manchester Village Spartans became an affiliated rugby club, and the season the game lost Mark Bingham.
Mark Bingham played for the San Francisco Fog, and the Spartans had played against him in Washington that May. He was killed aboard United 93 on 11 September 2001. Two days later Cheshire Rugby Union accepted the club, and on 22 September the Spartans dedicated their first match as an affiliated side, a 22-10 win over Eccles 4ths, to his memory. They joined the Manchester and District Fixtures Pool, adopted a written constitution in June, and finished third at the first Bingham Cup in San Francisco, the tournament that now carries his name.
The season the Manchester Village Spartans became an affiliated rugby club, and the season the gay rugby world lost Mark Bingham.
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 capital. 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.”
On 22nd September 2001, 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.
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 the year the players continued to turn out for Old Salians while arranging monthly fixtures from the Pool: Lostock at home on 20th October, Old Bedians Vets at home on 24th November and Macclesfield 4ths at home on 15th December. On 12th January the Spartans played away at Macclesfield 4ths, and over the rest of the season took Old Bedians Vets away on 9th February, Broughton Park 4ths away on 2nd March, Old Salians at home on 16th March and Lostock away on 13th April, still fielding players for Old Salians on a weekly basis.
Between 25th and 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.
On 9th June 2002 the club formally adopted a written constitution. It set the name of the club as the Village Spartans Rugby Union Football Club (RUFC), and its objectives as providing the means and facilities for gay and bisexual men of all abilities to play rugby, and promoting the game within the gay community in Manchester and the North West of England. Membership was open to all gay and bisexual men, and to members of the wider community at the discretion of the committee, in two categories: ordinary members who train and play, and social members who wish to support the club and its aims without playing. The club bound itself to affiliation with Cheshire RUFC and with the International Gay Rugby Association and Board.
The document is exact about how the club was to be run. Thirteen officer posts made up the committee: Captain, Chair, Coach, Director of Rugby, Fixtures Secretary, Fundraising and Merchandising Officer, Public Relations Officer, Recruitment and Social Officer, Secretary, Treasurer, Vice Captain, Vice Chair and Website Officer. Six officers personally present made a quorum, and the committee was to meet at least once each calendar month. An appendix set out a written description of what each role involved. Officers were elected by closed ballot run by a returning officer, with a postal vote available to every member. One Annual General Meeting was required each season, convened no less than a month before the new season began, with a quorum of one quarter of the membership; the constitution could be amended only at an AGM, and only by an affirmative vote of 75 per cent of those present. The financial year would end on 31st March, with the end of year report made available to members within three months. A Disciplinary Committee of five voting members drawn at random, under a non-voting chair, could discipline members but could not expel them; expulsion could only be recommended to a general meeting.
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. The competition took his name in honour of the Fog’s fallen brother. As the International Rugby Board recognised, this was the largest international 15-a-side amateur rugby tournament anywhere in the world.
Eight clubs competed at Golden Gate Park on 28th and 29th June 2002. The Fog very kindly hosted individual Spartans players in their homes, and the tour also took in the annual Pride march and 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 own team, the San Francisco Fog, who emerged as the first IGRAB world champions. It was an inspiring experience for all who participated.
Simon Stanley was Chair through the season and Phil Bowers captained the First XV. Matt Whiteley was Player of the Year. Brett Dawson took both the Players Player award and Best New Comer, and David Pope was Most Improved. Elaine Smythe was Supporter of the Year, and Neil Mason received the Chair’s Award.
The Spartans ended the season affiliated to a county union, with a constitution of their own making, a monthly fixture of their own arranging and third place at the first Bingham Cup. The Pool arrangement and the partnership with Old Salians carried them into the following season, playing matches from the Pool each month and turning out for Old Salians at other times.
Matches
10 matches on record, 9 of them with a score. Source: the club's own fixtures page, captured October 2002.
| Date | Home | Score | Away |
|---|---|---|---|
| 22 Sep 2001 | Eccles 4XV | 10 – 22 | Spartans 1XV |
| 20 Oct 2001 | Spartans 1XV | 5 – 20 | Lostock |
| 24 Nov 2001 | Spartans 1XV | 10 – 5 | Old Bedians Vets |
| 15 Dec 2001 | Spartans 1XV | 10 – 13 | Oldham 3XV |
| 12 Jan 2002 | Spartans 1XV | 5 – 63 | Macclesfield 4XV |
| 09 Feb 2002 | Old Bedians Vets | 8 – 10 | Spartans 1XV |
| 02 Mar 2002 | Broughton Park 4XV | 53 – 5 | Spartans 1XV |
| 16 Mar 2002 | Salians | 24 – 12 | Spartans 1XV |
| 13 Apr 2002 | Lostock | 20 – 17 | Spartans 1XV |
| 04 May 2002 | Kings Cross Steelers | No score recorded | Spartans 1XV |
Bingham Cup, San Francisco 2002
6 matches on record. Source: IGRAB's own tournament results page for the first Bingham Cup, archived on 10 August 2002.
| Date | Round | Home | Score | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 28 Jun 2002 | Pool A | Spartans 1XV | 34 – 0 | Gotham Knights |
| 28 Jun 2002 | Pool A | San Francisco Fog A | 15 – 12 | Spartans 1XV |
| 28 Jun 2002 | Pool A | Spartans 1XV | 50 – 0 | Seattle Quake |
| 29 Jun 2002 | Semi-final round 1 | Los Angeles Rebellion | 0 – 5 | Spartans 1XV |
| 29 Jun 2002 | Semi-final round 2 | San Francisco Fog A | 15 – 12 | Spartans 1XV |
| 29 Jun 2002 | Play-off | London Kings Cross Steelers | 10 – 5 | Spartans 1XV |
| Team | Award | Winner |
|---|---|---|
| First XV | Player of the Year | Matt Whiteley |
| Players Player | Brett Dawson | |
| Best New Comer | Brett Dawson | |
| Most Improved | David Pope | |
| Club | Supporter of the Year | Elaine Smythe |
| Chair's Award | Neil Mason |
| Group | Role | Name |
|---|---|---|
| Committee | Chair | Simon Stanley |
| Secretary | Ian MacDonald | |
| First XV Captain | Phil Bowers |
The constitution adopted in June 2002 set out thirteen officer posts. Only these holders are recorded for the season.
The club at the first Bingham Cup, San Francisco, June 2002. The Spartans finished third of eight and have never missed a Bingham Cup since.
Eccles 4XV10 – 22Spartans 1XV
The club's first match as an affiliated rugby club, played nine days after Manchester Village Spartans RUFC was accepted into the Cheshire Rugby Union, and the club's first win over a mainstream club.
Before kick off the two teams faced each other while Ian MacDonald spoke about Mark Bingham of the San Francisco Fog, who had been killed on United 93 eleven days earlier and whom the Spartans had played against in Washington that May. A minute's silence was observed and the match was dedicated to his memory.
The club's written history dates this match to September 2000. The fixture list and the Cheshire Rugby Union acceptance both place it in 2001.
Spartans 1XV10 – 13Oldham 3XV
The club's written history lists Macclesfield 4ths at home on this date. The fixture list, which carries the score, names Oldham 3rds.
Spartans 1XV5 – 63Macclesfield 4XV
The club's written history calls this an away fixture. The fixture list, which carries the score, records it at home.
Salians24 – 12Spartans 1XV
Both clubs played at Sale Sports Club, so a Spartans match against Old Salians is technically home and away at once. The club's written history calls it a home fixture and the fixture list gives Salians as the home side; both are right.
Kings Cross SteelersNot playedSpartans 1XV
Listed with a 2.30pm kick off. The club's freeserve site was never updated again, so no score survives.
Pool A
Spartans 1XV34 – 0Gotham Knights
Friday 28 June 2002, day one of the first Bingham Cup, played on the Polo Fields in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco.
Eight clubs entered, drawn into two pools of four. Pool A was the Spartans, the San Francisco Fog A, the Gotham Knights of New York and the Seattle Quake. Pool B was the Los Angeles Rebellion, the London Kings Cross Steelers, the Washington DC Renegades and the San Francisco Fog B. The top two from each pool went into a championship bracket on the Saturday, the bottom two into a consolation bracket.
The Spartans opened against the Gotham Knights and won 34 to 0.
The tournament was played in memory of Mark Bingham of the San Francisco Fog, who was killed aboard United 93 on 11 September 2001. The Spartans had played against him and his club in Washington the previous May.
Source: IGRAB's own tournament results page, archived on 10 August 2002.
Pool A
San Francisco Fog A15 – 12Spartans 1XV
Friday 28 June 2002, day one, Pool A, on the Polo Fields in Golden Gate Park.
The Spartans lost 15 to 12 to the San Francisco Fog A, the hosts and the eventual champions, and it was the closest game either side played in the pool. The Fog conceded fifteen points in the whole pool stage and twelve of them were scored here.
The two sides would meet again the next afternoon, in the championship bracket, and finish on the same scoreline a second time.
Source: IGRAB's own tournament results page, archived on 10 August 2002.
Pool A
Spartans 1XV50 – 0Seattle Quake
Friday 28 June 2002, day one, the last of the Spartans pool games, on the Polo Fields in Golden Gate Park.
The Spartans beat the Seattle Quake 50 to 0, their biggest win of the tournament, and finished Pool A with two wins from three, 96 points scored and 15 conceded. Only the San Francisco Fog A, who won all three, finished above them.
Pool A: San Francisco Fog A three wins, Manchester Village Spartans two, Gotham Knights one, Seattle Quake none. In Pool B the Los Angeles Rebellion won all three and the London Kings Cross Steelers finished second.
That put the Spartans into the championship bracket on the Saturday, against the Pool B winners.
Source: IGRAB's own tournament results page, archived on 10 August 2002.
Semi-final round 1
Los Angeles Rebellion0 – 5Spartans 1XV
Saturday 29 June 2002, day two, the first round of the championship bracket, on the Polo Fields in Golden Gate Park.
The four pool qualifiers played the second day as a double elimination, so a club stayed in the tournament until it had lost twice. Round one paired each pool winner with the other pool's runner up: the San Francisco Fog A against the London Kings Cross Steelers, and the Los Angeles Rebellion, who had won Pool B with 92 points scored and 8 conceded, against the Spartans.
One try settled it. The Spartans won 5 to 0 and went into the winners' match. The Fog beat London 22 to 0 in the other tie.
Source: IGRAB's own tournament results page, archived on 10 August 2002.
Semi-final round 2
San Francisco Fog A15 – 12Spartans 1XV
Saturday 29 June 2002, day two, the second round of the championship bracket, on the Polo Fields in Golden Gate Park.
The two unbeaten sides met for the second time in two days, and for the second time in two days the San Francisco Fog A won 15 to 12. The Fog went straight through to the championship match. The Spartans, now at one win and one defeat, went into a play off for the other place in it.
In the losers' match alongside it, the London Kings Cross Steelers beat the Los Angeles Rebellion 29 to 5. That was a second defeat for Los Angeles, who were out and finished fourth, and it left London at one win and one defeat as well, so London and Manchester met to decide who went to the final.
Source: IGRAB's own tournament results page, archived on 10 August 2002.
Play-off
London Kings Cross Steelers10 – 5Spartans 1XV
Saturday 29 June 2002, day two, on the Polo Fields in Golden Gate Park, and the last game the Spartans played at the first Bingham Cup.
Because the championship bracket was a double elimination, this was not a third place match in the ordinary sense. It was the play off between the two sides standing at one win and one defeat after the semi-final rounds. The winner went into the championship match; the loser finished third.
The London Kings Cross Steelers won it 10 to 5, and then lost the championship match 27 to 5 to the San Francisco Fog A.
So the first Bingham Cup finished with the San Francisco Fog first, the London Kings Cross Steelers second, the Manchester Village Spartans third and the Los Angeles Rebellion fourth, from the eight clubs entered. That is why the club's record says the Spartans came third in San Francisco. The Mark Kendall Bingham Memorial Trophy went to the San Francisco Fog RFC and the Bingham Plate to the London Kings Cross Steelers RFC. The consolation bracket was won by the San Francisco Fog B, who beat the Washington DC Renegades 15 to 5 in its final.
Across the two days the Spartans played six matches, won three and lost three, scored 118 points and conceded 40. All three defeats were to the two clubs who finished above them.
Source: IGRAB's own tournament results page, archived on 10 August 2002.