The 2012–13 season followed the summer in which the club had hosted its own Bingham Cup, and most of what survives of it concerns how the Spartans were run rather than how they played.

The committee elected in July

The annual general meeting of 28 July 2012 filled most positions without a contest. Alex Smith was elected president, with James Hand as vice chair, Ben Short as honorary secretary, Brett Dawson as treasurer and Terence Law on fixtures. Dean Bee was named First XV captain and David Fox Second XV captain. Ste McQuen took membership and Gareth Longley PR, Andy Smith and Matt Ince shared recruitment, Richard Harrop and Rob Cox shared social, and Martin Halsall was appointed head coach. Three positions went to a vote after representations: Matt Whiteley was elected chair, Karl Bee vice-captain and Steven Sharpe fundraising officer.

The same meeting approved two new committee positions, Second XV Captain and Head Coach. It also proposed that the constitution be looked at again alongside the club’s articles, to set out the day to day running of the club, with a number of policies to be drafted; some of those had already been prepared for RFU accreditation. Martin Halsall was to review coaching arrangements across the club, an item carried to the first committee meeting.

On the field

It was Dean Bee’s first season as First XV captain, a post he went on to hold for four seasons until the end of 2015–16. Karl Bee and Chris Cartledge finished as joint highest try scorers with thirteen each. What the archive does not keep for this season is a fixture list or a league table, so the playing year survives largely through its captains and its award winners.

The Union Cup in Bristol

The AGM had agreed to run both a fun tour and a squad entry to the Union Cup in Bristol in 2013. The squad went. The tournament was hosted by Bristol Bisons and won by the Kings Cross Steelers. Whether the fun tour also took place is not recorded.

Gangnam Style, with Canterbury

In October 2012, when Gangnam Style was at its height, the Spartans teamed up with the kit maker Canterbury of New Zealand to make a rugby parody of it. The players put on sunglasses, took to the pitches with a camera and a sense of fun, and the film went out on Canterbury’s own channel. The club was still sharing it as a favourite throwback years afterwards, and it is in the video section on this page.

The club off the field

In December 2012 Pride Sports wrote to the club chair inviting the Spartans to take part in the first UK wide audit and survey of sport club provision for LGBT people, in a reminder sent by Anna Verges and Lou Englefield. The invitation was put to the club again in February 2013. By June 2013 the club was looking into upgrading the shower area of the changing facilities to cope with weekly demand, with repairs to the drains already in progress.

The awards

Carl Helps was Player of the Year and Dean Bee the Players’ Player. Sam Tennant and Joe Crookall took Best New Comer and Most Improved between them. Michael Parkes was Supporters’ Player of the Year and Ianto Morgan Supporter of the Year, and Shaun Davies took the Queens Boots. The Chair’s Award was shared by Dean Bee and Neil Mason.

The year left the club with two more committee posts than it had begun with, a captain who would keep the job until 2016, and a constitution due to be rewritten.