As we moved into the 1960's, the club had a new President in Harold Barker. John Richardson (left) took over the captaincy from John Shurvinton and did a two year stint in the job assisted by Max Sisterson who became his vice-captain. Other than the loss of Shurvinton to Northampton, the 1st XV was more or less unchanged with the major addition being the barrel-chested Ewan Brenchley on the wing. This was another great season, equalling the record 23 winsachieved in 1959, albeit playing three games more. We began with an opening run of 5 wins and a draw, which was halted by Stourbridge in mid-October. This was the first of 4 straight losses, but revenge in the return game against Stourbridge in November got us back on the winning trail and apart from another blip in January when we lost to Coventry Extras, Stratford and Stoneygate we were unbeaten for the rest of the season. We ended with a run of 12 wins and a draw in the last 13 games. The draw occurred in the second game of our Easter tour of north Devon against Callumpton, after we had beaten Minehead in a close encounter in the first game. Our late winning run also included victories over Kenilworth and Kidderminster, two big wins against Lutterworth and Hereford and finally revenge against Coventry in the last game, which was the highlight of the season. We failed to defend the Lockheed Sevens trophy and were knocked out in the second round.

Maurice Goymer captained the 2nd XV and they had a spectacular season winning 27 and drawing 2 of their 34 games, the best recordby any Leamington side up to this point. They scored a massive 558 points against 151. In the local derbies they won and lost against both Stratford and Kenilworth, but defeated Old Warwickians twice, including a 40-3 hammering in April. Other sides to concede more than 40 points against us included Lutterworth and Lichfield. Bernard Gallagher and Norman David were regulars in the side and both made their first team debuts during the season. The Leamington Courier took an interest in the success of the side and included them in their series of club cartoons.

David Glasborrow joined the club. He was a full back and became a leading light in the management of the club in later years. Apart from David we had a number of other newcomers but these were mainly in the lower sides which enabled the 4thh XV to increase its number of games. As far as records exist they played 6 games and won 3 of them. The 3rd XV didn't do quite so well under their new skipper, Bill "Curly" Branson. The Colts in their second full season were captained by Archie Banks and after a slow start picked up after Christmas and won 8 of their 22 games.

With the expansion in the number of sides to five and later six (including the Colts) on some Saturdays, two pitches were no longer enough and three or four sides had to play away from home. It was always at the back of our minds that our tenancy was fragile. Two attempts to buy the ground failed and we were aware that our facilities were no longer "state of the art" and were declining. Therefore efforts began to find a new ground, preferably one with enough room for three pitches, a clubhouse and good parking. Among the options considered was a plan by Leamington Borough Council to open up Newbold Comyn as a recreation area and after negotiations with them they agreed to include 10 acres of land within the scheme for the rugby club. This proved to be a long and drawn out affair.

First XV - 1960-61 Guthrie Higgett, Ewan Brenchley, Keith Savage, Ray Ward, Roger Philpott, Dave Butler, John Griffin, Tim Drew, Max Sisterson, John Richardson, Ianto Moody, Roger Johnstone, Tony Payne, John Drury

The Colts March 1961 - Jim Baker, Alan Parker, John Lyne, Pascal Jeavons, Bill Wiggins, Dave Wilkinson, David Broadbridge, R. Wheildon, Alan Wicks - John "Tommy" Tucker R. Williams Alan "Archie" Banks, Tim Vitali, Charlie Chamberlain - Tim Wood, Bob Kirby

Pre-season training 1961 or 1962Max Sisterson, Graham Shurvinton, Mike Parkin, Graham Sutherland, Bernard Gallagher, Colin Commander, Rex Montgomery, xxx Campbell, Don Heydon, John Thompson, xxxxxx, Ewan Brenchley, Bill Carr, Ianto Moody, Tony Sawyer, Dave Butler - Roger Philpott, Geoff Steele-Morgan, Keith Savage, John Richardson, Pip Moore, Maurice Goymer, Lol Smith, Freddie Thacker, Jack Devis - Roger Johnstone, Brian Badger, Norman David, xx Douglas, Tony Payne

A number of our members, including Bill Reading, John Drury, David Glasborrow, Freddie Thacker, Bernard Gallagher and John Griffin were useful cricketers as well as rugby players and for some years we had been fielding a cricket team in friendly games and the local Cancer Cup. In 1961, we won the cup with the help of an influx of new players who added to our eleven as well as our fifteen. Around this time we also started up a darts team which played in the local league, led by Jack Devis. The influx of new players included John "Oggy" Thompson a fiery and physical forward from Cornwall, Neville Rainford a flanker and Mick Giles a scrum half. Clive Lewis, Mike Grundy and Gordon Mallinson all added to the back division. Unfortunately, John Griffin, who had been an outstanding full-back for the previous four years, emigrated to Australia but another new player, Dave Schofield, proved a more than adequate replacement. Another arrival was Malcolm Bloomer who later captained the second and fourth teams and did a lot of good work with in developing Colts and mini rugby.

John Richardson and Max Sisterson remained in charge and although it was another good season with 16 wins and 4 draws from 31 games, the team had peaked over the previous three years and results were now in decline. As well as changes in personnel and a fairly lightweight pack, this was partly due to an ever stronger fixture list against teams from further and further afield. Barnet, Cinderford, and Woodford were new opponents this season. The 11 games we lost were all against very good sides. Our best results were in sevens for we won the prestigious Coventry Cathedral tournamentbeating Rugby, Nuneaton and Kenilworth. This event was played at Coundon Road as part of the festivities celebrating the consecration of the new cathedral and was open to all the clubs in the Coventry diocese. Our victorious but tired looking team is pictured below. We also reached the last 16 of the Oxford Sevens and won the Lockheed tournament for a third time and this team is also pictured.

Cathedral Sevens winners and trophy - 1962 Ray Ward, Keith Savage, John Shurvington, Tim Drew, Guthrie Higgett, Tony Payne, Ian Francis

Lockheed Sevens winners - 1962 Tim Grinnell, Ray Ward, John Shurvington, Tim Drew, Clive Lewis, Keith Savage, Ianto Moody

After their record breaking season the year before, Maurice Goymer's second string had another outstanding year, winning 20 and drawing 3 of their 30 games. The problem of having five teams (including Colts) but only two pitches meant that the 4th XV rarely played at home, so we decided to field two "A" sides, except when playing clubs with a 3rd and 4th Team. This enabled our selection committee to work a rota system to give players a more equal distribution of home and away games. It is not clear how this worked in practice but the "A" (3rd) XV played 29 games and won 17 and the "A" (4th) XV played 19 and won 7. The Colts played 21 times and won 6, including their biggest win so far when they thumped Banbury 67-0. On 4 November all five sides won for the first time. For only the second time in the club's history, subscriptions were increased this season, from 1 to 2 guineas (£2.10) with a rebate of 25% if paid before 1st November. Bar prices were also on the increase with a pint of Mild going up to 1/3d (6p) and Bitter to 1/5d (7p). On the social side we began a long series of New Year's Eve parties at the Charlecote Pheasant, which were always a sell-out.

First XV - 1961-62 Neville Rainford, Mike Parkin, Clive Lewis, Dave Schofield, Malcolm Bloomer, John Thompson - Keith Savage, Ray Ward, John Drury, John Richardson, Ianto Moody, Dodge Mace - Bernard Gallagher, Ewan Brenchley, Guthrie Higgett

After completing his spell as Warwickshire President, Cliff Harrison became President of the club. Max Sisterson (below) moved up from the vice captaincy to lead the first team, assisted by Ray Ward as his vice-captain. John Thompson left us to play for Nuneaton, where he spent a couple of seasons before returning. Among the new players were Greville Badger, a scrum half who later got an Oxford Blue, Peter Waring a useful wing three-quarter and David Moffat, a full-back. Colin Commander graduated from the Colts to make his presence felt in the senior teams. The son of Tom Commander, he was our first second-generation player.

Although player numbers were up to a healthy 170 at the start of the new season, the drop in performance the previous year was shown to be more than a blip and we were to have our worst season since the turn of the 1950's. There were a number of reasons for this including injuries, players moving on and lack of mid-week training facilities, but worries were being expressed that there was an increasing level of apathy and division within the club and young players were not being given the opportunity to come through. Also, this was a season in which ice and snow decimated the sporting calendar, with no play possible for 10 weeks between Boxing Day and mid-March. Things became so bad for sport that a Football Pools Panel was set up to predict what the football results would have been had the games been played, so that the Pools could continue. We finally got underway again on 9 March, but had to shift our game against Earlsdon to their ground as our plumbing was still frozen. Because of the bad weather the 1stt XV played only 24 games. They won only 9 and the record would have been even worse had we not won the last 4 matches, including the Easter tour games at Colwyn Bay and Rhyl. The major change on our fixture list was that we had made the decision not to play any clubs' second teams with our first team as it was felt that our chances of improving the fixture list would be better without any second teams on our card. This meant dropping Coventry Extras and Northampton Wanderers, which was a pity.

First XV 1962-63 (against Stratford on November 24) - Ian Francis, Ken Rae, Mike Grundy, John Hammond, Dave Moffatt, Dodge Mace, Ianto Moody, Terry Pugh - Roger Philpott, Mike Parkin, Peter Troughton, Max Sisterson, Ray Ward, John Richardson, Peter Waring

The 2nd XV were captained by Lol Smith and, notwithstanding the weather, they had another good season winning two-thirds of their games. The 3rd and 4th teams continued to operate as two "A" sides to ensure players had a fair chance of playing at home. The two sides played a combined total of 33 games, winning 12. Rex Montgomery captained the 3rd team (Montgomery's Mob) and Dave Dipple the 4th team (the Dipple Dregs). The Colts, under skipper Tommy Tucker, had their best season to date, finishing in credit for the first time. On the 13th October all 5 teams won, scoring 113 points and conceding only 12. Another landmark was that we fielded a 5th senior team for the first time ever which turned out on 3 occasions. Keith Savage with 18 tries topped the scorers for the 1st XV and Brian Badger scored 45 points for the 2nds. Rex Montgomery top scored for the "A" sides with 47 and Pat Sommers got 52 for the Colts.

Maurice Goymer was appointed skipper for a second spell in 1963/64 and he alternated the captaincy with Ray Ward over the next five years. John Drury was the new vice-captain. There was a huge turnaround in the morale of the club this season which was reflected in much improved results with the first team winning 17 and losing 11, with 4 matches drawn. The highlights were a double victory over Stratford, who had lost only five games in two years, a home draw against Rosslyn Park Stags and two trips to Wales where we drew at Mountain Ash on the opening day and won at Abercarn on the final day. The matches that a more biased history would ignore were the return game against Rosslyn Park which we lost 13-44 and a surprise 3-26 defeat at home to Sutton Coldfield.

In a much changed side, Keith Savage moved to Northampton to begin his first class career. Bob Stansfield came in at hooker and Andy McKowen, Gordon Mallinson and Dai Davies strengthened the backs. Archie Banks at wing-three-quarter and Pascal Jeavons in the back-row came through from the Colts to claim regular places. Other graduates from the Colts were Terry Liggins, N. Sawyer and John Taplin, and a number of talented local schoolboys made their debuts during the season, including Tony and Roger Landon, David Scannell, Colin Barker, Vic Barber and Charlie Gardner. Dai Davies and Andy McKowen topped the points' scorers for the first team with 48 and 23 points respectively, mainly with the boot and Gordon Mallinson was top try scorer with 7 touchdowns.

Malcolm Bloomer led the 2nd XV with Peter Waring as his deputy and they had another good season, again winning two thirds of their games. Brian Badger was their top scorer with 56 points and Dai Davies weighed in with another 30. The two "A" sides were again led by Rex Montgomery and Dave Dipple, with Rex's side having an outstanding record of 24 wins and 4 draws. Rex topped his own scorers' list with an excellent 19 tries and was well supported by Dave Moffat and Dennis Knight who scored 51 and 36 points respectively. The 4th team were less prolific and D. Cressey was their top scorer with 19 points followed by Dennis Knight and I. Grahame, both on 18. With players graduating through the sides, the Colts were proving their worth to the club but they did not enjoy such a good season themselves, winning only 6 of 21 matches. Stuart Martin and B..Tookey topped their scorers on 25 apiece.

We had a busy but not very successful sevens' season, losing in the first round at Coventry, Stoneygate and Lockheed - where we won the plate competition. The Colts did rather better, losing 5-11 to Widnes in the final of the Oxford Colts tournament.

Long serving committee man George Morgan became President of the club. There were further changes in the laws this season designed to encourage attacking play and in particular the penalising of direct kicks into touch when over the 25 yard line. This was mainly to prevent scrum halves stifling the game by kicking the ball up the touchline from lineout to lineout to lineout.

First XV 1964-65 Dave Scannell, John Drury, Roger Landon, John Thompson, John Lyne, Tim Wood, Robin Smylie, Dave Moffatt - Mick Giles, Tommy Tucker, John Richardson, Ray Ward, Dave Schofield, Brian Montgomery, Archie Banks

Home grown Ray Ward (left and in action below) who had joined the club as a raw 18 year old in 1956 became skipper for the first time assisted by Dave Schofield. Ray was to go on to captain the club six times in four different spells. He eventually played over 600 games for the 1st team over three decades. Ianto Moody was appointed as the club's first coach. There were major changes this year with the team taking on an increasingly youthful look and 16 players under the age of 21 played in the side. We had an influx of outstanding recruits from the local schools who became regulars - David Scannell, Tim Wood and Brian Montgomery all came from Leamington College and Roger Landon from Kenilworth School. John Lyne and Tommy Tucker came through from the Colts and other arrivals included Bob Howe, Mick Giles and R. Attwood. Not surprisingly with such a youthful line-up and strong sides such as Woodford, Nottingham University and Handsworth added to the fixture list, results were inconsistent, but the team finished all square with 15 wins and 15 losses. In the local derbies, we were well beaten on both occasions by Stratford and we lost and won against Kenilworth with Scannell scoring a late try to pip our hosts at Glasshouse Lane. The biggest win of the season was a 50-3 thrashing of Handsworth in the final game, just short of a record score for the first team. Roger Landon was top scorer with 88 points followed by David Schofield and David Scannell with 42 apiece - Scannell being top try scorer with 14.

Having crossed Offa's Dyke for the 1963 Easter tour the club this time ventured across the Irish Sea to Dublin and played Black Rock College 2nd Team, who we beat 19-3, and Palmerston, who beat us 5-11, no doubt due to the effects of many pints of Guinness. During the tour we were entertained by our old member Dr Bill Lumley but unfortunately our reunion with him back-fired as we failed to write to thank him for his hospitality and he resigned from the club! The number of players available to us was gradually rising and we were now fielding seven sides, although not all of them had a full fixture list. The Extra First Team was established and had a restricted list designed to match the first teams of those clubs that were not good enough to play our first team but deserved more than a second team fixture. In practice most games were against the second teams of our main rivals who had adopted a similar arrangement. They played 14 games, winning 9 and were captained by Roger Philpott. The 2nd XV usually played when the Extras didn't, presumably with a similar line-up, and they were also captained by Roger Philpott. On the few Saturdays when both teams played Tony Grimes skippered the Seconds and they won 14 of their 24 games. Between them, the two sides won their final 15 games in a row which was a club record at the time.

The lower sides took on a jungle look and were renamed as the Stags (4th XV) the Tigers (5th XV) and the Leopards (6th XV). The experiment of having two third teams was abandoned, but the problem of how to house the teams and give everyone the chance of a reasonable number of home games remained. The search for a new ground to accommodate our increased numbers continued. Discussions with Leamington Borough Council still gave us the prospect of a move to Newbold Comyn but little progress was being made as the whole project was bogged down in the planning process. The Stags, led by Rex Montgomery were the club's best performers, winning 23 of their 30 games. The Tigers and Leopards both won more than they lost and they like the Extras/Seconds tended to play as either one or the other with only a few weeks when both played. The logic of this arrangement is not apparent. Dave Dipple led the Tigers but departed during the season and was replaced by Dennis Knight. The Colts had a very difficult time under Vic Barber and managed no wins and only 1 draw from their 24 games.

The Stags against Whitnash, March 1965 - Jonathon Smylie, J. Mowatt, Lol Smith, Peter Waring, Bob Reynolds, B Williams, Trevor Wood, Peter Horgan, Maurice Goymer - Charlie Gardner, Tony Mullen, Rex Montgomery (captain) B Legg, Bob Pritchard