Last year was a momentous season for the club as it secured promotion from Level 5 of English rugby, winning the Midlands Premier Division title by some margin and losing on only three occasions throughout the season.

The Colts finished runners up in the North Midlands Colts League whilst the U17s won the North Midlands Cup, beating Bridgnorth 62-20 in the final.

Last season also saw some important developments off the field too, not least the establishment of a new Membership Club – Birmingham & Solihull Rugby Football Club Limited - (a company Limited by Guarantee) – which will be the vehicle through which we will look to drive further forward the “One Club” agenda that we have strived to propagate in recent years.

A Steering Group, led by Jeremy Smith, has been working diligently to develop a constitution and set of rules for this new club, with an operating structure to follow which will be progressively rolled out during the season.

In order to ensure continuity in key financial and operational matters, the current legal entity - Birmingham & Solihull Rugby Club Limited (a company Limited by Shares) - will operate in parallel during the season.

The 2018/19 season will therefore be a period of transition “behind the scenes”, but it is important that this does not detract from rugby matters – either at a Senior Level or throughout the Age Grade Section.

We are inviting applications to join the new club this season – information on each of the membership categories, season tickets and other benefits that accrue in each category – are detailed in the attached documents. The rules of the new club are also available for download from the club’s website.

Applications should be made on the attached form and can be completed and emailed to Membership Secretary Jeremy Smith (membership@beesrugby.com) or delivered by post or by hand to Jeremy or Sarah Gaffney.

Please note that although the financial affairs of the club will be transacted through the existing legal entity during the 2018/19 season, money from membership subscriptions will be paid into the bank of the account of the new club entity. This will allow subscriptions to be levied without VAT.

Many thanks to the Steering Group for their hard work in getting arrangements in place and I look forward to seeing all our members down at the club as the new season gets under way.

Kind regards

Mike Brennan, President, Birmingham & Solihull Rugby Football Club