Presidents Message
From the outset, may I say it is a tremendous honour and privilege to be elected president of Omagh Academicals Rugby Football Club for the next two seasons. I would like to thanks the members of this club who have given me this opportunity and appreciate the trust they have given me to carry out the role to the best of my ability.
OARFC was formed in 1952 and from humble beginnings playing in the old Showgrounds in the town of Omagh, we now have a magnificent clubhouse and facilities : The Thomas Mellon Playing Fields on the Strabane side of Omagh in the area still known to many as Coneywarren.
We are tremendously lucky to have a great number of sponsors without whose generosity, we would not be able to function as a club. We are especially thankful to our two principal sponsors: Donnell and Ellis Heavy Haulage and Pat Kirk Motors. The club is very grateful to all our sponsors and their continued support is very much appreciated.
We run four Senior Men's teams, a Ladies Section including girls, with minis and youths, amounting to 22 teams in all. We could not do this without our coaching staff and volunteers who give of their time week after week in all weathers throughout the season. The parents of young players who drop them off at training or on match days, do so in the knowledge the club will do their best to care for them and their welfare while in the club's charge. Without that trust, our club would not survive.
Our hard working committee, guided by our chairman, Allan Duncan and our new Director of Rugby, Glen Warnock, take care of finance, pitches, maintenance, legal issues, registration of coaches, players, referees, player welfare, safeguarding, etc.. A special mention goes out to our physio , Nicola who does a sterling job and seems to busier than ever this season.
From my own point of view, I would like to thank our immediate Past President, Sid Duff who acted as an ambassador for the club the length and breadth of Ireland from 2023 until 2025 as we journeyed in the All Ireland League for the last eight seasons.. Sid, you have left very large shoes to fill. Now, playing in the Ulster Championship 1, the journeys will be much shorter and the need for buses and 'overnights much diminished.
I have been very lucky to have played rugby for Omagh from school days as a lot of older hands have done back in the 1970s when a try was 3 points and and the feeling was that if you wished to venture on an Antarctic expedition, for acclimatisation , you could do worse than play on the wing for Omagh, where the policy was to keep the ball up the jumper, rather than spread it wide.
I have had the privilege to play rugby to teams in London, , in South Africa and New Zealand and in doing so have met some great characters in and out of the game. Only a few weeks ago, I met Willie John McBride, now a spritely 85 years old, a true legend and gentleman to boot. Amongst others I have met the likes of Mick Doyle, for whom I was 'best man' when he got married in Omagh in 1989. (Doyle did say that he was the best man on the day)., Frank Oliver, the former All Blacks captain , CMH Gibson, who once asked my son, also Michael Gibson for his autograph, and the great Gary Knight who claims to have imported 'scrum pox' into Ireland when New Zealand in 1978 and were beaten by Munster and in his own words were ' lucky to get nil'.
In 2015 we had the pleasure of having Joe Schmidt speak at our club dinner and his insight into attaining success with first, Leinster and then Ireland was impressive to say the least. The mantra in that halcyon period was based on six words which were written large wherever they went: 'be humble, be disciplined, be relentless'. That wouldn't be the worst set of values to take into sport and into life in general.
I look forward with great pride to continuing as president of Omagh for this season and next and being its representative both at home and farther afield.
Hugh Gibson.
President of Omagh ARFC.
