Holme Park

This article is about the sports ground. For the country estate, see Reading Blue Coat School.
Holme Park
Map
LocationSonning, England
Coordinates51°28′0″N 0°55′5″W / 51.46667°N 0.91806°W / 51.46667; -0.91806
SurfaceGrass
Opened1939
Tenants
Reading RFC

Holme Park is a sports ground in Sonning (occasionally called Sonning-on-Thames), a village and civil parish in the English county of Berkshire, a few miles east of Reading. It is used for rugby union matches and is the home of Reading Rugby Football Club.

Reading RFC had a nomadic existence until, shortly before the Second World War, the land at Holme Park was purchased and the pitches laid. After the war a new clubhouse and stand were erected, the stand later being moved to its present position on the far side of the ground. The current clubhouse was built through the efforts of Gordon Richens in 1968 and was expanded, with squash courts added, by Colin Barrett in 1975.

The club had been struggling with income over expenditure since the mid-1990s and with debts and loans spiralling the club found it increasing difficult to service the arrears.[1] An attempted buy-out of the club and assets by former coach Phil Hall was quashed at the club's annual general meeting in 2007. Alastair McHarg, capped 44 times by Scotland, was a vociferous opponent of the Hall buy-out. He said "The good thing about the Phil Hall deal is that at least it has shaken up some people to get their act together."[2][3]

References

  1. ^ "Crisis club Reading plan for a brave new world". Reading Evening Post. 20 January 2005. Retrieved 6 January 2008. [dead link‍]
  2. ^ "Hall fails in his bid to take over club". Reading Evening Post. 11 May 2007. Retrieved 6 January 2008.
  3. ^ "McHarg's £60,000 budget to survive in South West 1". Reading Evening Post. 3 August 2007. Retrieved 6 January 2008. [dead link‍]


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