To celebrate our Centenary in 2023, Strabane RFC held the following events -
January - The year kicked off with a Historical Presentation at the Alley Theatre and a display of club memorabilia for the month. Over 150 members attended the talk by 3 past players and the Mayor presented the club with a commemorative crystal plaque.
January - 145 Strabanimals travelled to the Kingspan Stadium to cheer on Ulster and our U12 team, who played Armagh at half-time of the Sale Champions Cup fixture. An unforgattable night for our youngsters, and a great bit of craic for the rest.
March - A Beer & Gin Festival was held at Murphy's On The Green to co-incide with the St. Paddy's day Six Nations game against England. A host of supporters sampled local tipples, and went wild as Ireland won the Grand Slam. An eventful night ensued.
March - over 100 hardy souls did a sponsored walk up Mullaghcarn Mountain, in Gortin Glens on a wet and windy morning. The event raised the fantastic amount of £5140 for the North West Cancer Centre.
April - A coach load of young and old Strabane supporters travelled to Dublin to cheer in Ulster in their Champions Cup quarter final against Leinster. We came second, but had a great day out, nonetheless.
May - Strabane joined forces with Omagh and Enniskillen Rugby clubs to host a Rugby Fun Day and Pig Racing event at the Mellon Playing fields. Over 2000 people attended the biggest event in the 3 clubs histories, and a brilliant day of rugby and family fun ensued. Strabane raised over £50,000 through the hard work of all our pig sellers and Omagh made 2 fortunes at the bar.
August - After the phenomenal fundraising, the club approached the Educatuion Authority about purchasing the old Strabane Grammar site at Liskey Rd. This led to a combined bid from the club, Derry and Strabane District Council and Clanmil Housing Association for the site, which will hopefully bear fruit in late 2024.
September - to honour Strabane's Centenary, the senior Ulster Mens Rugby Squad held an open training session at Melvin Sports Centre. Plenty of club players came along to see their heroes and get a memorable selfie.
Novemeber - Nearly 300 peple attended our 100 Year Gala at the Silver Birch Hotel in Omagh. We were joined by Rory Best, Jim Neely and Budge Pountney for the highlight of the social calander. Not one could believe how well the event went, and another £10,000 was raised on the night with a memorable auction being a highlight.
New Years Day 2024 - The inaugural Cricky Hamilton Memorial Shield was played between the married and single club members. Never was a larger crowd witnessed in Strabane for a game of rugby, and another £7500 was raised by the excellent efforts of the Hamilton family.
2023 has set the bar very high for what this club can accomplish, but with the continued efforts of our club stalwarts and the fresh ideas of new members, the next 100 years promises a huge development for our beloved club.