History of the Barrelhouse Rugby Football Club

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Barrelhouse was formed in the early 1970s as a club to play 15-a-side rugby at Sharjah under the floodlights midweek. The fixtures were always between The Sharjah Pensioners and Barrelhouse with simple rules whereby those playing under the age of 35 had to play out of position and there would be no kicking of the rugby ball except when in the 22. Paddy Matson refereed as did occasionally Dr. Peter Jones. Peter Guard, John Fiddler, John Croft, Tim Howard, Bob Crump, Hamish Donald, John Curry, Paul Coxon, Alan Browne, Errol Harries and Mike Hudson were among the Barrelhouse stalwarts.

During that period, Barrelhouse entered the Dubai Sevens. However, it was not until 1980 that Barrelhouse achieved its greatest success. That year, the rules of the competition were fairly simple in that the tournament was a straightforward knockout. Bahrain A team, which included Richard Duck and Richard Thompson, were the favourites to win the entire tournament and were drawn against Barrelhouse in the first round.

An early try for Bahrain resulted in a 6-0 lead to Bahrain. After half time, Rory O'Connor (Barrelhouse Youth Policy) scored a try to level the scores. With about one minute to go to Richard Duck, the fastest man in the Gulf, made a break and was cruising towards the try line when he was tackled from behind by the 41-year-old Rick Turpin. Rick retrieved the ball and promptly set off towards the Bahrain try line. He was tackled at approximately the 10 yard line in Bahrain territory and an infringement resulted in a penalty to Barrelhouse. Lee Sinclair, who had never been a goal kicker, promptly converted the penalty and Barrelhouse defeated Bahrain 9-6.

After this sterling performance, Barrelhouse were tipped to win the Benson & Hedges Khanja and played right through to the semi-final where they were finally beaten by Abu Dhabi, captained by Les Byrne. After that, Les Byrne was invited to join the Barrelhouse, which he accepted, and played for them the following year. In 1981, Barrelhouse were runners up in the Plate at the Dubai Sevens and in 1983 the team containing Neil MacLean, John Croft and Rory O'Connor won the Plate for the first time.

In 1990, with a sponsor Fosroc providing shirts for the first time, Barrelhouse containing Guy Forsyth, Taffy Jones, Chris Slate won the Bowl by defeating the Exiles 3 in the final with a try scored by Taffy Jones on full time. In 1991 a Barrelhouse team containing Peter Everard, Andy Jackson, Tim Smee and Bob Driver successfully defended the Bowl.

The Wafi Shopping Mall then became the sponsors of Barrelhouse. With their new sponsors, Wafi, Barrelhouse were runners up in the Plate in 1992. In 1993, without Andy Jackson, but with Dave Bramwell and Junior All Black Paul Tolich, who regularly required the services of Team Doctor Peter Smith, Barrelhouse were knocked out in the first round of the Khanja.

In 1994 (The Exiles Silver Jubilee Season), Barrelhouse won the Benson & Hegdes Silver Khanja. The team comprised of Peter Everhard, Tim Smee, Andy Jackson, Bob Driver, David Grenell, Jim Berry, Simon Smith, & Brian Watts. As a result of these successes Barrelhouse were invited to the Kinsale Sevens in Ireland and have sent teams to Kinsale in both 1995 & 1996. In Kinsale the tradition of naming all females Sally was started.

In 1995 the Wafi sponsored Barrelhouse again won the Bowl tournament, but the team now contained a younger generation including Dave Foster & Leo Budd, replacing the retired Tim Smee & Peter Everhard. Barrelhouse youth policy introduced former Scottish schools Sevens Captain Gary Burton from Kuwait, and when he was injured on the Friday morning, the imaginative recruitment of Ray McMillan, a "Counties Under 19" star from the HMNZ Wellington . Ray provided the pace for Barrelhouse in the Semi-final & Final.

For the World Cup Qualifying year 1996, Barrelhouse saw the final outing in the Gulf Championship for Andy Jackson & Bob Driver, before they retired to the Vets squad. The rest of the team were Jim Berry, Dave Foster, Leo Budd, David & Mark Grenell, and Simon Smith. Once again the side won the Silver Khanjar. The vets utilising the power of the Sharjah Fat Old Boys in size 48 shirts comfortably won the vets 10 a side with a sterling display of old fashioned 10 man rugby.

!997 was a lean year, but Barrelhouse returned in 1998 with a new youth policy introducing Simon Fowler, Mark Griffiths, Greg "Kiwi" Dawson, John "Le Fish" Gilbert, Andy "Laurel" Stanley, Charlie "The Harlequin" Wright and they strolled to the Gulf Plate title. The vets ably led by the evergreen Taffy collected the vets title, Jane Drake played her first match for the vets when the wimp let her on for the last 10 seconds.

In 1999, a redesigned pink strip was unleashed together with the pink "Tilly Hats" and bow ties for the Gentlemans dinner. The vets tried to field two sides and were completely knackered as some players played for both teams. This trial will not be repeated lightly. In the Gulf Championship Neil Haack a rugby league man joined the squad as did Steve Newton and Emil Seyfferdt. A sterling effort by all resulted in the side reaching the semi-final of the championship before being beaten by the eventual winners Dubai Exiles.

During the 99-2000 season, Barrelhouse decided to enter additional tournaments participating in the Al Ain Sevens, and winning the Bowl at the Abu Dhabi Fun Sevens. Xchair Jackson reintroduced touring and entered the Amsterdam Sevens, but were unsuccessful in obtaining silverware.

November 2000 saw Barrelhouse introduce a youth policy, a squad containing Captain Julian Pritchard, Simon Fowler, Neil Haack, Lance White, Greg Dawson, England's Under 17 flier Liam Frost, Munster schools U19 scrum half Shane Stapleton, Ben Pegna, Huw Jenkins and Emil Seyfferdt won the Dubai Sevens for the first time. Barrelhouse's squad was truly international with a South African, an Australian, an Irishman, two Kiwis, three Welshmen and two Englishmen. A hard match in the semi final against the Hurricanes left the way open for an easier match against Cairo in the final. This team has set the standards for sevens rugby in the Gulf for many years to come. This success resulted in an expansion of rugby for barrelhouse throughout the season with fixtures against the Exiles, The Royal Navy and mix up games against local Dubai players. The end of season tour to Phuket resulted in yet more silverware with Barrelhouse coming second in the Phuket 10's.

A Barrelhouse tradition has been bar diving, whether in the Club, around town or, in the case of Tim Smee, off the Exiles Clubhouse roof. The Barrelhouse's philosophy is to promote veteran rugby in the Gulf and all the members have played rugby either primarily for the Exiles or for another of the Gulf Clubs. We look forward to entertaining the crowd and seeing all our former players at each year's Dubai Sevens.