But Southport Rugby Football Club has more reason than most to get out the blue white and red glad rags and have a right old knees up in saluting Her Majesty as we have cause to celebrate a triple, triple crown.

2012 is not only the year of the Queens Diamond Jubilee, the London Olympics, and the clubs 140th birthday. It is also 125 years since the club changed its original colours, 100 years since it changed its name and 85 years since it moved ground.

- The original colours? Only the same as the Union Jack. Blue white and red!

- The previous name? Would you believe in the year the Games are in this country it was Southport Olympic RFC!

- The previous ground? Victoria Park, named after the present Queens iconic ancestor, and the only other monarch to have celebrated a Diamond Jubilee!

Victoria was the reigning monarch when the club was formed in 1872, thirty five years into her tenancy which lasted until 1901. She was succeeded by Edward VII (1901-10), George V (1910-1936), Edward VIII (1936), George VI (1936-52), and now Elizabeth II (1952 – present).

She celebrated the first Diamond Jubilee in 1897. The club was then a quarter of a century old, but it had little if anything to celebrate. Southport Olympic had not played any rugby for six years as the storm over broken time payments had shaken the game in Lancashire and Yorkshire to its foundations. The club's fixture list was decimated as many clubs it had regularly played since it was formed resigned from the Rugby Union, and joined the Northern Rugby Football Union later to become the Rugby Football League*

It was not until 1906 that Olympic once again established regular fixtures, having re-structured and merged with another local club Birkdale RFC at Victoria Park.

Five monarchs further on sees the club in far more majestic circumstances, on occasion sending us victorious, but more often than not happy and glorious with a few more royal pretensions throne in for good measure…

• For many years the club regularly held its “Annual Rugger Ball” at the Birkdale Palace Hotel. It was renowned for being ‘the talk of the town’
• This year the ‘White Tie & Diamonds’ ball on Saturday 30th June is no less prestigious, appropriately enough at The Prince of Wales Hotel
• The clubs first ground was a field adjoining the Alexandra Cricket Club off Roe Lane (now covered by houses on Melling and Irton Roads - see feature on the CLUB INFO page). The cricket club was probably named after Princess Alexandra, Victorias daughter-in-law later Queen to Edward VII. Nowadays Princess Alexandra carries out royal duties on behalf of her cousin Queen Elizabeth.
• King George V Grammar School throughout its existence had a very close relationship with the club, with many Old Georgians proudly wearing the Southport jersey. This continues today with many of the Colts studying at Sixth Form College, with many of their KGV predecessors regularly seen on the touch line or in the bar on match days (again see feature on CLUB INFO page).
• Christ the King also has a close relationship with the club with many past and current players amongst its alumni including Chairman Andy Carney, and his siblings Aidan and Chris, First XV captain Gareth Lang, and stalwarts of varying age such as John Gillow, Frank Mason, Tom Peacock et al.
• Even the bar is by royal appointment. In 1937 Waterloo Road hosted the Lancashire v Cumberland County Championship clash. However, as Southport was not a licensed club at that time the magistrates granted a temporary licence to James Dolan, licensee of the Crown Hotel, from 2 to 5pm for the occasion.
• “We are the Champions” is an oft heard anthem by Queen to suit the occasion. This season the Second Team and Junior Colts both earned the accolade in winning their respective league titles, as well as the u11 and u7 in winning their Southport Rugby Festival tournaments.

All of which gives a great excuse for us all to don the old club colours to celebrate this Diamond Jubilee with a unique Southport RFC flavour with members, families and friends on Saturday 2nd June at the 'Party On the Pitch' from 11am to 5pm.

There will be a BBQ, Music and a DJ, sweets stall, bouncy castle, ice - creams and of course, the bar will be open all afternoon as well as fun events and games for children (both young and old).

Please bring your own street and picnic furniture, and your own food and soft drinks. However you will be able to buy food from the BBQ and the club kindly requests that any alcohol is purchased from the bar.

For further details please contact Gina Whitfield (0780 9459759)

Lets turn Waterloo Road into Royal Hillside for the afternoon in the hope that it wont long rain over us.

*Here's a little bit more of the circumstances affecting the game in the years leading up to the last Diamond Jubilee.

On 27 August 1895, as a result of an emergency meeting in Manchester, prominent Lancashire clubs Broughton Rangers, Leigh, Oldham, Rochdale Hornets, St Helens, Tyldesley, Warrington, Widnes and Wigan declared that they would support their Yorkshire colleagues in their proposal to form a Northern Union. Southport regularly played many of these clubs.

Two days later, on 29 August 1895, representatives of 21 clubs met in the George Hotel, Huddersfield (pictured below in the 1890s) to form the Northern Rugby Football Union, commonly referred to as the Northern Union. Twenty clubs agreed to resign from the Rugby Football Union, but Dewsbury felt unable to comply with the decision. The Cheshire club, Stockport, had telegraphed the meeting requesting admission to the new organisation and was duly accepted with a second Cheshire club, Runcorn, admitted at the next meeting.

The 22 clubs and their years of foundation were: Batley FC 1880, Bradford FC 1863, Brighouse Rovers FC 1878, Broughton Rangers FC 1877, Halifax FC 1873, Huddersfield FC 1864, Hull 1865, Hunslet FC 1883, Leeds FC 1864, Leigh FC 1878, Liversedge FC 1877, Manningham F.C. 1876, Oldham FC 1876, Rochdale Hornets FC 1871, Runcorn 1895, Stockport 1895, St Helens FC 1873, Tyldesley FC 1879, Wakefield Trinity FC 1873, Warrington FC 1876, Widnes FC 1875, Wigan FC 1872.

The Northern Union changed its name in 1922 to the Northern Rugby Football League, mirroring its sister organisations overseas, the Australian Rugby Football League and New Zealand Rugby Football League. Northern was dropped at the beginning of the 1980s followed by the evolution of Super League in 1996.

Had Southport Olympic also taken the Kings Shilling would history now see us today playing Wigan Warriors (originally Wigan FC) and St Helens in Super League? Shane Cook v Shaun Wane v Sean Long, now there's a thought; three's a crowd if ever there was!