Riverball! A Rugby Fairy Tale by Simon Ravens

Published by Vision Sports in hardback at £16.99.

Reviewed by Mike Sansbury, Assistant Manager, The Grove Bookshop

SPORT books come in many forms, from ghosted superstar biographies to celebrations of famous victories, but every now and then one appears on the market with a little extra to offer. Anyone noticing that this author’s previous offering was a history of the countertenor (The Supernatural Voice) might already be expecting rather more than the diary of a rugby season, and in this they would not be disappointed. Rugby Union plays a large part in the book, but there is room for social history, humour and an examination of community in its many forms. Add endorsements from BBC commentator John Inverdale and the great England Grand Slam-winning captain Bill Beaumont and we clearly have something special on our hands.

Ostensibly this is the story of how Simon Ravens and his wife, Caroline, began following the sporting fortunes of Wharfedale RUFC, and how their growing involvement in the club led to Simon’s decision to write an account of a full season as the team battled to stay in the lofty surroundings of National League One. The intention was always to look beyond this, however, and thus we learn fascinating nuggets from the club’s history, meet the various characters without whom no organisation would ever succeed and, at the same time, find ourselves taking a scenic tour of the country as represented in the third tier of English rugby.

There is much gallows humour, since the pessimism of the British sports fan knows no bounds, and there is gentle self-deprecation – the team’s home ground is repeatedly referred to as the “Theatre of Bleats.” We discover that Kenneth Crosbie, the original founder of the club, was erroneously reported as being killed in action during the First World War, and as the club’s history unfolds it becomes clear that the Wharfedale farming families who formed those early XVs are still very much part of the current set-up. This is just one of the ways in which the idea of “community” forms a central part of the book. Many of us have some sort of communal activity which gives us a focus; it could be amateur dramatics, historical re-enactment or sport; when that focus is centred on a small village whose club plays a role on a national stage, the family ties must feel that much stronger. Beyond the club, however, is the wider local community, based on shared farming heritage, although even further afield is the camaraderie of rugby itself; the author feels that Wharfedale has a strong affinity with several other clubs with a similar approach to the game, so that this feeling of community works on many levels. Perhaps the best proof of this is in the chapter which relates a visit to the 25,000 seat stadium where Darlington Mowden Park play their home games. The author agrees that the ground provides excellent facilities for “spectating, and that’s not really what we come for.” The real reason for travelling up and down the country is to play a part in the greater team. This is why the “fairy tale ending,” which I won’t reveal here, means so much to everyone who plays a part in the club, the community and the whole book. That’s not the end of the story, of course, and this season the tale will be played out once more.