This season sees an important anniversary for Holt Rugby. 50 years ago, in 1968, they opened their new ground at Bridge Road with a fixture against a representative team from Eastern Counties Rugby. On October 14th, 50 years to the day, Holt will celebrate with a match also against Eastern Counties. Kick-off will be 15.00 and it will be preceded by three youth matches starting at 11.00 and a celebratory lunch. On the touchline will be five members of the Holt team that appeared in the 1968 fixture. Amongst them will be local farmers: Mark Harrison, of Stiffkey and Alan Cargill, who lives near North Walsham. Both offered their thoughts on the early years of Holt RFC, the 1968 game, and the changing nature of rugby.
On his return from Agricultural College Mark played at West Norfolk for two seasons before becoming one of the founding members of Holt in 1961. He played in the first ever club fixture and was a regular member of the First XV for the following seven seasons. He could play in the back row or at centre three-quarter and was known for his determined tackling. At one stage he was picked for the Norfolk County side, one of six county players who featured in the Holt side in the 1968 fixture.
The 1968 Holt Eastern Counties game was a close contest which the visitors, eventually won by 25 points to 19. The report of the game states that Holt, who were trailing, “came back strongly when Mark Harrison made a long break” leading to a try by his fellow farmer Neil van Poortvliet. Mark remembers how he was thrilled to make the break. “The ground was dry and there was some sparkling rugby played; Holt did well and we all enjoyed the game.”
Alan Cargill is also a Norfolk man born and bred. He learned his rugby at Gresham’s School where he was a regular for the first XV before going on to agricultural college. He then concentrated on hockey becoming a county player. However the challenge of running a large family farm conflicted with the commitment to training at this level. Some of his old friends persuaded him to join the newly established Holt Rugby club and he played for them for the next eight seasons. He could turn out at centre three-quarter or scrum-half and was recognised for his speed in loose play and his crash tackling. Given his natural sporting talent, he was also picked for Eastern Counties and played with several English established internationals in the fixture that marked the opening of the Norwich clubhouse.
Alongside Alan and Mark in the 1968 Holt-Eastern Counties fixture was Bob Steven (pictured above), a former Scottish international prop-forward who had become a local farm manager. Alan Cargill recalls an attempted tackle of Bob in the first training session that the Scot attended at Holt: “I was dumped flat on my back in considerable pain and thereafter made sure that I was always on the same side as him, never against him”. The pair became firm friends and met regularly until Bob Steven’s death some four years ago.
Both Mark and Alan are positive about the changing nature of the game.

Reflecting on 50 years of rugby, Mark says that he sees “no dramatic changes in the game, though of course some rules have changed”. He admits however that today’s generation of players work harder at their game. Not only were team coaches unknown in the 1960s, but: “we didn’t bother to train much except for the odd bit at Gresham’s gym”. As an active Holt member and regular spectator at Bridge Road, Mark says most importantly Holt RFC is, above all, a happy club. Mark hopes that the players who will turn out this October “enjoy it as much as we did”.
Alan believes that club rugby is in a good state and, in many respects, the game has improved: “there is more athleticism and much better team organisation”. However he also feels that there may be a downside, with individual skills and self-expression under-valued. He is a most knowledgeable spectator and his appetite for the game is undiminished; together with Mark he is greatly looking forward to watching the October celebration fixture.
This article is drawn from features appearing in the Holt Chronicle and in Just Holt.