Harrogate Pythons RUFC held its 12th Annual Dinner once again at The Old Swan Hotel with guest speaker Joe Marler. Over 350 guests were spell bound by a superb Q&A session with now regular host John Inverdale asking a wide range of questions about Joe’s views of the game. Celebrity Traitors was a popular theme but most attention was given to Joe’s answers on the new R360 ‘rebel league’, England’s coaches, player welfare and Joe’s future playing plans.
Organiser and Chairman Julian Tatlow commented, “I spoke with John after the event and he was aghast at Joe’s openness and honesty describing the event as the ‘new high bar’ in rugby club dinners.” Julian added, ”We held two Q&A sessions, one hosted by John and an open mic at the close of the event. It was as if Joe was talking with everyone in the room – what a great guy”.
The event had 5 main sponsors – regulars Don Elec, Dave Wheat; Sand Communications, Simon Rodham; Harrogate Architecture, Rob Thickett; Oracle Finance, Peter Brook and new sponsors PDS Group, Andy Taylor.
Bruce Blackburn, BEOBACHT, sponsored the regular photographer Simon Godsave and James Haddleton, Haddleton Law presented each table with a bottle of port.
“Our event is so well attended by the same guests. It’s great to see so many regular faces and quite a few new ones this year. It’s our main fund raiser and although we’re waiting for all the auction bids to be confirmed it looks like we’ll be around the £12k mark. The generosity of our sponsors and guests never ceases to amaze me – I can’t thank them enough”, he concluded.
Our 2025 Dinner Sponsors:
