History

Although WWII approached in 1939 the club continued with fresh enthusiam as a result of their new facilities. However it was not long before the drain on members through their going on active service prevented the club from even fielding a first team after the 1941 season. It was then decided to form an arrangement wereby Hamiltons combined with Villagers, and teams were entered under the name of Villagers-Hamiltons, the colours being the Hamiltons jersey, with the Villagers shorts and socks. The arrangement proceed well, although Villagers were not able to contribute many players. With the end of the war in 1945, it was recommended that the clubs once again field their own teams.

After exhaustive efforts, planning and fundraising the old house that was situated on Brookside, formerly occupied by Mr. Piet van Schaik, secretary of the Union, would be altered at the expense of Villagers. The terms included that Villagers would be responsible for the maintanence of all buildings on the grounds, whilst the Union would be responsible for the maintanence of the fields and would provide an additional member of staff. Permission was also granted for three fields to be laid out North-South with a large expanse of land on the west side.

Villagers continued to claim the coveted prizes such as the Grand Challenge however the competition had clearly become better especially with the rise of the Paarl and Varsity teams. During this period however Villager won the Grand Challenge in 1953, 1958 and 1973. The Club also won the Town Challenge in 1968, 1972 and 1975.

PICTURED: Tommy Gentles receives the Grand Challenge Cup in 1958

‘Uncle Geoff’ stepped down as President of the Villager Football Club after 21 years at the helm. Geoff was a real example of a true Villager man. As a club we are indeed proud of his record as a Springbok and Western Province player and later selector. He brought great honour to the club and was awarded Life Membership at WPRFU. This rare and coveted award one seldom, if ever achieved, by a Villager man. A testament to Geoff's character was seen after his passing when the Villager flag flew at half-mast in his honour at Newlands rugby ground as the Springboks took the field for the first test.

After the death of Villager personality, W.F.R Shreiner, a Memorial Fund of the same name was instituted for the express purpose of constructing new clubhouse facilities for the Club and the demolition of the existing clubhouse. After an extensive period of planning and fundraising, Villagers received the go-ahead from the Union. The new facilities would consist of changing rooms, a secretary room, which became known as the Bromley Wing, as well as a hall which was to be named the Bill Schreiner Hall. The construction work was handed to Slingsby and de Jager at a cost of R60 000. Construction was completed in 1971 and opened by Mr. Hannes Pretorius, President of WPRFU, on March 24.

The Villager Sevens is founded by former Springbok Flyhalf, Dave Stewart, and Springbok Captain and Centre John Gainsford. Their aim is to give schoolboys, playing their last game in their school jerseys, a stimulating outing that encourages those who are not going to university, to join rugby clubs and continue in the true spirit of rugby. The tournament still runs every year in September.

Of course the period from 1951 to 1975 can be described as the "Golden Era" of Villager Springboks with the likes of John Gainsford, Doug Hopwood, Lionel Wilson, Dave Stewart, H.O. de Villiers, Tommy Gentles and Stephen Fry. S.P. Fry 13* (1951-1953), D.J. Fry (0* (1951-1952), T.A. Gentles 6* (1955-1958), A.L. Skene 1* (1958), D.A. Stewart 11* (1960-1963), C.F. Nimb 1* (1960-1961), R.G. Johns 1* (1960-1961), P. van Zyl 1* (1961), A.F. Birdett 2* (1960), J.L. Gainsford 33* (1960-1967), D.J. Hopwood 22* (1960-1965), L.G. Wilson 27 (1960-1965), M.J. Lawless 4* (1964), A. Jansen 0* (1965), J.H. Barnard 5* (1965), J.B. Neethling 8* (1965-1970), H.O. De Villiers 14* (1967-1969), R. J. McCallum 1* (1974) KEY: * Denotes caps

In looking at ways to honour the late Villager FC President, Geoff Gray, the Club formed an association for the older members, to be known as "The Grays" and a special section of the clubhouse was allocated and called "Grays Corner". The association meets every so often for luncheons at the club and invites guest speakers from their era to reminisce. The Grays are still highly active within the club to this day.

Villagers had a direct hand in helping the ‘Boks’ themselves with Morne du Plessis as manager, Joel Stransky and Gary Pagel playing significant roles in brilliantly winning the World Cup. Other Villager members, Christian Stewart, represented Canada, Mannetjies Viljoen and Chris Shutte were appointed to the Tour Management of the Wallabies and John Gainsford acted as Convenor of the committee that organised the opening and closing ceremonies. Brookside also played host to the Wallabies as their practice base while the ‘B’ field became home to a sixty metre giant rainbow tent erected to seat over 1 000 wildly enthusiastic fans viewing Big Screen Television broadcasts.

Up to the decision to open rugby to professionalism in 1996, most clubs in the province were only dealing with reimbursing players’ expenses which was already putting all of them under severe financial pressure. With the advent of full professionalism, and with no guideance from WPRFU, clubs began paying their players in increasing amounts which still continues to this day. Although Villagers felt at the time that clubs could not afford professionalsm, and proposed a wage cap, the Club continued paying players over the next 16 years until 2013.

Pictured: The 1994 Melrose 7's touring squad. Many of these players would experience professionalism in 1996 including Joel Stransky, Christian Stewart and Anton Chiat.

The period between 1976 and 2000, although not as successful in producing Springboks as the last period, Villagers did produce outstanding personalities that included Morne du Plessis, who Captained Western Province and the Springboks, Joel Stransky and Gary Pagel who both won the Rugby World Cup in 1995 and Nick Mallet who went on to coach the Springboks to a record 17 consecutive Test wins. Villagers Sprinboks 1976 - 2000: M. du Plessis 22* (1971-1980), N. Mallet 2* (1984), K. Andrews 9* (1992-1994), J. Stransky 22* (1993-1996), G. Pagel 5* (1995-1996), C. Stewart 3* (1998). KEY: * Denotes caps

As a result of misunderstanding and poor communication it was found that the dimensions of the A field were incorrect after the new Complex was completed and were deemed unsafe to be played on due to the close proximity of the concrete walls adjoining the field. Numerous studies and meetings were held to find a solution to the problem. In 2004 it was announced by the WPRFU that the existing Villager clubhouse and squash courts would be demolished. The new clubhouse would be relocated as an extension to the middle office block between the A and B fields, where it stands today. The squash courts were to be built along the side of the C field. The official opening of the “new” main field was in March 2006.

Villagers celebrated their 125th Anniversary a year later than Hamiltons after the controversary of the clubs founding was finally put to rest by Ian Fraser, Club Secretary, who proved that the true date was 1876 and not 1875. Thus Villagers celebrated their 125th year with a match against Melrose who were touring from Scotland as well as the usual Derby against Hamiltons. The festivities culminated in various functions throughout the year to celebrate this milestone in the club’s history.

Following the golden age of club rugby in South Africa, the advent of professionalism significantly reduced the opportunities for promising players to play club rugby. However one player that did play club rugby before embarking on a remarkable Test career was Percy Montgomery. There is not enough space for his records but at the time of his retirement Percy was the first Springbok Test centurion with 102 caps and won the World Cup in 2007.

Not since the early days of "Semi-Professionalism" in the 1980's has Villager been fully amateur, however with the recent relegation to the Super League B and the vast sums of money needed to pay the clubs players, the newly elected Committee, chaired by Anton van Vlaanderen, decides to boldly return the club to full amateur status in 2013. The decision was not well received by many players, with many leaving the club, ensuring the First Team ended last in the SLB that year and are only saved a further drop after the WPRFU change the league format.

After dropping down a league for the first time in 2012 and finishing last in the B League in 2013, Villagers was in dire trouble. However with an influx of new coaches and players in 2014, Villagers once again found their winning ways and went 11 games undefeated in a row and ultimately claimed the SLB Title earning automatic promotion into the Super A in 2015.