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Our Rocks History
1925-Present
Rockland United Football Club was formed in 1925, and we have encountered great generations and success as a football club.
Rockland Utd Football Club was formed in 1925, and we have encountered great generations and success as a football club.
The club have had an overwhelming set of committed and passionate supporters ranging from committee members, a web-master, secretary, players, sponsors and many other valuable associates. Our current committee is always hard at work making sure we have our best season yet and always striving to be an attractive club which we’ve achieved over recent years with a decent reputation.
Through the 1990s our late, great ‘Rocklander’ ‘Stan’ Fisher and legendary Rockland striker ‘Boog’ Shurey had a close connection and had dedicated themselves to the club with the vision to keep Rockland on the map for years to come.
In more recent years we had Alan Humphrey appointed as chairman and what a brilliant position he has put the club in; with outstanding efforts to allow Rockland FC to be financially comfortable, he has also worked on pitch improvements initiating building on an RUFC stand and placing advertisements pitch rails that look superb. Alan, for years, has provided Rockland with immense future prospects and we never stop thanking him.
Recent achievements include our 1st team proudly reaching the final of the Fen Regis Shield in 2011 held at Aldiss Park, Dereham and again in April 2016 facing Marham Wanderers. Our reserves also earned a cup final in the Dick Davey Ambulance Cup in April 2016 at Aldiss Park. In the 2015/2016 season, both our men’s teams reached separate cup finals and league promotions; our 1st team finished fourth in division 2, after staying in the top two for the majority of the season, and our reserves narrowly missed out on the division four championship however they were set for promotion and managed to seal third place which was fantastic. All of this was under the wing of a fantastic committee and Sam Mouser as chairman at the time who excelled in the role as much as Alan Humphrey did also.
New pitch improvements include a brand new man-made seated stand located on the side of the main pitch facing the clubhouse and was opened officially gratefully by the Secretary of the Central and South Norfolk League, John Turner, who was honoured to ‘open’ our structure minutes before the Rockland Utd versus Rockland Legends match played in April 2014. Another pitch improvement includes pitch-side advertisement board rails and boards displaying our generous sponsors of the club and their businesses.
Over the years Rockland Utd has always attracted a wide range of talent from youthful to experienced players over the years; with the advantage of a great attendance of players participating in training to compete throughout the season on a weekly basis competing for places for the Saturday matches.
For the beginning of the 2016/2017 season, Rockland submitted a request to the league to enter an under 19s Rockland team. This encouraged our talented youth to build as players and prolong their stay at Rockland United Football Club as well as provide future prospects for the club!
1st team 2002/2003
1st team 2002/2003 - Ambulance Cup Winners Against Longham Utd
1st team 2006/2007 - Pease League Cup Runners' Up - Narrow 2-1 Loss AET to Mattishall 'A' F.C.
1st team 2010/2011
Fen Regis 2011 Cup final at Aldiss Park, Dereham. Narrow 2-1 loss for Rocks
Reserves team 2010/2011
1st team 2011/2012
Reserves team 2011/2012
1st team 2012/2013
Reserves team 2012/2013
1st team 2013/2014
Reserves team 2013/2014
1st team 2014/2015
Reserves team 2014/2015
Reserves team 2014/2015 (Second Half Of Season)
1st team 2015/2016
Woodbridge & Engineering Cup final 2016 at Aldiss Park. Narrow 3-2 loss for Rocks
1st team 2015/2016 (Then New Chillax Driving School Away Kit Sponsor)
Reserves team 2015/2016
The 2016/2017 season was a terrific season encountered for the club. Our 1st team finished 6th under new manager C. Nurse and look to be bonding extremely well looking to push for a higher position in the 2017/2018 season.
Reserves did excellently and earned promotion to division 2 finishing runners-up in division 3. The Reserves also reached the Pease League Cup final held at Aldiss Park making that two consecutive finals in two seasons however a late single goal prevented cup success for Boog’s men.
Our Under 19s couldn’t have had a more brilliant first season by making history reaching the Norfolk Sunday Junior Cup final held at the “Field of Dreams” at the FDC proving their doubters wrong. Unfortunately the lads were defeated however everyone involved won’t forget that experience and cup run in a hurry.
In the 2017/2018 campaign our 1st team will be remaining in division 1 and our Reserves will be in division 2 in the Barnes Print Central and South Norfolk league.
Under 19s team 2016/2017
Norfolk Sunday Junior Cup final 2017 at FDC's 'Field Of Dreams'. 4-1 defeat for Rocks against dominant adult side Drayton Dazzlers
The 2017/2018 season had its up and downs throughout. With C. Nurse’s 1st team finishing a well deserved 4th placed and being the only team that season to spoil Longham Football Clubs 100% streak with a last day of the season 3-3 draw (1st team were 3-1 up until the last 4 minutes.. agonising!).
Our Reserves were a struggle from the start of the season. After an untimely and abrupt resignation of Reserves manager with days before the start of the campaign we were forever trying to catch up throughout the season with only 9 committed players. After a number of matches called off and several managers at the helm (Richard ‘Titch’ Smith, Harry Cottenden, Sam Mouser, Tomo Clark) we were forced to eventually fold our Reserves side in February 2018; mainly due to being unable to field a full squad for the upcoming postponed fixtures as well as saving club finances to prevent paying further match cancellation fines. On a positive note, our Reserves side were to definitely return for the 2018/2019 season with a full summer of preparations and will play in division 4 of the CSN league.
Rockland Utd 1st team 2017-2018
New management was introduced and rotated for the 2018/2019 season with the introduction of Steve Dennis as the new 1st team manager and Chris Nurse remaining at the club but as Reserves team manager.
A below par season for 1st team who had an inconsistent team for the majority of the campaign until the last month or so where results started to arrive and team bond would immensely build. However after a number of unlucky match losses and draws and team folding around Rocks, Rockland Utd finished bottom of division 1. Luckily 1st team will remain in division 1 for the 2019/2020 season.
A very good 2018/2019 season for Reserves who finish 3rd in division 4 and had progressed to two semi-finals (Shoe Trades Cup and Ambulance Cup). Rocks Reserves also managed to beat then-unbeaten Sprowston Athletic Res. in the league in April 2019 and stay hot on Hempnall Res.’s tails for runners-up spot; however due to Hempnall Res. winning their remaining match in the league our Reserves can only go as high as third.
Since September 2018, we have started early planning on a Rockland Ladies side; this is a first in history for Rockland Utd. Training has been since September held at Watton Sports Centre astro turf with good numbers and great quality in the ranks. We are looking ahead to the 2019/2020 season for the ladies and will be applying the side in a 7-a-side league. Kayleigh Capps has been confirmed as manager and Adrian Ward as coach.
Rockland Utd 1st team 2018-2019
Rockland Utd 1st team 2018-2019 (Another Taken With KD Roofing Who Kindly Sponsored a New Kit That Season)
Rockland Utd Reserves team 2018-2019
For the 2019-2020 season, we have proudly been accepted to become an FA Standard Charter Club which is terrific for the club and everyone involved. Our Rockland Utd Ladies side have been accepted to enter the Norwich Women’s and Girls Football League at the Annual General Meeting and the Ladies’ 7-a-side season will begin in September.
1st team and Reserves sides for men’s returned for the 2019/2020 season.
Rockland Utd Ladies team 2019-2020
During the 2019-2020 season, our men’s 1st team had mixed results throughout the season with a change of management also. Results looked to be picking up until March. Our Reserves were flying in their season with a 100% record until mid season and were top of division 3 throughout and 1 point away from securing the league title. Unfortuantely, due to COVID-19, the season was ended in March and several meetings took place by the Football Assiociation and our CSN League to determine how to finish the season; the conclusion was to make the season(s) void. We were beyond devastated and irritated but due to the COVID-19 situation there were important things to worry about than football. This meant our Reserves didn’t win the league for the first time in over 30 years for Rockland Utd and they didn’t get to secure a possible 2 further finals as well as take part in their scheduled cup final. We must make note that our Reserves manager for the 2019-2020 season did a stellar job with his players throughout the season and were winners in our club’s eyes! What a terrific season [that “never” happened]
Our Ladies had a terrific first season in competitive football and throughout the season our abilities, togetherness and bond grew and grew with the massive help of coach A. Ward and manager K. Capps. We had a great squad in the 2019-2020 season until the COVID-19 pandemic and we even had a decent cup run until the semi-final! Majority of our Ladies have already signed on for the new 2020-2021 season with further quality added to booster the squad and we are immensely looking forward to the 2020-2021 campaign and what is in-store for our Ladies and management team!
We were sad to hear and announce that our beloved and long-serving treasurer and friend Alan Fisher had decided to step-down from club treasurer duty after over 10 years in the role after the 2019-2020 season and we couldn’t thank the great man any more! He wasn’t just a treasurer, he was a bar man, friend, mentor, kind & happy man and RUFC’s biggest fan. We really hope to see Alan in the near future on the other of the clubhouse bar for once as well as watching our matches! Thank you immensely Alan.
Alan Fisher after being presented with clubman of the year 2019-2020 trophy and a personalised thank you RUFC jacket from all involved in the RUFC committee at our presentation evening in August 2020. Alan will now be an honorary committee member for Rocks
For the 2020-2021 season after restrictions lifted for COVID-19, we were excited to announce we have the return of our Veterans side with R. Smith taking the management role. We have had multiple interest in this for over a year and with the announcement we have had a variety of past players return to Rocks and buzzing for the new season. Our Veterans side was last in competitive action over 8 years ago. This means for the 2020-2021 season we are making RUFC history by having 4 affiliated Rockland Utd teams: Men’s 1st team, Men’s Reserves team, Men’s Veterans team and Ladies team. #OneClub
2020-2021 management confirmed:
1st team – Michael ‘Womble’ Hawker
Reserves team – Aaron ‘Strider’ Whiting
Veterans team – Richard ‘Titch’ Smith
Ladies team – Kayleigh ‘Kayles’ Capps
On August 31st 2020, our committee proudly announced we have a new club crest designed and rolling out commencing in immediate effect. The story and design behind it: This has been in the works for a while with various drafts designed last season and then within the past month or so and we felt it was the right time to modernise our crest sand proceed with re-branding; at a time also where we’re celebrating 95 years of this fantastic club.
The inclusion of a ‘Rook’ bird [crow] historically goes back to when Rocklands village took its name from the Rook [Rooklands]; our friends at Rockland Cricket Club and our Rocklands Primary School also have the inclusion of this on their crests/logos. We’ve kept the traditional club colours of red and black with the introduction of gold to allow the Rook and football icon to stand out, with transparency also for a more eye-catching effect.
Lastly, we’ve included the past RUFC diagonal letters at the top to remember what the logo was and included our nickname at the bottom of the crest in quotation marks.
We have undergone the re-branding on our website, social media pages, documentation etc and the crest should roll out on all platforms within the coming days. The old logo will eventually die out on our remaining kits and merchandise but we may have these re-embroidered/printed.
Design and copyright of the new RUFC club crest by/to Tom(o) Clark of TCQC
2020-2021 season was one to forget for all involved in football. We were all keen to have an uniterrupted season however with the pandemic, it was stop-start for the majority of the season and eventually the season for all teams affected were null and void.
It was a 2021-2022 season to forget for our 1st team and Reserves with up and down results for 1sts ending in relegation by 1 point, and a new look Ressies that never got going with only one win.
Which is why we will swiftly move on to our Vets and Ladies who had a sublime season! Our Vets (with their amazing togetherness and talent) produced some high quality results and drank the opposition’s bars dry. We remained top of the league until the last day in which it was a contest between two other teams in the final match for the title. Unfortunately we narrow lost which meant we finished 3rd unluckily, but we can’t take anything away from a superb team and roll on next season!
Rockland Utd Veterans 2021/2022
Our Ladies also were flying this season, finishing narrowly fourth but producing some great results and three of our Ladies were in the top 4 of the league scoring charts! As well as the Vets, our Ladies also had amazing chemistry and togetherness and we can’t wait to see them go higher and better next season! We definitely have 11 a side in our sights and progression too, however that thing called COVID has put a spanner in the works but it’s the pipeline.
We had a fantastic annual presentation evening at Broom Hall Country Club in Saham with many sore heads but a top night!
Rockland Utd Ladies 2021/2022
Throwing shapes at Broom Hall, Saham
Rocks Presentation Evening 2021/2022
We are looking forward to a great 2022-2023 campaign with our 1st team, Reserves side, Veterans team and Ladies sides with a fantastic committee and volunteers involved. We have exciting fundraisers and other news to share during the 2022-2023 campaign: Up the Rocks
Rocks 1st team 2022/2023
Another up and down season for our Saturday sides in the 2022/2023 sides staying put in tough divisions 1 and 2 of the Central South Norfolk League. Some moments of decent results and performances however both teams were relegated and will be in divisions below for the 2023/2024 season – a positive out of this is we are in need of a fresh start with new management and players coming in, which we are looking forward to with new additions already in place! So here’s to a better season in 2023/2024.
Rocks Ladies NWFGL Runners-up Medal 2022-2023
Our Ladies had a top 2022/2023 season! After a slow first half of the season, the Ladies gathered brilliant momentum and gelled greatly as a team producing some top performances, clean sheets and winning games to eventually finish runners-up in the league! A fantastic achievement and thoroughly deserved by Kayles and the Ladies. We’re very much looking forward to the 2023/2024 season and try and clinch top spot!
Rocks Vets showing off their new away Spartek kit (same for 1st team, Reserves and Ladies - thank you immensely as always Spartek!) - 2022
A challenging league 1 for Vets this year after promotion, we finished 3rd after a decent season but a few games should have gone our way. But huge positives going into the 2023/2024 season with an immensely talented and great bunch of players in our possession. We’re very much looking forward to seeing what 2023/2024 brings for our brill Vets! Thanks to them all and Jim and Jack for producing such a top squad.
The future looks bright for Rockland Utd F.C., motivated for more success with fantastic players, a strong committee and amazing sponsors and supporters.
We’re approaching 100 years as a club (keep an ear out for a special event for this, as of June 2023 we have started planning!) and we’re looking forward to many more memorable milestones.
