News

Bedford Blues and Saracens will once again be working together next season as it was confirmed that five talented youngsters will be heading to Goldington Road for the 2015/16 Greene King IPA Championship season.

The likes of Owen Farrell, George Kruis, Jackson Wray, James Short, Ben Ransom and Will Fraser all gained valuable experience with the Blues before going on to make a huge impact with Saracens and the same is hoped for the current crop who will be heading up the M1 from Allianz Park.

The NSPCC has teamed up with the Bedford Blues, who are supporting the charity’s latest campaign – The Really Big Board Game Day, and are appealing to people across Bedford to stage an event and help make the day a regular in the social calendar.

If you’re a Monopoly fanatic, an Operation obsessive or a Buckaroo evangelist, then why not get a few friends, neighbours or colleagues together to play your favourite board games on Friday 15 May, and you can help to protect childhoods from abuse and neglect.

Goldington Road was treated to a try-fest on Friday night as Bedford Blues players of past and present came together to celebrate James Pritchard’s Testimonial Season.

Skippy’s Year is drawing to a close, but the best was saved for last as the Blues legend invited past teammates, and a few other friends, to go head-to-head with the current crop as a Bedford Select XV took on Skippy’s Invitational under the Friday Night Lights.

Ahead of kick-off, the thousand strong crowd were treated to some exceptional rugby displays from around 150 Junior Blues who had the chance to compete on the Goldington Road turf before the main event.

The Bedford Blues Academy Player Awards were presented by Bedford Blues President, Gareth Davies, at the Academy End of Season dinner at Goldington Road.

The Most Improved Player award was won by full back Jack Stapley.

The Young Player of the Year award was won by centre Aaron Martin.

The Player of the Year award was won by scrum half, Chris Easton.

Bedford Blues are pleased to announce details of the revamped 2014/15 End of Season Gala Dinner at Goldington Road. There is limited availability for this much anticipated event with the Blues players and coaches as we mark the end of another Championship season with a special night of entertainment.

Open to both male and female, this year’s black tie gala dinner is on Friday 15th May and promises a fantastic evening for all in attendance with a superb four course dinner and awards presentation, as well as AV displays with match highlights and videos from throughout the season.

Chris Easton, the Blues Academy captain, has been selected to be one of 30 players to attend a training session with Graham Rowntree (England Forwards Coach) and Mike Catt (England Attacking Skills Coach), at Twickenham next week.

The day includes a welcome briefing at Twickenham Stadium, home of England Rugby, before the training session, followed by a Q&A session with Graham Rowntree and Mike Catt in the England team changing room at Twickenham.

The Blues Academy ended their season by winning the inaugural Bedford Blues Under 19 10-a-side tournament at Goldington Road.

The competition was designed to showcase the player development work being carried out by a number of Championship clubs as well as giving the players a competitive focus to end the season.

With eight sides participating in two pools of four, there was non-stop rugby all day. 

Sadly, a fantastic Goldington Road crowd of 2517 just wasn’t enough to guide Bedford Blues to victory as Mike Rayer’s men suffered a disappointing end to their 2014/15 Championship season, losing out 17-26 to fifth placed Nottingham on Saturday.

There were signs of an early breakthrough for the Blues when Jake Sharp dummied a kick to create a gap that he duly ran through, gaining valuable yards towards the Nottingham try line but Bedford failed to capitalise.

However it wasn’t long before the hosts got the first points of the game as the Blues were awarded a penalty in the 7th minute and Sharp made no mistake to give his side a 3-0 lead.

James Pritchard’s testimonial year continues with a celebratory match at Goldington Road as a Bedford Blues select XV prepare to face Skippy’s Invitational XV on Friday 8th May in a special event to honour his commitment to the club.

Tickets and entrance for Pritchard’s Testimonial Match are only available on the gate come match day with adults entry priced at just a £10 donation and Under 16s going free. Gates open at 6pm allowing supporters plenty of time to make their way to the bars around the ground and sample the entertainment before the match kicks off at 7:30pm.