Billingham prides itself on being one of the top family rugby clubs in then north of England, and it has made remarkable progress both on and off the field over the past two decades.
Director of rugby Peter Evans has been a part of the club from the age of five and, 28 years after first joining, he master minded the club's historic promotion last season to National Two North.
Evans now faces the challenge of preparing his squad for a higher level with limited financial resources, and has promoted players from the club's outstanding youth section and recruited from lower levels.
“Last season's league restructuring offered us a golden opportunity,” Evans told The Rugby Paper. “The absence of a big-name club in our league paved the way for our successful campaign and now we're with the big boys.
“We operate purely as an amateur side, with no payments or expenses. Our recruitment hinges largely on our youth section and players who join from levels below, seeking to test themselves at a higher calibre. Their addition has brought depth and competition to our squad.”
After a strong start to the season, Billingham suffered four consecutive losses and sat 12th in the table heading into this weekend.
However, Evans remains optimistic, emphasising the team's competitiveness despite grappling with injuries.
He said: “We started very well, with four wins against strong opponents. However, injuries hit us hard, with 13 players sidelined against Preston.
“We've managed to stay within touching distance in matches, primarily due to our solid defence, which is ranked fourth in terms of conceding points.
“We're treating each game as a lear ning situation and we're stepping up and holding our own against some very good players and teams.”
Evans says his message to his side is to work hard and take each game as it comes, and he is not setting any targets for the campaign.
He said: “We're taking things week by week. We spoke about together ness at the start of the season and being the hardest-working team every Saturday, regardless of who we play.
“We had a positive start and didn't get carried away, and now we're not going the opposite way. We'll set targets later in the season.”
Evans has witnessed first hand the club's transfor mation over the past two decades and emphasises the club's thriving senior and junior sections, and improved infrastructure.
He said: “Last season, our second team won their league and reached a cup final, showcasing the club's strength and depth. We have junior teams from U6 through to U18, and several girls' teams, and we want to develop talent and grow organically.
“Our motto is to be the best professional amateur team in the country. Our facilities have had a huge extension and the players who join tend to be the right type of players, coming for love of the club and the game.”
Evans reiterated the club's strong identity as a working-class community club in Teesside.
He said: “Our players work in local industry, emergency services, shift workers and offshore employees.
“The club showed incredible resilience through challenging times during the 1980s and 90s, we revived the club with a lottery grant, rebuilt it from scratch and the results are clear today.”
