Bishop’s Stortford to face Tonbridge Juddians, Cambridge and Shelford in pre-season friendlies

Marcus Cattell has already started talking to potential new signings and arranged three pre-season friendlies as Bishop’s Stortford plan for another season in National 1.

The head coach saw his side secure safety on the final day of the campaign thanks to a 27-22 victory at relegation rivals Cinderford, who fell through the trapdoor alongside Taunton.

Attention has now turned to next term with a home friendly against Tonbridge Juddians organised for Saturday August 17. They will also visit Cambridge and Shelford in pre-season on Saturday August 24 and Thursday August 29 respectively.

Cattell is looking forward to recharging the batteries by spending some quality time with his family before plotting how to get Stortford, who finished fourth from bottom, higher up the division in 2024-25.

And he said their first-half display at Cinderford, which saw them go 24-0 up, has set the standard they need to meet on a regular basis next season.

“It was a great day with the rugby and then the atmosphere back at the club afterwards,” said Cattell. “It’s a day we’ll talk about at the club for years to come.

“It sets the bar for where we need to be next year. We’ve got to strive to perform like we did in the first 30 minutes at Cinderford for longer and against lots of teams.

“It shows what is there so we need to unravel it and work out how we do it more often.”

Cattell expects a few players to announce their retirements, but is confident of keeping 95% of the playing squad.

Budget talks are ongoing behind the scenes as discussions are held with players he would like to bring to Silver Leys.

“The ‘one club’ philosophy is our unique selling point,” said Cattell. “We’ve got to keep striving to get better - that’s the players and also us as coaches as well.”