There is a buzz around the town like never before, you can feel it flowing along St Helens Road, through the town centre, circulating around the pubs, the Leopards Den, The Centurian, Our House Pub, The Muskateer etc. you can feel it growing, its an air of trepidation, there is a steady flow of red leopard skin shirts, black leopard skin shirts as well as the stunning snow leopard shirts all intermingling with each other, the conversation and debates flow with passion discussing everything from team selections, the owners, the shirts everything you can imagine bringing a community, a town completely together embraced with one common goal, one decisive topic, one culmination. Will the Leigh Leopards Win Tonight”
A town embraced is a loud singular voice all shouting for our local team the Leopards, wanting success to carry on not just for the team but for the town in general, lets face it sadly Leigh hasn’t had a lot to shout about, crumbling infastructure, decrepid town center, serious drug abuse and alcohol problems along with horrendous anti-social behaviour issues, but through this gloom glows a bright light shining high illuminating from the Leigh Sports Village Arena, the home of Leigh Leopards, a team who are single handedly cutting through the despair and actually giving Lethers something back, thats atractive rugby, fabulous competative spirit, but above all community belief, belief we can acheive anything if we work hard and simply try.
Early Beginning’s
The Leigh Leopards are new lets not try to hide that fact, the foundations were laid long before any of us were even thought about, Leigh RFC was founded in 1878 (146 years ago) by a surveyor named Fred Ulph. Leigh’s first practice match was on 5 October 1878 at Buck’s Farm in Pennington (probably near where I live now) and their first game was against Eccles two weeks later. iIm not going to dig through the entire history of the club as most lethers know our history, its and incredible foundation in which to build a legacy, exactly what the current leadership is doing, the club has had different names, bt one that ran for a long while was the Leigh Centurians it became synonymous with the town one many residents and fan’s found hard to relinquish. it’s never easy letting go of something you hold dear but when the announcement was made I was simply staggered by the number of tunnel vision comments from alleged fans, threats of boycotts, threats that the team is dead, utter misunderstanding of the bigger picture, Derek Beaumont the club’s owner didn’t intend to steamroller in with his new vision, without consultation without listening to opinion! He had no intention of forgetting the early foundations of Leigh RFC or Leigh Centurians what he wanted to do was secure the clubs future in the top flight, he wanted to build on the very foundations started by Fred Ulph all those years ago on a Pennington Farm.
The Dreaded Name Change?
“The end of the club” some said. “All the identity gone thats it now” said others, “what have Leopards got to do with Leigh?” “We’ve always been Centurians” “I’ll never go again thats me done” was just a snippet of the nonesense comments circulating when the decision was made to change the clubs name, I give two fabulous examples below that were submitted on Leigh Journals website following the announcement of the name change obviously under an alias of course they read as follows.
“From Wigan Fanatic dated 17th November 2022 it reads; “Yes you are crazy 12,000 Leigh Pussycats v Salford you would have to give free tickets and lobby at half time”
Followed the day after by the following comment on the same Journal story commenting back to Wigan Fanatic
“Galicia posted on 18th November the following comments “I remember a few years ago the owner of Cardiff City (the Bluebirds), also pulled a similar stunt changing the kit from Blue to Red. This didn’t go down too well with the fans, they didn’t buy the new kit, started to boycott the home matches. The next season the kit colours were reversed. Owners need to be aware of upsetting fan’s after all they are just the custodians of clubs, without the fan base nothing else would matter”
Two interesting comments from two perspectives i guess, bottom line is no matter who you support fundamentaly they are businesses, that without finances and revenue will simply collapse and disappear forever, there was a profound love for the Leigh Centurians but kit sales weren’t high, attendances weren’t great, it was a project that had exhausted its longevity, without intervention there would be no more Leigh Rugby, they are the plain and simple facts like them or not, thats the way it it is! so on the 20th October 2022, Leigh Centurians ceased and the birth of a new project began, after consultaions from the ashes of the old Centurian’s the Leigh Leopard’s brand clambered from the ashes.
Derek Beaumont a Man On A Mission
Derek Beaumont the owner of the award winning business AB Sundecks bought the club back in June 2014, having only recently met Derek in person (which I will elaborate on later) i’d heard numerous comments about him and his running of the club, most said Derek was Marmite you either love him or you cannot stand him! quite a powerful comparison really based on the fact that probably only a handful of fans actually know Derek, so to pre-judge without actually knowing facts is somewht premature, but that is how human kind works I’m afraid.
I’d spoken to people who said he was flamboyant prancing around in Lamborghini’s? So what? He’s worked hard throughout his life, he loves the brand so why shouldn’t he indulge? I would if I was in that position, there isn’t a person in the town that if they were in the same position wouldn’t indulge in a super car come on lets be real. i heard he wouldn’t engage with fans as it was his way or no way? interesting comments considering he set up fan consultation groups to discuss how the club moves forward, doesn’t sound like a man working with a Machiavellian ethos does it? so many unfactual comments from people without actually knowing what makes the man tick.
Derek Beaumont is not an unapproachable man, he will talk and engage with anybody he comes into contact with, I’ve seen this first hand and admire when somebody juggling so many different balls takes time to simply stop and engage, I’d love to see people try and talk to The Glazers at Manchester United or Sir Jim Ratcliffe, or at Manchester City Sheik Monsoor or Khaldoon Al Mubarak youv’e got no chance whatsoever, Derek is an owner with the people for the people something to be proud of.
Derek is actually a humble man who like nothing more than seeing a smile on somebody elses face, everything he does within the club is to secure its future, keep it competative, make it a commercially viable business, whilst keeping it as community focused and local as he can, I was lucky enough to enjoy the Hull KR game from the Premier Suite, fabulous atmosphere, live music, great seats to watch the game but beyond that I was astounded watching Mike Latham chairman of the Leigh Leopards welcoming people in and taking time to talk to every single person, Edwin Ipape sitting with his sponsor table then talking on stage as well as walking around chatting to people and taking pictures, after the game man of the match Ricky Leutele chatting about the game on stage with Mike Lathom then strolling around happy to pose for pictures, then the one and only Adrian Lam (manager for the Leopards) on stage chatting about the result and interacting with all present, this is not a corporate club soley focused on financials, this is a club that was given a vision by Derek Beaumont, it is like being amongst family, the players are like friends we’ve always known, Adrian Lam is like a mate you talk rugby with in a corner seat in the pub, Mike Lathom is one of the most articulate men I’ve ever had the privilege of meeting, when he talks you stop and listen and take in what he says, he lives and breathes the club it’s plain and simple.
Then there is Derek quite rightly he has his own private box where he and his family enjoy the games, but once the game has finished they all interact with everyone in the premier room, his brother Brian always ready to share a story with you, with his lovely wife Kirsty, Derek’s wife Laura stopping to talk to literally everyboy, and the rest of Dereks family mingling within the crowd, then Derek himself strolling around with his legendary Leopard print jacket on, pint in hand or an Italian Red Wine, chatting away without any hiers or graces just one of the crowd. This is the testament to the direction he has guided the club, he has created from the ashes of the old Centurians a club that embraces everyone, without prejudice without discrimination, this is how a club should be run. So next time your conversating and Derek’s name comes up just before you start the slating or the nit picking, go to the ground meet the man, introduce yourself, I 100% guarantee you will walk away with a completely different opinion to the one you walked up with, I guarantee!!
The Adrian Lam Effect
Adrian Lam, head coach of the Leigh Leopards, is one of the most charismatic and intelligent people you could hope to meet, originally from Papua New Guinea, a professional rugby coach and former player, he has built an amazing team which works perfectly, the strength and determination shown by the players when they are down is testament to Adrian’s drive and passion, he instills an ethos everybody within the club embraces.
He enjoyed a Stella season in 2022, lifting the Challenge Cup aswell as winning the RFL Championship, Championship Leaders Shield and the RFL 1895 Cup.
On a personal level, I’ve met him three times now and thoroughly enjoyed conversation with him and his charming partner. He openly speaks to everybody, and he’s happy to sign a program or have a picture taken, I’ve sat and listened to him after a game talk about a defeat (Hull KR) not making excuses just being completely honest as well as listening to his talk on a superb win against Saints, again articulate, precise and engaging. The fact that the Leopards managed to secure his services until 2027 can only be a great thing cementing the foundations of an amazing team he’s built.
How Loud Is That Roar Now
Think it’s fair to say the Leigh Leopards are here to stay. They aren’t the easy result to get in the league, and they are a force to be reckoned with. They have incredible leadership in Derek Beaumont along with Mike Lathom, behind the scenes Jukesy (CEO Neil Jukes) and Chezy (Head of Rugby Chris Chester) keeping everything moving like a well oiled machine, well established in the superb Leigh Sports Village Stadium, providing a perfect home and setting for the Leopards to perform. Every matchday, fans are treated to performances sometimes by cover bands but also professional acts such as T’Pau, Scouting For Girls, and our very own The Lottery Winners. It’s abundantly clear that the club wants to entertain and engage with fans, not only on the pitch with a fabulous team but in every other manner possible.
As fans, we repay the club the best way we can by attending by being their home and away. The attendances at many games this season have been the envy of other clubs, the Leopards fans are second to none, your loyal and noisy, singing your hearts out for your team, being the extra player when the team are behind, that is REAL support. So, to answer the quest subtly hidden in my title I honestly believe the Leopards Roar Is Getting Louder and the longer we continue the journey with the club, the louder it will get, the future is bright, let’s stick with the project it will be worth it Mark my words.
Life Through Ordinary Eyes 