Shevington Sharks find home comforts... at long last

The clubhouse Shevington Sharks will share with Shevington FC

After hours of hard work by many volunteers, officials are now putting the finishing touches to their £1.3million home they will share with Shevington FC.

This is the first time, in the club’s 40-year history, that they have had a permanent home in the village.

And while their campaign has been on lockdown, they have had plenty of reasons to cheer as many of their former juniors have made an impact in the professional game.

Shevington Sharks and Shevington FC will share the facility off Vicarage Lane

Steve Dillon, vice-chairman of the club, said: “We’ve got an excellent collaboration with Shevington FC, and the clubhouse would be up and running in normal times.

“A lot of work has gone into it and in a way, it’s been good to have something to focus on while there’s been no rugby – we’ve always had something to do, and it’s a fantastic facility. The club has been going since 1980 – it’s the third oldest in Wigan – and it’s always had a nomadic existence, so it’s good to have a permanent home at long last.

“I don’t think there’s anyone in our open age side who has played in Shevington – that just shows how much the village needs the facility.

“It’s an exciting time for the club and I think you’ll see us kick on.”

Grand Final match-winner Jack Welsby is a former Shevington Sharks junior

Stalwarts of the club took some pride from seeing ex-Sharks juniors Sam Halsall and Umyla Hanley debut for Wigan.

Another of their former players, Harry Rushton, signed for Australian outfit Canberra Raiders.

And the player who had the final say on the craziest of Super League campaigns, Jack Welsby, is also a former Shevington junior.

If that wasn’t enough, they have seen another of their former players, Cieren Fallon, take the horseracing world by storm.

Dillon believes they have tackled the misconception that junior players needed to move to bigger-named amateur clubs to attract interest from professional clubs.

“It’s always nice to see former players do well, it’s what it’s all about,” he said.

“We take some pride that we’ve played a small part in their sporting journeys.”

The clubhouse, which has been in the pipeline for eight years, benefitted from £200,000 of Rugby League World Cup legacy funding.

Now they are counting the days until they can open up and return to some sort of normality.

Dillon praised the work of many club volunteers, particularly secretary Steve Bates and Jimmy Dyson and Mark Gaffney.