NORTH Midlands One league side Upton RFC has appointed Ronnie Hobbs as the club's new coach for the coming season.

An ex-Upton player and first team captain, Hobbs, aged 42, played for the club for over 15 years before securing a coaching role in 1997 with rivals Stourport, who have enjoyed successive league promotion over the last two years.

He left Stourport at the end of last season to take on the vacant coaching role at Upton who, until that point, had utilised the experience and services of club captain and player coach, Rob Heeley.

Interestingly, Upton's first home league match of the season is against Stourport on Sept-ember 14, a match Hobbs is very much looking forward to.

He said: "I left Stourport for a fresh challenge but had obviously built a good rapport with the players and backroom staff. But putting sentiment aside, this will be good test for Upton who need a sound start in the league campaign. They came very close to promotion last year.

"This year the general standard of playing in this league will be extremely high with some good teams having been promoted from lower leagues as well as those demoted teams eager to dominate. It'll be tough but the Upton players are training hard and fully understand what lies ahead."

According to Upton's club chairman, Dave Gower, Hobbs arrival could not have been better timed: "We have been looking to appoint an experienced coach for some time. Ronnie's experience and background fits the bill perfectly and the playing squad is already benefiting from a rigorous pre-season training programme to ensure everyone is ready when the season kicks off. I feel confident that we can achieve considerable success on the pitch."