‘Fantastic’ response to Southwell Rugby Club’s semi-nude calendar unites community

A rugby club’s semi-nude calendar has united the community — and attracted sales as far afield as Alaska.

Southwell Rugby Club officially launched its Naked-ish Calendar 2025 on Saturday, September 21, and has has so far received a “fantastic” response, which has bolstered the relationship between the town’s residents and businesses and the club.

The project of second team player James ‘Fridge’ Beaumont — who presented the idea to the club after his wife Samantha thought of it — aimed to boost members’ spirits after a tough season, as well as raising money for both the club’s facilities and Looseheadz, a rugby-related charity raising awareness of mental health and tackling stigma.

The Calendar Girls-style calendar features photos of players around the rugby club’s ground, including images such as grounds keeping and the ‘sexy photo’.

James said: “The weekend was a fantastic success for the club as a whole, not just from the calendar launch, but we had colts, third team, second team, and first team all win — so taking away from the calendar it was a fantastic weekend for the club.

“With the launch of the calendar as well it was just fantastic.

“Its been really well received, we were looking round and there was bunches of people just looking through the calendars they’d bought, laughing their heads off.

“The club is thriving at the moment, the calendar is just another fantastic thing that gets the guys proud that they’re a member.”

A total of 48 players star in the calendar’s photos, and each month has been sponsored by a Southwell-area businesses, including smaller ventures which could not ordinarily support the club.

Many of the shops and pubs — including Southwell Garden Centre, The Hearty Goodfellow, The Coach House, Real Clothing, and more — are now stocking the calendars for sale, and they are also available from the clubhouse.

James added: “The club is on the outskirts of the town, but we go in and go out drinking in the pubs, and we get some of them sponsoring the club, but the connection now between the town and the club just seems stronger than it’s ever been — and that’s what we want really, because grassroots rugby is about the community that we’re in.

“We’ve also had a lot of requests to post the calendars — someone’s sending one to Alaska, we posted one to Holland, I know someone wants one going to Canada. If people email us we are able to work out the postage and ship them for them.”

Anyone interested in buying a calendar to be posted out to them should email srcfridge@gmail.com.