New centenary book charts amazing history of Rotherham Rugby Club

With a foreword by World Rugby chief Sir Bill Beaumont, When Men Became Titans charts the club's astonishing rise from rugby union's backwaters to the Premiership and European competition along with the fight back from a near-death trauma in a warts-and-all publication.

Penned by former Rotherham Advertiser sports editor Paul Rickett, it features 200 pages and a raft of colour and black and white photographs while it also includes exclusive interviews with such as former owner Michael Yarlett, stalwart skipper

Richard Selkirk and current custodians Nick Cragg and Martin Jenkinson.

Says Nick: “We needed to mark the club's centenary with something special and this is it.

“It really has been an amazing story and who would have thought that something that began so modestly, a group of enthusiasts forming the club back in 1923, would go on to achieve what it did. I think the club's founders would be amazed.”

Of course, the successes of the club, especially the golden decade that saw Rotherham rise to Premiership status, have been tempered by protracted squabbles and problems off the field, all chronicled in the book.

The financial meltdown of 2004 could have seen the Titans either liquidated or condemned to the sport's backwaters, while recovering from the recent Covid crisis needed a Herculean effort to keep the ball rolling. It's testament to the club's spirit that they're still around and have a determination to clamber back up the league structure.

Added Nick: “We think it is an astonishing history and the good and the not-so-good tales all need to be told. There's something for everyone in there and, of course, we're delighted that Bill Beaumont has added his name to it because there aren't any bigger names in the game.”

When Men Became Titans is now available for pre-order and it will be on sale in August. All profits will go to charity.

It comes in a limited hardback collectors' edition, complete with dust-jacket, and also in paperback form.

Hardback subscribers will also get their names and a brief message in the book and all details can now be found either on the Titans' website or by emailing commercial director John Whaling at [email protected]