How did all this happen? Purely by chance. That's right - in
the pub at the beginning of March 2002, while we were all
watching the Six Nations tournament, buying rounds and
discussing the game. Most of us were regulars at the pub - a
strange multinational mixture of people, each one in Sofia
for a different reason. The idea of running, playing and
tussling out in the open had never occured to any of us. So
when it suddenly hit New Zealander Murray........and he
said: "What do you lads say we play some touch rugby?", some
of us replied: "Sounds good, but don't you think we're a bit
too old for that stuff?". But Murray was not to be denied:
"Of course we're not too old. And I've already reserved a
pitch." (BTW - the very same pitch we still train and play
on, maybe we should name it Murrayfield).
Turns out he was right and if we hadn't listened to that
wise Maori back then, this fantastic club would not be here
today.
At first we were playing touch rugby once a week (a softer
version of the game, without full contact) at the National
Sports Academy in. Studentski grad, Sofia. Of course we were
still regulars at the J.J. Murphy's pub in Sofia, which is
now the clubhouse. Pretty soon things became a lot more
serious, with more and more people joining the club. The
team started playing in international Rugby 7s tournaments
in Bulgaria and neighbouring countries, as well as taking on
teams from Bulgaria's domestic rugby league.
At present Murphy's Misfits is a club with a constitution, a
board of directors, a logo, membership and a busy weekly
schedule.
Murphy's Misfits is an international club based in Sofia.
Some of us are Bulgarian, others work in Sofia, but come
from all over the world - England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales,
France, USA, Romania, Canada, Zimbabwe, New Zealand. The
more diverse, the better!
Murphy's Misfits is proud to boast members of many different
professions - lawyers, financiers, army officers, IT
specialists, tattoo & piercing artists, engineers,
journalists, PE teachers, English teachers. There's even a
psychiatrist amongst us.
Murphy's Misfits is a social club who's members don't just
play and talk rugby - they have fun together as well. The
club also does its bit for various charities.
Murphy's Misfits is not a closed society - the doors are
open to anyone willing to have have fun and go for it! |
