Inside a matter of years, Dartford Valley have come a long way on and off the pitch.

They are the only rugby club located in the Dartford borough and boast some fantastic facilities, including two pitches - one of them a 3G surface - and a huge clubhouse.

Director of club development Luke Stickings believes they are providing a service for the whole community, with various other projects held at the club as well as rugby throughout the week.

“We wanted it to stand for something,” he said.

“At school, if you’re out of order in class, you get punished. So here, you cannot misbehave off the pitch and then expect to perform on the pitch.

“I believe the club can impact real social change.

"The kids think it’s cool to play for the club but you cannot have it both ways.

“If you get that right, you can really impact social change.

"So, hopefully, the kids are nice kids as well.”

It’s hard to believe now, but Dartford Valley had been located at The Leigh Academy in far less glamorous surroundings.

Stickings said: “Effectively, we opened in November 2019 for the World Cup final between England and South Africa.

“The project itself started in 2015. Myself and some other club members started to canvas the council.

"We were just a drinking team, playing out of a shipping container at Leigh Academy.

“I started the youth academy and, as soon as that got going, the club grew.

“Rugby is a major sport but there wasn’t a home in Dartford. There’s Old Dartfordians but they’re based in Bexley so I put together a special project team.

“The council and [leader] Jeremy Kite got on board in 2016 and put a large chunk of money in, and we raised the rest.

“We are doing very well but it’s really tough times.

"When we opened in November 2019, there was a honeymoon period. But we had to shut in March 2020.

“But we have become a fully-fledged 600-plus member club. I believe it’s doing some real good.”

Both the men and women were promoted at first-team level last season, however the long-term future of the club appears just as bright.

Stickings explained: “There’s 350 kids in our youth academy and we have men’s and women’s sides.

"Both the men and the women won their league last year and went up.

“And our youth academy is already producing international players.

“We all worried what would happen to our current team when we got the facilities.

“But if you take our senior men as an example, of the best 20 players, lots of these have been at the club for six, seven or eight years.

“They’re the core of the team. But the facilities are attracting a lot of quality as well.”

The project got the go-ahead thanks to support from Dartford council and council leader Mr Kite.

“I cannot say a bad word against him,” said Stickings.

“Right from the start, as the person who headed up the project, I remained apolitical.

“Everything they said they would do, they did - which is quite rare with politicians!

“The club was growing so fast so it [the initial project plan] was not fit for purpose.

"They actually exceeded my expectations.”

Matches have continued recently, too, despite the snowy and icy conditions which have put their artificial surface to the test - a test which it has passed.

“When the snow fell, we wanted to be the only club to get games on in this area,” said Stickings.

“Around 120 volunteers showed up, that’s what the club is about. I love it.

“We are just trying to do the right thing.”

The club play host to plenty of representative games these days, as well. Rugby Football Union president Nigel Gillingham was on hand at the weekend to watch the latest of these.

Stickings said: “It’s not just for Dartford, we want it to be representative [of Kent] as well.”

There’s also plenty of talent off the pitch at the club, with Sophie Warren the club chairwoman.

“We have some real talent off the pitch,” Stickings noted.

“Sophie Warren, the new chair, I encouraged her to take the role, really. She is the figurehead at the club.

“She, alongside first-team captain Ben Orcan, I see these two as the ones I would trust with my baby, if you like.

“I don’t have to check where Emily McNamara [the club’s facilities manager] is - she is always at the club!”

Overall, 120 children also attended a Santa’s grotto last Friday at the club while a new grass surface has been added alongside the artificial one.

The men’s 1sts are due to visit Foots Cray on January 14 in Kent 3 while the Roses’ next NC 1 South East (East) encounter is at home to frontrunners Streatham-Croydon Ladies on January 8.