Eastern Counties Rugby Union

The 19-year-old, who holds the same position at National League 1 Cambridge, comes on board for the next two years, splitting his time between us, Cambridge Rugby and Cambridge 105 Radio, all whilst he continues to complete a degree in Sports Journalism at the University of Bedfordshire.

On his appointment, Jackson stated, “I am delighted to come on board with such a prestigious Rugby organisation in Eastern Counties. When the opportunity was presented to me by Steve Drawbridge – Cambridgeshire Representative on the Eastern Counties Management Committee and furthermore by Eastern Counties Chair of Marketing & Communications - Russell Clarke, I felt it was an opportunity that at this early stage of my career in Journalism and Communications, that I really couldn’t pass up on. It is a case of the right opportunity coming at exactly the right time for me”.

On the work ahead he added, “I have a remit that has been agreed between myself and members of the board, and I am going to get straight to work on it. There is allot of work to be done on the way we process our information and the various avenues we broadcast it to and if we’re being honest with ourselves, it needs in no uncertain terms a complete overhaul. Everything we look to do in terms of press and communication from here on in will look to be as professional as possible”.

On the time frame and his work going forward he added, “I am here for the next 2 years at least and look forward to playing a role in how we can best display the work done by the players on the pitch and the people behind the scenes, including both the audio and the written form. The programme will also have a major overhaul, looking to emulate the programmes that fans of clubs around the Eastern Counties expect to see on a matchday, which will make a big difference to their matchday experience”.

As an organisation, we were about to embark on the process of advertising for the position. However, we now feel that we have been presented with a person with both personal goals for the position as well as a willingness and high level of determination to achieve the boards quota.

He will work closely with Cambridgeshire Board Representative Steve Drawbridge, as that is the location in which he is based, as well as Cambridge Independent Sport Editor and well-known Rugby Journalist Mark Taylor who has agreed to share his contacts to enable us to get all Eastern Counties news across print and online throughout Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire.

We hope as our supporters and member clubs, that you see this as a positive step for the organisation.

He will run all forms of social media for the organisation as well, as we look to expand our reach on all social media platforms.

On this task in particular he added, “the word social media is interesting, because half the time when we’re on it we are being particularly anti-social with the people around in the same room or space as ourselves. That isn’t for one moment a negative comment, in the sporting world of journalism that I and many others with similar roles live in, it is a fantastic opportunity to get both our individual and our organisations work out on these various platforms, in the most professional manner possible”.

“It therefore provides us as an organisation to not only grow our base of supporters within the area, but also reach a wider variety of sponsorship, with our presence on all forms of social media aiming to now be bigger than ever. It won’t be a case of using social media for social media sake though, with everything posted on the various forms, put out with a clear purpose”.

He has of last week began his duties with Eastern Counties, having been given the vote of confidence last Thursday’s Marketing and Communications Committee.

We hope you join us in wishing Niall the very best luck as he aims to get our profile off the pitch up to the next level.