HUDDERSFIELD Rugby Union Club will celebrate their official Centenary during the 2009/10 season, and already a host of plans are being meticulously prepared to commemorate the momentous occasion.

Although many of the events planned have still to have their date confirmed when next season’s fixtures are released, the opening event is already rubber-stamped.

That will be a Grand Centenary game between a Huddersfield XV and a Barnsley President’s XV on Sunday, August 23 – the South Yorkshire club being the first team Huddersfield played against in their inaugural season back in 1909.

There will be far more to the day than just the game, however, as it has also been designated a Full Family Photo Day, when every single member of the club will be photographed en masse on the first-team pitch.

That will be followed by pictures of every single Huddersfield team right through from the Under 7s to the first team.

Over the following three months, themed lunches will be held, with players and members from the 40s and 50s invited to lunches in September. October will feature the 60s and 70s, with the 80s and 90s in November.

Those will be followed by a Grand Christmas Luncheon in December, while players and members from 2000-2010 will get their chance to lunch in January.

Nothing yet has been planned for February, but in March (2010) the club will hold the Centenary Anniversary Dinner, with a major speaker and local dignitaries in attendance.

Officials have still to determine a venue for that event, with obviously only a limited number of places available in their Lockwood Park clubhouse.

“The 50th anniversary dinner was held in the Town Hall, so that could be a possible alternative,” explained new president Mark Birch.

“Although we have a superb facility at Lockwood Park, we are limited to seating a maximum of 110, which is not that many for such a major occasion. So the venue is still under discussion by the Centenary committee.”

Sometime in Spring there will be a Centenary Tour of Europe involving both the Senior and Academy sides, with the likely destinations being Besancon (the town in France with which Huddersfield is twinned) and possibly northern Italy.

The year will climax with the Grand Centenary Ball, held inside a giant marquee on the first-team field, on Spring Bank Saturday, May 29.

A centenary brochure is currently being worked on, while the club also intend producing centenary ties, jumpers and new kit.