Having spent a decade consolidating the Club’s fortunes, the following ten years were spent in bringing about changes on and off the field. The new decade dawned with the appointment of Barrie Foster as the Club’s coach and he spent the next five years providing the direction a team required to improve its skills and playing record, whilst awaiting the impending introduction of leagues.
On 29th June 1981 Alan Davies made Sandal history by being the first ever Sandal member to be elected to the Yorkshire County Committee, a position he held with pride for almost 30 years. During the same season of 1981/82 we saw the completion of Sandal’s second stand some 45 years after the original stand was built.
For some Friday 13th is treated with superstition but when on Friday 13th January 1984 at 8.00 am it was discovered that gale force winds had severely damaged the main lounge of the clubhouse, putting this room out of action for some eleven months, the superstition really struck a chord with Sandal RUFC members. But with many volunteer helping hands and the help of a builder, during the day of the disaster, the undamaged part of the Clubhouse was opened as usual at night with the refurbished Clubhouse being reopened on 8th December 1984.
Then in an attempt to attract better fixtures before the introduction of leagues, floodlights were erected and officially switched on by Don F. Stables on 23rd October 1985, prior to a game played against Harrogate RUFC to commemorate the occasion.
The eighties saw success throughout and with the introduction of leagues in 1987/88 Sandal RUFC was placed in Division 2 North alongside such clubs as Wilmslow, Halifax, Huddersfield, Lymm, Manchester and New Brighton. Sandal’s first league game was away to Wilmslow RUFC which saw the visitors leave with a win by 21-6. The side remained in Division 2 North for four years before securing promotion to Division 1 North at the end of the 1990/91 season.
During the 1988/89 season the Club undertook a major improvement project to reconstruct, level, drain and surface a hitherto potholed and unsightly car park. With this work the whole Clubhouse took on a new attraction to those wishing to use the premises for hire, both privately and corporately.

The Ascending Years (1990-1999)

By the beginning of the nineties leagues had firmly become established and with this Sandal’s playing strength was slowly being improved by attracting players from other clubs, which combined with several former colts, provided the Club with a side capable of beating the best. At the end of the 1994/95 season a further promotion was secured taking the Club into National 5 North, a level at which the Club played for seven years, being three below the Premiership.
Also at this time the Club’s Committee recognised there was a need to refurbish and extend the Clubhouse if the Club was to maintain its progress in Yorkshire rugby. So in November 1995 a Steering Committee was formed and after much hard work a Lottery Sports Fund Application was made to the English Sports Council for funding on 25th October 1996. After more consultation the Club was notified in October 1997 of a Lottery Sports Fund Award towards the construction of an extension to the Clubhouse. The Club then struggled through a difficult building programme culminating in the official re-opening of the newly extended premises on 8th May 1999 by Sir Rodney Walker, a well-known local business man.
Other milestones during this period saw two defeats in finals of the Yorkshire Cup Competition, against Wakefield in 1993/94 and then against Doncaster in 1998/99. But a victory in the same competition had been secured against Doncaster two years earlier in 1996/97.

The Declining Years (2000-2009)

With professional rugby taking its toll on Club finances the managing Committee took the momentous decision, just after the millennium, to revert the Club back to having a totally amateur status. Whilst this was the correct decision it meant that players were lost with the result that between 2002 and 2006 the Club was relegated three times from National 3 North, through North One and North 2 East to start season 2006/07 in Yorkshire One. The slide had to be addressed and to this end the Club appointed former Wakefield and Rotherham coach, Jim Kilfoyle, to take charge of rugby coaching at Sandal and with his involvement an improved playing record soon evolved. Also during this difficult decade the Club did enjoy success in the Yorkshire Shield Competition with victory in the final against Old Brodleians in 2007/08 but suffered defeat a year later at the hands of Bradford Salem in the same competition.