Gate Post Harrogate Rugby Union Football Club Founded 1871 Gate Post No. 122 May 2021 This newsletter is sent to all the supporters, current and past members of Harrogate Rugby Club for whom we have an email address. Your contributions would be most welcome along with your feedback. Simon Corner Harrogate Rugby Club is sad to announce that Simon Corner has died. (27/4/2021) We send our sincere condolences to Lynda and their family. Simon was one of the longest serving members of Harrogate Rugby Club. In his younger days he helped to organise Harrogate Rugby Club’s dinners and dinner dances from 1962 to 2010 including the Centenary Dinner for the club on Friday 15th October 1971 at the Cairn Hotel. For the 1962/1963 season he was Chairman of the Special Efforts Committee. He was also involved in other committee work and from 2000 - 2012 he was secretary of the HRUFC Former Players Association. He was equally active with Harrogate Cricket club. For many years he was President of the Druids Cricket team and in 1970 he was their Captain and secretary. He was also a lifelong member of the Harrogate Club. When his son Peter was young and playing with the Harrogate Rugby Club Junior section, Simon was a supporter and accompanied them when they went on tour. Rugby Club Annual Dinner 1979, Simon with Barry Whitton, Andy Hynes and Peter Barrett. Simon, centre, with pint glass in his hand with the Touchline Internationals 1 Druids Cricket Team (Date unknown) Back row: John Oswald, Seymour Thomas, Peter Barrett, Duncan Jackson, Colin Clarke, Alfred Bentley, Peter Lilly, Stanley Horner, ? , Hawley junior, Andy Hynes. Middle row: John Lightowler, Peter Cotton, Mike Crowhurst, Bob Barwick- Ward, Percy Hawley, Bill Osborne, Peter Clarke, ? , Stewart Wray. Front row: Stephen Hynes, John Thackray, Bernard Henry, Paul Crawshaw, Colin Usherwood, Simon Corner. Les Nattrass Harrogate Rugby Club is sad to announce that, former club groundsman, Les Nattrass, died on Sunday 11th April 2021, aged eighty. Les was groundsman for the Harrogate Rugby Club from 1986 to 2006, along with his dogs, two of which were named Billy and one named Scamp. He was rarely seen without his dog. In 2015 Les wanted to show his respect for all those club members whose ashes had been scattered on the main pitch at Claro Road over the years, by taking a piece of turf from Claro Road to the new ground at Rudding Lane. Les was born 9th November 1940. A special club dinner was held in the clubhouse on Wednesday 9th November 2005 to celebrate his twenty years of service as the club groundsman. When Les retired in 2006 the occasion was reported in the match programme and several members provided some of their memories of him: Rhys Morgan: I will always remember when the 1st XV was going through a rough patch and one of the 1st team players was walking across the main pitch after training. If Les caught players doing this he would shout at them to get off the pitch. On this occasion Les shouted, “If you can’t win on it, don’t walk on it.” Ralph Zoing: There was no more reassuring sound in my twenty years at the club than Les’s helium voice emanating from the changing rooms in that affable, warm and friendly tone, ‘get off that ******** pitch. I remember Les losing part of his fingers in a tractor accident and at A & E they asked if he had managed to find the finger parts so that they could consider reattaching them. Unfortunately, Les’s pet dog, Scamp, thought that they were doggie treats and promptly ate them. With Les being so strict about players walking on the pitch this helped to greatly improve the condition of the playing surface. Les also made the best cup of sweet tea in Yorkshire. Mike Cowling: In the 2004/2005 season Les was hospitalised following a heart attack and we had to carry out all the tasks that he would normally do. I wrote a job schedule for match days and was amazed to discover the list took up a whole page. Cut the grass, mark the lines, put out and bring in the posts, sweep the stand, heat the water, run the baths, chase lost balls over the fence, inflate the balls, clean the changing rooms, brew the tea, etc. Thank you for all you did Les. 2 Three Generations Played For Harrogate RUFC Andy and Jennifer Hynes In the photo Steve and Zander Hynes are in the foreground with the Harrogate U6’s, 17/4/2021. Steve reports that there have now been three generations of his family playing rugby for Harrogate. Andrew, Peter Hynes (D.O.B. 21/06/1928) played for Harrogate 1st XV and Captained the Georgians in the late 1950’s.( previously he had played for Bradford 1st XV) Stephen, Richard Hynes(D.O.B. 24/05/1957) played for Harrogate 1st XV, the Georgians, A team, Panthers, Pythons, Pumas and Colts from the mid 1970’s to early 1980’s before moving to London and playing for Richmond and latterly Bank of England. Steve also represented the Civil Service. Steve’s son, Harry-Zander Yagazi Hynes(D.O.B. 06/05/16), currently plays for the Harrogate Minis. If your family has played rugby at Harrogate with three generations please contact: [email protected] with further details. More International Players Who Played Against Harrogate Following the items in the last two Gate Posts, the names of other international players who played against Harrogate have been recalled by former players. Harry Nicholson recalls: Chris Rae (B.22/10/1943) Centre. Was capped 13 times for Scotland and scored three tries. He toured New Zealand in 1971 with the British Lions and scored three tries on that tour. In 1971 he was playing for Headingley and played in fixtures against Harrogate. Roger Pickering (B.15/6/1943) Played scrum half for England six times in 1967 and 1968. Played for Cleckheaton and Bradford. Dusty Hare (B.29/11/1952) Full Back. Played for Newark, 1971 - 1976 Nottingham, 1976 - 1989 Leicester Tigers. 1974 - 1984, made 25 appearances for England. British Lions v New Zealand 1983. Record points scorer in first class rugby 7337 points. Peter Stagg (B.22/11/1941) Lock forward. Played 28 games for Scotland 1965 - 1970. 3 caps with 1968 British Lions in South Africa. Played for Sale against Harrogate. 3 Colin White (B. 31/3/1947, D.19/1/2011) Prop. Played 4 games for England 1983/1984. Played for Northern and Gosforth against Harrogate. Peter Dixon (B.30/4/1944) Flanker. Played for Durham University and Oxford University 1967 - 1970. Made 22 appearances for England 1971 - 1978. Made three appearances for the British Lions 1971 in New Zealand. Played for Harlequins and Cumberland. David Robinson (B.26/3/1946) Flanker. Played for Cockermouth and Carlisle, Birkenhead Park. Played for Gosforth in the 1970s against Harrogate. He won an England A cap. Thank you to Martin Boyle for adding two more international players to the list of players who have played against Harrogate. Keith Robertson (B.5/12/1954) Wing, centre - Scotland 44 appearances 1975 - 1989; played for Melrose at Harrogate in 1983 Tony Bond (B.3/8/1953) Centre. England 1978 - 1982 6 caps, played for Sale v Harrogate, at Sale in 1983. Also played for Broughton Park. Feedback from Ivan Dunn re: S.A.M. Hodgson Just one bit of info concerning the international players that Harrogate played against. I was lucky enough to play for Durham City, and S.A.M. Hodgson’s first name was Stan. (He was often called Sam because of his initials.) Stan was a great guy and an absolutely dedicated player. Quite small for a hooker but strong as an ox, very fit and one of the last hookers who actually struck against the head. Quite a sight to behold from wing forward especially when he struck the ball back with his head, I kid you not, talk about the dark arts of the front row. Stan went on the Lions tour to South Africa in the mid-sixties and broke his leg in the first match, but he was so popular they wouldn’t let him come home until the end of the tour. We were good pals when he was the oldest man in the team and I was the youngest. Feedback from Martin Mordy re: International Players Re the April Gate Post, I have kept several programs of games I played in so can add to the list of internationals who played against Harrogate. J.P.Horrocks-Taylor, England, was fly half for Middlesbrough on 30/9/67 Middlesbrough 6 - 14 Harrogate and also 2/10/65 Middlesbrough 9 - 12 Harrogate. Mike Leadbetter, England, was in the second row for Broughton Park on 15/4/67 when Harrogate suffered a big loss, Harrogate 3 - 33 Broughton Park. John M.Dee, England. Played in the centre for Hartlepool Rovers on 16/12/67 a game Harrogate won. Harrogate also played the Irish side, Clontarf, on Friday 8th Sept 1967, 6-30 p.m. kick-off. Their side included two internationals: J.Fortune, T.Coughlan. Harrogate 17 - 6 Clontarf. I also note my opposite number was Ian McGeechan on 20/11/65 in the game against Headingley, Harrogate 9 - 5 Headingley, much earlier than the fixtures listed in the Gate Post. Harrogate won the game. I have no particular memory of playing against Ian but have a vivid memory of the Headingley winger David Senior, an imposing figure, who probably should have been an international player.