Obituaries

This is certainly the first time I’ve been asked to give a eulogy in a pub but then again it may
just be appropriate given Martin’s companionable and gregarious nature and the amount of
time he spent in rugby clubhouses, pint in hand!
Many of you knew Martin better than me so I can only say I was very touched and honoured
to be asked by Martin himself to add my few words to what Charlie has already said so
eloquently at the crematorium.
I think the first thing is to say how admirably Martin handled this awful illness, his reality in
the face of the inevitable, his stoicism, his lack of self-pity, that phlegmatic quality that so
many of us recognised and valued. His fortitude and determination to continue coming out
to Elstree earlier in the season and his bravery when facing the certainty of the outcome
were genuinely inspirational – obviously in the latter stages it was Connie who bore the brunt
of this and we can only say a heartfelt thank you, Connie, for all that you did for Martin. As
he said, “Connie has been my rock – without her I couldn’t have coped.”
Rather than just dwell on his illness and the last few months, what I’d like to do is to pay
tribute to Martin’s involvement with OH rugby and his willingness to take on a variety of
administrative roles in both the rugby club and the wider Association. I was lucky enough to
be Rugby club President for three years in the early 1980s at a time when Charlie and Martin
were successively Captains and thus observed the team spirit and collective friendship that
they both fostered at first hand. Patricia and I were delighted to have been part of Martin’s
wider circle at that time and to be caught up in the teams’ heady slipstream. We toured with
the club to France where I discovered the beneficial qualities of constant supplies of
Armagnac and we defeated a top French side but were denied a final game when the pitch
froze. Then there was Holland and in later years many more great touchline moments. It
was Martin’s idea to give Patricia a gift to mark her ready and continuous support of the
team – after all she did sew on the numbers on the back of the 1st XV shirts each year! A
typically thoughtful gesture.
Martin had first played for the OH 1st XV way back in the 1977-78 season, making eleven
appearances under the captaincy of Doug Yeabsley while still a schoolboy. He was on the
wing in that famous game in September 1978 when OHRFC defeated the visiting team from
Akron, Ohio. And so the process continued, Martin usually playing at fly-half, although in the
early years there were appearances at full-back and on the wing, those long raking kicks to
the bottom corner his trademark, nothing fancy, getting the line going and winning games.
By the year of the Dutch tour he was Captain and that season we had 23 wins from 32
matches. Of course he continued to play and was a 200 Club member by April 1986. I
don’t know how many games he played for the club after that – we’d need Nobbly or Martin
himself to tell us that but what was absolutely clear was his commitment to the club, his
unquestioning loyalty and those enduring friendships.
As he said himself, “I have had so much fun at Old Habs and I shall always be grateful for
the day when I crossed the OH portal.”
He was President of OHRFC for three years from 1998 and amazingly found time to play
cricket for OHCC from 1978 making 75 1st XI appearances and 91 for the club’s 2nd XI and
was a keen tourist going on the OHCC tours from 1979 – 1996 and working on the OHCC
tour committee with Mike Filer. All in all, it seems there was nothing that Martin wouldn’t do
for the OH in all its forms. I don’t know whether he shot or played golf for the OH but I’m
sure he would have had anyone asked him. Then again there was his involvement with
CLOB where in later years he looked after fixtures and also sat on the Middlesex Committee
as our representative. Martin was well known and hugely respected right across the rugby
spectrum and indeed, we have received many messages and condolences from rugby
people. How did he ever find time to go to work?