Brian found by boyhood club
Chelsea Pensioner Brian Rolfe was interviewed by Craig Doyle, Topsy Ojo and Lawrence Dallaglio for BT Sport while at a London Irish match and gave a shout out to his first-ever rugby club, Houghton RUFC, in Houghton-le-Spring near Durham. This set off a hunt to find him which quickly went viral in the club’s 150th anniversary year.
#Findbrian created lots of interest with hundreds of shares and thousands of likes and in no time at all the club received an email from Brian himself saying “Call off the dogs, you’ve found him!”
Not only had they found him, but they then invited Brian and his fellow Chelsea Pensioner Derek (Yorkie) Layton to be VIP guests at their past players day. Houghton 1st beat Yarm at home 50-5 to top off a great day when Brian joined other past players in the clubhouse, all remembering their rugby days.
Every generation of rugby
Kaye-Louise Robson the club’s manager said: ”When we did the #findbrian social media it just exploded and having found him, it was an all-round fantastic day. We had everyone from youngsters, to U18 girls, Colts and older players there talking to Brian, just every generation of rugby and even an older member able to chat about a mutual friend.”
The club made sure it was a memorable trip, Brian and Yorkie visiting Durham’s Cathedral and the Highfield Hotel giving the club special rates for his stay, with the Three Horseshoes Leaside treating the visitors to a great evening meal.
Brian played at the club before joining the Army as a boy soldier. However, having been at the Harrogate apprentice school aged 15, the small units he served in around the world didn’t offer any opportunities to play, so although he still loved rugby, it wasn’t until his son was playing at Camberley that he became involved again when helping to coach the U8s.
Brian’s first posting with the Royal Corps of Signals was to the Caribbean and beyond that he served in many places, from Germany to Northern Ireland and Malta to the Allied Forces Northern Europe HQ near Oslo in Norway. By the time he finished 20 years’ service his main interest was helping with mini rugby and following the sport as a supporter.
London Irish welcome
He became a super supporter, especially since living at the Royal Hospital Chelsea. He discovered that Chelsea Pensioners got tickets to Chelsea football matches and set out to find a Premiership rugby club that might welcome them too.
“I’d been going to watch Camberley matches, having been involved there, and at one match against the London Irish Wild Geese amateur team I met a player whose mother is a Chelsea Pensioner. He put me in touch with the ticketing manager at London Irish. They said how many tickets do you want?” said Brian.
“We now get seven season tickets with hospitality, and we are so grateful. Then I was asked to do the interview with the BT team and their last question was where I started playing and I threw my arms up and shouted Houghton!”
World Rugby Memorial Ambassador
Through former referee John Dennison, one of the founders of The World Rugby Memorial at Craonnelle in the Chemin des Dames battlefields, Brian had travelled to the Armistice International Rugby Youth Festival at Compiegne in France the day after his BT Sport interview. Brian is an ambassador for the memorial and festival and has spoken about them at a Commons & Lords event.
“I was out in France getting emails from everyone, including my Regimental Sergeant Major, all of them telling me Houghton were looking for me,” he said. “So I emailed saying ‘Call the dogs off, you’ve found me!’ I talked to Kaye-Louise and she said they’d like me to go up and be presented with a 150th anniversary tie at their past players event. I was happy to fund the trip but they sent two first class tickets and I took Yorkie, another rugby enthusiast and London Irish supporter.
Rugby royalty
“The event was absolutely terrific, and the hospitality was marvellous. They treated us like royalty, we were honoured guests. When I played at the club it was a wooden hut with a big concrete bath full of very hot water which we all piled into. Then the Houghton lads used to go to the Durham Students Union and act as security for them.
“The club itself may have changed but not the spirit, it’s always been a place where people are really friendly and it epitomises rugby for me, the comradeship, the sense of belonging. As a rugby player, you can walk into a club like Houghton and they’ll welcome you, buy you a pint. Rugby is a worldwide passport, just go into any rugby club and you are instantly made welcome.”
