Club maverick leaves legacy for homeless
John Ian ‘Rocky’ Richmond, 1941 - 2019.
Every rugby club has a character or two and for Marlow one First XV open-side flanker was more characterful than most.
Ian ‘Rocky’ Richmond was part of the club for 50 years, what many might call a maverick, or “a bit of a handful”. After his time in the firsts, the club committee didn’t really want him to captain the seconds because of his unpredictable nature. Nonetheless, the members mobilised and voted him in at the AGM.
He was very supportive of younger players, encouraging them and taking them along to the club but, equally, he had what one former team mate described as “a deep sense of injustice and sometimes a determination to mete out his own justice on the pitch.”
Roger Keys described how nobody knew that Ian’s first name was actually John and how he had been an outstanding pupil at Sir William Borlase Grammar School, winning a university scholarship but abandoning his degree after only a year, probably because he was needed by the family farm.
Ian played in the Swans social side which Roger captained and later the Vets. Roger recalled how he would take an axe on rugby tours because “you never know when it will come in handy”.
The last time Roger met up with Ian was when, having been a pig farmer, he was working as a jobbing builder and was laying the Marlow club patio. After that he “disappeared off the club radar”. There were accounts of him living in mobile homes, of him sleeping rough.
In the local pubs he was called Cisco because of his favoured boots, kerchief and he always wore a hat. The one former team mate who did see him was Graham Steward, a publican in Henley. Ian showed up at Graham’s pub with all his worldly goods in three bin-liners having “escaped” from a care home. Graham helped to get his old pal placed in another care home and used to visit him. He took him down to the Marlow club with Ian limping having fallen off his bike and broken his hip. But, those in charge of caring for Ian suggested such outings might not be helpful.
There was no corralling Ian, despite restraining orders being imposed, and finally, after his last escape, he was discovered with his leg trapped in the fence he was trying to climb and where he was hanging undiscovered for some six hours. Sadly, he died two days later in hospital. When the coroner declared that Ian had no known next of kin and no assets, his old Marlow team mates and the club responded quickly to reclaim one of their own.
Graham Steward, Andrew ‘Nobby’ Webb, Roger Keys, Ian Petty, Steve Blake, Gwyn Stone, the President and a past President began an appeal to meet funeral costs. A distinctive Order of Service was produced befitting their old comrade and the service was officiated by Canon Nick Molony a former rugby player himself.
The congregation all wearing bizarre hats and brightly coloured clothes in honour of Rocky’s unique dress sense. His axe, his favoured Racing Post and a family Cabbage Patch doll all being laid on his coffin. Nobody knows why the hard man had the latter. He was an enigma to the end.
Then everyone went back to the Marlow Riverwoods clubhouse to celebrate his life, where three of Ian’s favourite things featured: beer, live music and a hog roast out on the very patio that Ian created.
Not only did the appeal for Ian’s funeral costs ensure this full and fitting send-off but it also created a legacy for Ian. With a substantial amount donated by friends, from within and outside the Marlow Club, over and above what was needed to fulfil the event, the surplus was then donated to the Wooden Spoon charity and recently to Wycombe Homeless Connection.
Their Fundraising Manager, Heather Stanley said: “After hearing about ‘Rocky’, his life and the impact he had on those who knew him and had given in his memory, it was clear that Wycombe Homeless Connection could put Marlow rugby club’s generous gift towards helping people who face some of the same challenges that he did. Too often people who don’t ‘fit’ don’t get the help they need and are entitled to – so we make sure they do”
This Homeless Help Project really resonated with the community-conscious Marlow team as Ian’s legacy would help enable other unfortunate, local people experiencing similar difficulties to access the personal, informed and qualified support that sadly were not made available to Ian when he really needed them.
