Rugby Reunion

50 years on

Some 50 years of separation and appalling weather conditions on the day did not prevent a group of stalwarts from a golden era of Nottingham High School rugby between 1970-74, when the School was rated in the top six nationally by Rugby World magazine, gathering at Valley Road on November 27th to reminisce and pay tribute to their 86-year-old coach, Geri Thomas. The original idea, instigated by Martin Darke, was to watch a 1st XV fixture against old rivals Ratcliffe College and then have lunch at a local hostelry. As it turned out, all fixtures were cancelled but everyone, sufficient to form a team with a couple of substitutes, turned up with several travelling hundreds of miles despite the stormy conditions.

The day began by congregating at Valley Road where Stuart Whitehead, Director of Sport, and James Hamilton, Director of Rugby, were on hand to welcome the group with warm beverages, and talk about the vastly improved sporting facilities at the School and the current state of play across all sports. One observation was that there was little change to the downstairs changing rooms at Valley Road!

The group, which included four 1st XV captains in Martin Darke, Nick Johnson, Jeremy Dunn and Simon Hall, moved on at noon to The Vale on Mansfield Road for a splendid carvery lunch. Jeremy Dunn toasted absent friends, notably Mark Worsencroft who tragically died a few years ago, and Geri Thomas regaled us with his own memories, a period in which the School lost only eight in 80 games. He paid his own tribute to the support he had been given by renowned rugby legend H. V. ‘Chalky’ White, and teachers Tony Bird, David Phillips, Jimmy Sadler and Jeff Leach. It was a truly memorable day, remarkable for the way in which team sport can bring people together after so many years to reminisce and have so much fun.

RUGBY 1970-74

Front Row: Chris Spilsbury, Ian Worrall, Geri Thomas, Martin Darke, Marty Hyslop 2nd Row: Nick Johnson, Jeremy Dunn, Roy Dexter 3rd Row: Lawson Main, Tim Caulton, Andrew Murday Back Row: Simon Jackson, Phil Renshaw, Nigel Skill, Nick Barnes Note: in addition Simon Hall and David Wild attended the lunch