AS a supporter, player, captain, coach and leading club official, Peter Rossborough has been through the good times and bad with Coventry RFC over six decades.
A first-team player in his late teens and now club president for the last dozen years, the former England full-back has pretty much seen it all, from the glory years of the 60s and 70s, when Coventry ruled the roost in English rugby, to the time when the club almost shut up shop.
Like many of his generation, his love affair with rugby, and subsequently his hometown club, only began when the round-ball had been kicked into touch.
“When I was a young lad at junior school I was madly into soccer, but then I took the 11plus and, against all expectations, I passed and went to King Henry VIII Grammar School, a rugby-playing school,” he explained.
“Resisting at first, I got stuck into it and I made my first appearance at Coundon Road as a 12-year-old at a schools’ tournament.”
Rossborough went on to grace Coventry’s famous old pitch just shy of 400 times in the blue and white hoops, having made his club debut in the 1967/68 season while still at Durham University.
“Coventry were a different team then, they were one of the best club teams in Great Britain and Europe, and I suspect the world.
“We were up there with the best New Zealand and Australian teams and certainly the best French teams. We were one of the few English teams to play in France, as well as Scotland, Ireland and Wales.
“It was an easy journey on a Wednesday evening or a Saturday to go down to the valleys and then have a quick punch-up against Maesteg or Pontypool and then drown your sorrows, in the most part, after the game as you didn’t get much change out of Welsh referees.”
Denne historien er fra April 12, 2020-utgaven av The Rugby Paper.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra April 12, 2020-utgaven av The Rugby Paper.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Unbeaten Lymm put the Tykes on a leash
LYMM maintained their unbeaten start to the campaign, taking the major scalp of Leeds Tykes and ending the visitors' unblemished start.
Dramatic late win boosts leaders
A LAST-minute converted try saw Tonbridge Juddians snatch victory from the jaws of defeat at Barnes.
England need to be more consistent
I WAS at last week's game against the All Blacks and as much as I enjoyed my first visit to the stadium since the Six Nations, I couldn't help noticing a different attitude of those in control of the stadium's notification system which puts out messages to the crowd.
Cuthbert: Wales have to deliver
ALEX Cuthbert says the pressure on Wales is huge ahead of their opening Autumn Nations Series game against Fiji today.
Anyanwu heads the list of star attractions
TOP 14 transfer speculation is always thoroughly entertaining, and this season has so far been no exception.
Goldthorp can challenge Kildunne for No.15 spot
LOUGHBOROUGH Lightning head coach Nathan Smith is backing Fran Goldthorp to compete with Ellie Kildunne, right, for England's No.15 jersey.
Four-try David calls the shots for Bears
MILLIE David helped Bristol blow Leicester away after scoring four of their 10 tries at Welford Road.
Scott-Young keen to follow his father
TYPICAL of most Australians, Scott-Young Angus has fairly sunny disposition and the loose forward is confident that Saints can soon start to turn things around on the road.
When value for money is not part of the deal
ENGLAND'S bench strategy against New Zealand - goodbye \"bomb squad\", hello \"squib squad\"-has been investigated, psychoanalysed, convicted on all charges and mercilessly sentenced by the entire rugby world and its maiden aunt, so there is no earthly point in returning to the scene of the crime.
'I want to prove my worth to Bath'
OUT-OF-FAVOUR winger RuBath aridh McConnochie is hoping to use the Premiership Cup to lay down a challenge to Johann van Graan and make his selection claims impossible to ignore.
