PORT-E-CHEE, SATURDAY 29 JULY
Douglas rugby club put the formal seal on their 150th celebrations with a black tie dinner at Port-e-Chee for 350 guests sponsored by Santander International. The Lieutenant Governor Sir John Lorimer and Lady Lorimer, Chief Minister and ex-Ramsey and Vagabonds captain Alf Cannan and RFU Vice president Rob Briers were joined by thirty-one ex Douglas captains spanning a 68-year history. 94-year old Peter Ventre was the most senior, Peter Frogley travelled from France for the event, and Steve Cooil made a rare appearance despite a recent shoulder operation. Harry Owens, Brian King and Mark Solly helped recent octogenarian Paul Kermode mark the occasion, and others to go the extra mile were Stuart Robbins, Rob Heginbotham, Mike Hebden and Richard Forster from England, and Geraint Maddox with wife Allison from Wales. Old foes and friends Nigel Callow, Jim Nicolson, Adie Kinrade, Murray Cringle and Tic Connolly from Vagabonds were very welcome guests, and Austin Foxe from Clontarf rugby club, soon to celebrate their own 150th, spoke eloquently in congratulating Douglas.
Award winners included Simon Hoddinott (Player of the Year), John Dutnall (Most Improved), Luke Hyland (Top Points) and Sam McCord (Top Try Scorer), with DRUFC Life Membership awarded to Margie McGee and floral presentations to Anne Howarth, Deborah Snellgrove and Sian Killey. Magician Lee Hathaway entertained throughout the evening, catered for by the excellent Woodbourne House team, and a video montage of famous faces from around the globe congratulated Douglas on the 150th achievement. The big screens aired the Douglas v Birkenhead Pk 1984 Cheshire Cup match and the 2001 Manx Cup tie versus Vagabonds, and included an interview with Adam Fogerty of boxing, rugby league and acting fame. Fogerty’s stint at Douglas in the 1980’s started at the tender age of 14, and at 16 he was in the side at second-row for the 1986 Cheshire Cup match at Anselmians.
The Lieutenant Governor’s address was hugely entertaining, especially since handicapped by a lack of reading light for his notes, and we discovered later from Lady Lorimer that the Governor had been really unwell through the course of the day and evening. The MyName5Doddie foundation to find a cure for Motor Neurone Disease was the beneficiary via an auction of signed Doddie Weir items, and sale of the signed DRUFC 1873-2023 book to Jasper Kirkpatrick took the total over £2000.
