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John Jeavons-Fellows

John Jeavons-Fellows

User 137328720 Jun 2017 - 13:24
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7th April 1939 to 16th May 2017

Club patriarch John Jeavons-Fellows died peacefully in his sleep on Tuesday aged 78.

A former Captain and President of the Club, John, along with wife Jackie, has been a leading light in the Club for nearly sixty years and the energy behind many of the club’s major fund raising and development initiatives.

An old boy of King Edward VIth Grammar School, Stourbridge, he was playing 1st XV rugby for Stourbridge RFC by the age of eighteen.

John organised the first Stourbridge RFC Tour when he was just nineteen and went on to lead many more tours, the most significant being international tours to Canada in 1977 and South Africa in 1980.

John Captained the Club in 1965 when it moved from Wollaston to Stourton and was President in the Club’s centenary year.

His impact off the pitch has been significant, having masterminded various stages of development that have provided the magnificent Clubhouse we enjoy today.

His vision for club improvement was matched by commercial acumen and innovative fundraising approaches that included the Century Club, the Debenture Club and a loan note scheme to underwrite the major clubhouse redevelopment in 2003. He also created, and for most of its history, ran the Club’s May Lunch which is now our most effective annual fundraiser. John’s most recent development was to develop the ‘memorial wall’ and extended carpark overlooking the Lions pitch. Central to all of these successes was his attention to detail and careful project management.

He was always keen for Stourbridge to have a profile in the national game and it was through his work that Stourbridge became the training venue for England’s Grand Slam winning team of 1980, cementing the Club as a favourite destination for an era of international rugby stars.

Away from Stourbridge he shaped rugby during a period of seismic change.

As a local rugby administrator with Stourbridge, Worcestershire & Herefordshire and then the North Midlands he saw the challenges of arranging fixtures in a period when the ‘old club’ network meant more than the quality of your team. He was influential in creating the local merit leagues before, as Chairman of the RFU’s Competitions committee he designed and implemented England’s national league structure in 1987: a pyramid that provides fixtures for all Clubs and progression on merit.

It gave him huge satisfaction, on many levels, to be able to witness Stourbridge Lions achieve promotion this season by winning away at Newcastle under Lyme - the last rugby match he attended.

John also understood the importance of competition for England’s national team. As the nations’ representative on the International Rugby Board during the 1990s he recognised that the Five Nations competitions alone were not providing the rigour needed if England were to ever win a World Cup.

It was John who saw that the Webb Ellis Cup could only be lifted if England were able to beat the Southern hemisphere nations on three consecutive weekends. With the backing of the Union, and England’s coach, Clive Woodward, he used his international contacts to create the Autumn International series (a fourth fixture being added at the request of Clive Woodward as a ‘warm up’) and the punishing Southern Hemisphere summer touring schedule. Although many questioned the wisdom, particularly after the 1998 ‘Tour From Hell’, the vindication for John’s vision came with Martin Johnson’s all conquering squad and England’s 2003 World Cup victory.

These innovations created lasting wealth for England Rugby and John’s various roles in local, national, European and global rugby saw him negotiate ground breaking TV and sponsorship deals including Sky as a broadcaster and Heineken as European rugby sponsor.

In 1997 he was part of the British Lions management team for the 1997 tour to South Africa.

His massive contribution to rugby, during a period of radical change, brought him good times and lasting friendships in abundance around the world.

However John’s greatest love was always Stourbridge Rugby, and his greatest joy came from his family continuing to be involved in the Club.

All three of his sons, Harry, Tom & Dick were amongst the Club’s first cohort of mini rugby players and went on to appear for the 1st XV. Tom Captained the side for two seasons from 1993 winning the North Midlands Cup in 1995 with Harry playing alongside him.

More recently John was immensely proud when six of his grandsons, (Jack, George, Ben, Charlie, and Alfie and Zac) all took part in the Boxing Day fixtures last Christmas and even more so when the Colts, led by Alfie with Zac and Charlie, won the Fred Rowley Cup at Walsall two weeks ago.

In addition to Stourbridge he maintained memberships with Dudley Kingswinford, Old Halesonians and Randwick, NSW.

Service of Thanksgiving
A service of thanksgiving for the life of John Jeavons-Fellows will be held at St Mary’s, Old Swinford, Stourbridge, DY8 2HA at 2pm on Friday 2nd June and afterwards at Stourbridge Rugby Club.

No flowers or donations - Thank you

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