A founder member and past captain of Bridgnorth Rugby Club has passed away peacefully in his sleep in Canada. Phil Bladen, who was in his 70s, and had lived in Saskatchewan for several years, was a physical education teacher at Bridgnorth Secondary Modern School – now Oldbury Wells School.
“The club owes a great deal of gratitude to Phil and also to Roy Colburn, who were jointly responsible for bringing rugby to Bridgnorth in 1961/62,” said Bridgnorth RFC stalwart and former president Bob Turner.
“Phil had played for Stourbridge and Roy came from Ross-on-Wye and were both surprised to find no rugby played in the area,” added Bob.
“Phil introduced rugby to the school and and he and Roy but ad advert in the Journal in December 1961 to see if anyone was interested in joining a new club.
“The first training session, at Crown Meadow, was called for January 4, 1962 and that evening at the Black Horse Bridgnorth Rugby Club was born,” he recalled. “The rest is history.”
