Birkenhead Park RFC

It is with great sadness that the club has to report the death of long standing Park member John Pursglove on Friday 22nd May after a short illness.

 

John was 85 and and he joined the Club from St Anselm’s College in 1959. He skippered the College at both rugby and cricket and also captained the Cheshire Schools XV. He represented the 1stXV at Park in the 1960’s when Park were still a force on the national scene playing as a tenacious flanker with the likes of Jim Crowe, John Campbell, Tim Vincent and David Airey.

 

John’s younger brother Norman soon followed him into the Park ranks and both remained members and great supporters of the club for over 65 years. John was a talented all round sportsman playing squash to a high level and he was a low handicap golfer at Royal Liverpool where he was a member for over 50 years.

After retiring from rugby John maintained his keen interest in the club serving on the Committee and he helped for many years with the North of England Schools Sevens Tournament. John became a Vice President and also a keen member of the Seniors group who held regular lunches to raise funds for rugby coaching in the local schools. Anyone who attended these lunches in John’s company will testify to his infectious humour and great prowess as a raconteur – in particular he enjoyed great afternoons with his close pals Jim Crowe, George Wadham and Peter Lambert.

 

In business he trained as a QS and went on to be a partner at Sykes Waterhouse specialising in Commercial Property.

 

John will be very sadly missed by everyone who knew him and our sincere condolences go to his partner Jilly and brother Norman. Funeral details will be advised in due course.