As President of Ponteland Rugby Football Club, it is my privilege to say a few words about Bob on behalf of the Club. This is a collection stories from various friends of Bob and their memories of him.

Bob was always involved in Rugby Football Union and this was demonstrated no more than when he was captured during the second world war and was a prisoner of war in North Africa from 1942-1945. There he learnt the laws of the game of Rugby Football Union and organised games amongst the other prisoners of war. There weren’t any rugby footballs around during the war and so they improvised with a large rock instead. Difficult to pass but ensured there was no kicking in those games.

Upon returning from the war, Bob worked in road transport and typical of the man, worked tirelessly in his managerial role and his efforts were rewarded with an MBE in November 1978.

An article in the Evening Chronicle read
Rommel’s Afrika Korps gave Robert V Hughes a somewhat jaundiced view of international transportation. The Newcastle artilleryman, a veteran of the Dunkirk evacuation went “into the bag” in the Western Desert in November 1942 and remained a prisoner of war until April 1945.

Since the war he has been closely concerned with road transport in a more pleasant environment. His particular field has been International Permit Work and the importance of his function was reflected in the setting up of the International Road Freight Office, of which he was Manager.

Bob retired in 1978 and on 2nd November he attended Buckingham Palace to receive the MBE.

From 1952 onwards Bob was involved with the Municipal College of Commerce Rugby Football Club. Their home pitch was ‘The Heath’ next to the old Princess Mary Maternity Hospital on The Great North Road, where several years later Bob’s great friend Bill Snaith’s daughter Susan would be running the line for the college games.
1956/7 season at the College of Commerce Rugby Football Club, Bob was assistant Secretary and 3rd team captain. That season he issued 9 sets of rugby instructions consisting of 24 foolscap pages covering Forward and Back play.

1959 Bob was tasked with liaising with Rutherford College of Technology to merge their rugby with the College of Commerce.
Bob continued to drive the club forward and eventually got the Principals of the six local colleges to come together and form one club called Newcastle City Colleges.

In 1959 he was tasked to recruit 15 year olds leaving Middle Street Commercial School to stop them dropping out of rugby – some things never change !

In Aug 1959 the College was putting out 4 teams. Bob was asked to view an additional pitch at nearby Castle Farm. His report states:
“It was out of the question due to the lack of changing facilities. The posts and pitch wer’ in any case, junior in size and it seemed better suited for hill farming than rugby”

He was made Hon Secretary of Newcastle City Colleges 1960 onwards. At the AGM in 1960/1 which was held at the Crown Hotel, Newcastle, the 2nd XV Captain was proposed – Mr T W Snaith
In March 1960 Bob proposed that rather than pay overnight accommodation for a game v Musselburgh (Edinburgh) they should return on the same day and the money be spent on purchasing three Firkins of beer.

In 1966 Bob continued as Hon Secretary and a new selector of the club was appointed Mr T W Snaith. Bob writes in the minutes of the 1966 AGM:
“Team Secretary – Bill Snaith. Besides being at the receiving end of ‘call offs’ – a somewhat depressing job – he is also a man of many parts – referee, touch judge, coach and on many occasions has had to turn out and play at a moment’s notice for one of the three teams that found itself a player short.”

When the College was not doing so well Bob gained the involvement of T. Campbell Laidlaw and Andrew Laidlaw who assisted Bob in keeping the club going in these difficult times, although they were running six teams! Soon the club had to move to a new home at Bullocksteads, but only for a short while.

Between 1966– 67 the college side continued through difficult times. The Club was made up of students from College of Art & Design / College of Commerce / College of Further Education / Charles Trevelyan Technical College / Northern Counties Training College and Rutherford College of Technology. The colleges started to remove their funding and were looking to set up their own Sporting sections – ultimately Newcastle College and Northumbria University.

At the end of the 1966/1967 season Bob and Bill, that now famous double act, were approached by the management team of the newly developed Sports Centre in Ponteland. Councillor R Gill invited Bob to the inaugural meeting 7th June 1967 at the Sports Centre. Bob accepted the invitation and he was accompanied by Dr Nicholson.
At this meeting Bob submitted applications for seven players plus remittance. They discussed expanding the number of teams and also the number of pitches and Bob ensured that the cost to the players was less than surrounding clubs, in order to encourage new members.

Thus, Ponteland Rugby Football Union Club was founded.

Bob took the role of Fixture Secretary as was always pushing the boundaries and continually expanding the number of teams and the standard of the fixtures for the club. In the days well before leagues, Ponteland RFC used to play across Cumbria, The Borders, Edinburgh, Yorkshire as well as local fixtures in Northumberland and Durham. It was quite obvious that Bob liked a bus trip to all parts of the North of England and Scotland.

However, in those early days as a ‘junior’ club it was difficult to get fixtures against the ‘senior’ clubs 1st teams in the county and we had to be content with playing their second teams regardless of the number of times we had beaten them previously. This did not deter Bob and he remorselessly continued to contact these clubs until we eventually were rewarded with some senior 1st team fixtures. Bob was extremely proud of the development and progression of the club from those early days to the force that we are today.

Bob was always keen to fill the fixture list and it was his quest to ensure that there never was a vacant Saturday throughout the season, even over the Christmas period. Therefore, our hearts used to sink when Bob announced that he had managed to secure the traditional fixtures against North Shields, home and away, on Boxing Day and New Years Day !!

Bob was an extremely able Fixture Secretary and Hon Fixture Secretary for the Club and served many Past Presidents of the club including, Bill Hedley, Les Cockburn and Geoff Baty to name but a few. In the committee meetings the item for ‘fixtures’ was always an extended item. However, Bob always saved the best till last and always had several critical issues to raise in ‘Any Other Business’, when the rest of us were desperate for a beer.

Bob was always keen to keep in touch with the players. Nigel Davison recalls, when he was 1st XV Vice captain/Captain, how Bob would always phone him up on a Sunday evening for a lengthy chat about the previous day’s game and fixtures going forward.

Wes and Andy recall how Bob popped into their office one Friday in St Mary’s Place and asked if they were available for a chat about the Club. Off they went on that familiar route across the road to Luckies Bar and took a table in the corner. It was a Friday afternoon and it was packed with students, but this did not deter Bob. Much to Wes and Andy’s amazement Bob ordered them coffees and then asked the barman to turn the juke box down as they had serious club business to discuss!!

I first met Bob in 1975 when encouraged to play the Colts Team at Club by Captain Simon Dixon and of course managed by Bill Snaith. Bob appeared as a senior statesman of the club, an older member and an Alicado !

And now, many of us are of the age when I first met Bob and we are wearing that Alicado regalia. We have the responsibility to ensure that the foundations for the club laid down by Bob, are continually built upon and extended as he would have wished.

In March 1984 Bob set up a Youth Committee with others including – Wes Dixon, Bill Snaith, Tony Roddis & George Salmon. Latterly, with the particular help of Wes Dixon and Andy Lawson the Junior and Mini sections of the club were also formed. Now it is a vibrant and enthusiastic hotbed of rugby every Sunday morning with hundreds of kids enjoying their rugby at the Club.

Bob would be particularly proud, as we are, of Callum Chick, who has been part of Ponteland RFC for all his playing days and has just captained England U18s and is about to become a professional rugby player with Newcastle Falcons, playing at Kingston Park next to Bullocksteads. He would also have been proud of Dan Marshall another Ponteland player who turns professional in the summer and joins Callum at Newcastle Falcons.

Between 1981 and 1986 Bob spent a huge amount of time and energy on a matter that almost caused the club to fold. Because of the issues around Liquor Licensing the Sports Centre bar only opened at 5:30pm on Saturdays. This meant that refreshments could not be provided for the opposition. Whilst he arranged with the school to use the “Hut”, meetings and legal letters flew around. The council wouldn’t budge and also refused to allow the rugby & cricket club to build their own clubhouse adjoining the Sports Centre. In June 1983, in frustration Bob wrote “we should go political on this matter and canvas all 33 councillors and go to the press” Numerous articles then appeared in local newspapers pushing the rugby club’s case and in the end the Council relented and an early licence was granted.

In 1985 Bob was still Hon Fixture Secretary of the Club and in 1999 he was made Honorary Life Vice President and in 2002 the Club Trophy Cabinet was named in his honour.

Up until February 2015, Bob, club benefactor in all senses of the word, was always keen to know how Ponteland RFC was doing, at all age groups and wanted the club to succeed, prosper and mostly enjoy the game of rugby football.

As another rugby man, sadly no longer with us, Andy Ripley, stated:
You can earn a living from what you get,
But you can only get a life, from what you give

Bob gave a huge amount of his time, commitment and life to Ponteland Rugby Football Club to which all the hundreds of past and present players owe a huge debt. We are all so fortunate to have had Bob as one of us in Ponteland Rugby Football Club.

As Bob’s great friend of over 60 years, Bill Snaith, said:
Bob was a shy, reserved, polite and a quiet man who, it was a privilege to have known and worked with, and to have him as a friend.

Cheerio Bob and Thanks