Rugby community pays tribute to founder of Bridgend Athletic
| 50th anniversary of Bridgend Athletic later this year
Bridgend Athletic RFC has announced the passing of one of its co-founders – Brian Lewis.
A club spokesman offered sincere condolences to his wife Sheena, daughter Rachel, son in law John Carter and grandchildren Tomas and Sophie. The whole family have been staunch members of the Ath and share Brian’s passion for the Club.
Brian’s funeral is on Tuesday, 25th January 1.15pm at Coychurch Crematorium, followed by his friends and family remembering him at his beloved Athletic clubhouse.
The club tribute reads as follows:
Back in March 1972, following a tour with Bridgend Youth, Brian and Phil Rees looked at how they could keep the team together. Brian’s brother David came on board and throughout the summer they worked together putting a structure and team in place with help from the likes of Jeff Jenkins, Clive Easterbrook, Mike Rennie, Ken and Bryn Richards, Owen Laidlaw and Brian Morgan.
Brian played full back in the Green & Gold of BARFC in the very first Athletic game in September 1972 away at Nantyfyllon. Brian was also an accomplished centre. Along with Mike Webb, he was also the Ath goal kicker.
Brian captained the FirstXV for two consecutive seasons 1975-77. Later in his 20-year playing career he also captained the Third XV for three seasons 1985-88. Brian also turned out for Bridgend and Maesteg.
Unfortunately, pre 1982 no official appearance records are available. With the Ath regularly playing 40 games a season in the early years it is safe to assume Brian (fuelled by a half time fag) would have pulled on an Ath shirt over 500 times. Post 1982, Brian made 162 senior appearances (34 1st XV, 30 2nd XV and 78 3rd XV) crossing for 16 tries and contributing 138 points.
When the club was using the Brewery Field, Brian once played for Cheltenham against Bridgend and so impressed that they offered him great incentives to move to Cheltenham and play for them. Fortunately, for BARFC he resisted their overtures.
Brian was a long-term committeeman, holding the secretary position for many years. His minutes on the back of a fag packet were legendary! He was also the club handyman, doing a lot of club maintenance including the major gutting and overhaul of the current clubhouse, acquired from the WEXA.
Socially, Brian was the life and soul of the Ath and everyone will have fond memories of Brian leading the traditional post-match sing song. He had everybody standing on the seats with ‘Sunshine Mountain’ and ‘Working Man’ and ‘A Man without a Woman’ were among his specialities. Brian was also a respected member of the Bridgend Male Voice choir.
His wife Sheena along with Beryl Easterbrook, Maureen Evans and Joyce Sutton, provided the team’s post-match meals for many seasons.
Sheena is still very much involved at the Ath as a member of the newly-formed BARFC Ladies Darts team competing in the Bridgend & District league. Rachel, who was brought up in the Ath, is associated with the Ogwr Hawks where her daughter Sophie plays, and she was in early talks when BARFC and Ogwr Hawks formed an association this season. She married John Carter a former Ath player, and their son Tomas plays for the Ath M&J U13 team. John is also the father of current Wales International Megan Webb and coached her age group while she was with the Ath to U13’s.
RIP Brian. You will be sadly missed, especially during our 50th Anniversary season 2022-2023, though as above your legacy lives on with your family’s ongoing association with the Ath.
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