Clifton RFC History -Colin McFadyean

Colin William McFadyean chosen for England while playing for Moseley. Born 11th March 1943 in Plymouth.

He went to Bristol Grammar School and started his club rugby at Clifton while still at School in 1962. A story, from a friend, from his time at Bristol Grammar goes

Colin was flyhalf for the First XV at BGS, and I first saw him play at Golden Hill. I remember him collecting the ball behind his own posts and accelerating so quickly that he collided with a post and snapped it at its root clean out of the ground as he continued running clearing the ball to touch.

Playing scrum half with him was the legendary Dave Polly Perkins, a friend to the world itself, who has lead a distinguished life as has Colin both in rugby and teaching.

When Colin played flyhalf for BGS against St Brendans School, opposite him was Brendan Perry, father of Matt Perry, who also played for England. The master in charge of the first XV, Mr David Trott said to me, "Rees", for it was I, " you are watching the future fly halfs of England."

He was almost right, as it took another generation for Matt Perry to fulfil that side of the equation, be it from full back and for Bath RFC.

He scored 2 tries on his debut for Clifton against the French 1st Division Club Stade Marmande of Bordeaux 16-11 while on a tour of France. A tour more noted for the boisterous nature of the players. This started when the team coach arrived at the hotel in Bordeaux and found that the coach couldn't park outside because the road was too narrow and there were 2 cars standing in front of it. Everyone got off the coach and picked up the 2 cars and moved them bodily. Two of the party then decided to visit every pub in the area. They arrived later at a Civic reception, given by the Mayor of Bordeaux, in no fit condition, one passed out. The next day during the match the other player, with a huge hangover, asked the Clifton captain, Mike Moss, which direction he was playing. Later on at another evening reception, halfway through a speech felt unwell and had to retire to the public gardens in front of the Town Hall. On the return journey 2 players lost their trousers out of the coach window. McFadyean also suffered the same fate and the hotel was not impressed by two trouserless gentlemen who tried to knock up the night porter, having been shut out by the rest of the Club party.

Above the Clifton and Marmandise sides that played on 22nd April 1962. Colin McFadyeans debut for Clifton. He scored 2 tries in an 18-12 win for Clifton. He is standing third from the left.

Above a close-up of the 19 year old Colin McFadyean in the Clifton and Marmandise photo.

Colin McFadyean was captain of the 1965 Loughborough Colleges side that lost the final of the Middlesex 7's to London Scottish 15-8

He captained England twice on 20th Jan 1968 v Wales and 10th Feb 1968 v Ireland. These 2 matches saw both England Centres being players who started with Clifton.

Colin's 11 International caps were all won in succession while playing at Moseley. He scored a drop goal against Scotland on 19th March 1966. His tries were scored , v Ireland on 11th February 1967 and 2 tries against Scotland on 18th March 1967 and in his first match as captain v Wales on 20th January 1968. He toured with the British Lions in 1966 to

Australia

New Zealand

and

Canada

. The Lions lost 4 tests to the All Blacks. The highlight of a disappointing tour was the 31-0 win over Australia in Brisbane on 4th June 1966.

Above programme cover and draw for the Middlesex 7's won by London Scottish 15-8 who beat a Loughborough Colleges side captained by Clifton RFC player Colin McFadyean. Also in the Loughborough side was future Bristol captain Dave Rollitt.

Above teams that played in the 1965 Middlesex 7's. Ex Clifton RFC players Steve Richards also played for Richmond and Bob Lloyd played for Harlequins.

Above the Loughborough Colleges side captained by Clifton RFC player Colin McFadyean which lost to London Scottish 15-8 in the final of the Middlesex 7's. Loughborough did win the Middlesex 7's the following season although it was without Colin McFadyean.

Above programme cover and teamsheet for the Devon v Somerset match played on 13th November 1965. Somerset won 16-3

Above ticket for the England v Ireland match at Twickenham on 12th February 1966. Ex Clifton RFC player Colin McFadyean's debut for England

Above programme cover and teamsheet for England v Ireland on 12th February 1966. Colin McFadyean's debut for England.

Above programme cover and team sheet for the

France

England

match on 26th February 1966. Colin McFadyeans 2nd cap for England.

Above action from the France v England match on 26th February 1966 with Colin McFadyean.

Above programme cover and team sheet for Colin McFadyeans 3rd cap for

England

Scotland

on 19th March 1966 at Murrayfield. Scotland won 6-3. Colin McFadyean scored a drop goal in this match, his first points for England.

Above the signatures of all the 1966 British Lions who went to Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Colin McFadyean is No.12.

The 1966 Lions tour lasted two days short of five months and involved 35 matches in Australia, New Zealand and Canada. It was marred by controversy, being over-long, a tough itinerary, and with failures in selection and tactical direction.

Above the programme cover and team sheet from the British Lions v Otago match on June 18th 1966. Otago won 17-9 with ex Clifton RFC player Colin McFadyean scoring a try for the Lions. This was the 3rd match on the Lions tour of New Zealand.

Above programme cover and team sheet from the British Lions v Wellington match on 25th June 1966 with ex Clifton RFC player Colin McFadyean. Wellington won 20-6. This was the 5th match on the Lions tour of New Zealand.

There were accusations of bias during the tour and was sometimes so blatant as to be laughable, according to Dai Watkins, the brilliant Welsh fly-half. It was typified when Pat Murphy, the New Zealander who had charge of the whole 1966 series, whistled against the Lions to stop a certain try in the second Test in Wellington well after Colin McFadyean had broken clear, only to award them a penalty 65 yards back. "We were trailing 8-6 in the mud with 20 minutes left and a try then would have put us in a very strong position," Watkins says. "We complained bitterly to the international board and asked them to replace Murphy, but they refused.

Above programme cover and teamsheet of the 3rd test of

New Zealand

v British Lions at Christchurch with ex Clifton RFC player Colin McFadyean. It was 6-6 at half-time but New Zealand won 19-6

Above programme and team sheet from the Bristish Lions v New Zealand Juniors on 31st August 1966 with ex Clifton RFC player Colin McFadyean. The British Lions won 9-3. This was the 22nd game on the Lions tour of New Zealand.

Above programme cover and teamsheet from the British Lions v on 3rd September 1966 with ex Clifton RFC player Colin McFadyean. The British Lions won 20-9. This was the 23rd game on the Lions tour of New Zealand.

Above programme cover and team sheet for the 4th, and final, test of

New Zealand

v British Lions with ex Clifton RFC player Colin McFadyean. A crowd of 58,000 watched New Zealand win 24-11. This match provided, at the time, record gate receipts of £43,000 for any match in New Zealand's rugby history. Colin McFadyean scored the Lions 2nd try and the Lions were winning the match at half time 10-8. This was the 25th game on the Lions tour of New Zealand.

Above programme from the Cornwall v Somerset match played on 12th November 1966 with ex Clifton RFC player Colin McFadyean playing for Somerset.

Above programme cover and teamsheet for the England v Australia match on January 7th 1967 with Clifton's Steve Richards and Colin McFadyean. Australia won 23-11.

Above front and back of ticket from the England v Australia match on January 7th 1967 with Clifton's Steve Richards and Colin McFadyean.

Above Dinner held after the England v Australia match on January 7th 1967 with Clifton's Steve Richards and Colin McFadyean.

Above programme cover and team sheet for Colin McFadyean's 5th cap for

England

Ireland

on 11th February 1967 at Lansdowne Road. England won 8-3. The match also featured ex Clifton RFC player Steve Richards winning his sixth cap for England. This match was won with a lucky bounce and a fast chase for Colin McFadyean to score his first try for England.

Above the England v France team That lost 12-16 on 25th February 1967 with ex Clifton players Steve Richards and Colin McFadyean. A team that had 8 Midlands players and 5 with South West connections (3 Bristol and Richards, ex Clifton College and Clifton RFC, and McFadyean, ex Bristol Grammar and Clifton RFC)

Above programme cover and team sheet for the

England

France

match played on 25th February 1967.

Above programme cover and team sheet from the

England

Scotland

match on 18th March 1967. England won 27-14 and Colin McFadyean scored 2 tries. Also in the side was ex Clifton RFC player Steve Richards.

Above left Colin McFadyean’s first try for

England

Scotland

. Above right Colin McFadyean’s second try for

England

Scotland

under the posts on 18th March 1967.

Above the England team v Wales on 15th April 1967. Steve Richards last match for England and Colin McFadyean's 8th.

This game for England is memorable as being the debut for Wales of an 18 year old Keith Jarrett. The Newport player had only left Monmouth School a couple of months earlier finding himself selected in the unaccustomed position of full-back. He kicked 7 penalties out of 8 and scored a 50 yard solo try. At the time this equaled the Welsh International record for most points (19) scored in a match.

Above programme cover and team sheet from Colin McFadyeans 8th cap and Steve Richards last match for

England

Wales

on 15th April 1967

Above programme cover and teamsheet from the England v New Zealand match on 4th November 1967.

Keith Savage races through the All Black defence passes to Colin McFadyean who passes to Bob Lloyd who scores one of the greatest ever trys against the All Blacks on 4th November 1967. As was the fashion in those days players just walked back after scoring and there was no hugging.

Above programme cover and teamsheet for the Devon v Somerset match played on 25th November 1967. Somerset won 12-5

Above programme cover and teamsheet from the England v The Rest match played on 6th January 1968 at Twickenham. The match featured ex Clifton players Colin McFadyean and Bob LLoyd on the England side.

Above the England team that played Wales on 20th January 1968. Colin McFadyeans debut as England captain. A side that featured 5 Northampton players.

Above the programme cover and team sheet from Colin McFadyean's first game as

England

Captain against

Wales

on 20th January 1968.

Above ticket from Colin McFadyean’s first game as

England

Captain against

Wales

on 20th January 1968.

Above Colin McFadyean's final try for

England

on his debut as captain v

Wales

on 20th January 1968.

Above the programme cover and teamsheet from Colin McFadyean's second and last game as

England

Captain against

Ireland

on 10th February 1968. Also ex Clifton RFC player Bob Lloyd playing his third match for England.

Above Press Association photograph of Colin McFadyean dated January 23rd 1970. The caption read "A new action picture of COLIN McFADYEAN (Moseley), the half-Scot who captained England only to be dropped midway through the 1968 programme, comes back to challenge Roger Shackleton for the fly-half place in tomorrow's (Saturday) final Rugby trial at Twickenham. McFadyean has always been at three-quarter before in England sides, and he came on as a wing replacement when West Midlands met the Springboks recentley".

In 1991 he became head coach at Bristol and then Cleve until he was sidelined by a knee replacement in 2000.

In 2001 McFadyean was Deputy Head of Ilminster Avenue Primary School, Knowle West, Bristol. On July 3rd 2001 the Bristol Evening Post said

LION'S SCHOOL PRIDE

FORMER British Lion rugby player Colin McFadyean is in the headlines once again as one of the local heroes of Knowle West.

The deputy head teacher of Ilminster Avenue Primary School is inspiring a new generation of children.

In the 1960s Colin played centre for the British Lions on a fivemonth tour of Australia, New Zealand and Canada and was captain of the England team from 1966 to 1968.

Colin, now 58, qualified as a teacher in 1965. He had a number of jobs including becoming the deputy director of the National Sports Centre at Lilleshall before returning to teaching.

He joined Ilminster Avenue two years ago and friends initially reacted with horror when they realised where he was going. But Colin knows he made the right decision.

Head teacher Miss Margaret Powell is leading the school from strength to strength.

Colin, who featured in a national newspaper story on people who are improving Knowle West, said:

"What we're doing is very valuable."

Exam results are still below the national average but getting better.

Fifteen per cent of families in Knowle West have a child with a chronic long-term illness or physical disability compared with six per cent of families in Bristol.

Colin said: "I'm not underplaying current problems. We have difficult pupils to deal with. It is a challenge but we are trying to turn the school around. We have a very good head teacher and a very good young staff. Everybody is very positive."

A poster of the British Lions tour of Australia graces the wall in Colin's classroom.

Though modest about his sporting achievements, he uses his rugby days as a teaching aid.

He said: "Children learn best when they are interested and motivated and sport motivates them.

"There aren't many men in primary education and it is good, particularly for the boys, to have a sporting role model."

Colin, the coach for the Bristol rugby team in 1990, has a keen interest in all sports which he encourages his pupils to play.

In July 2002 he met Tony Blair at 10 Downing Street, drawing on his rugby-playing schooldays, the Prime Minister, recalled that sporting hero Colin used to be "very fast". Thirty-five years later the teacher was still quick off the mark. "We've come on a mission for Knowle West," he announced.

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