Wigton has been paying tribute to one of the town’s favourite sporting sons, Brian Reay, whose funeral was held on Thursday.
Brian, 69, was an outstanding rugby player who figured in some of the club’s finest hours on the rugby field.
Team-mates and friends have been recalling his many qualities before and after the funeral service at St Mary’s Church, Wigton, which was followed by committal at Carlisle Crematorium.
Raymond Graham, a former Wigton captain said: “Maybe once in your lifetime you’ll come across someone who just has it all, the looks, the charm and the sporting prowess.
“Brian Reay was one of these people. One of the nicest men you could ever meet, he possessed a great sense of humour, was a sportsman through and through and could have excelled at any sport he wished to try, cricket, golf, tennis, squash. For those of us who played rugby, we were just lucky he chose rugby.
“Brian was just naturally gifted, broad shouldered and high stepping. In full flow he was almost impossible to stop. What made him even more special was the fact he was so fiercely competitive, the harder the opponent the more he relished the challenge.
“It is no surprise that in the club’s most famous game it was Brian who had the biggest influence on the match. Fifteens or sevens, it didn’t matter, he was just outstanding on a rugby field.
“We were all richer for his presence and now poorer for his loss. RIP Brian and thank you for the memories.”
Mike Blake said: “I was in awe of him as a schoolboy and I knew that to try and emulate him was the way to go for me.”
David Miller said: “He was a wonderful rugby player and team-mate , a sure support in the most difficult of games.”
Eddie Little commented: “As a sportsman he was talented in all he had a go at. A man you could share the ups and downs of rugby with and never be found wanting ”
Mike Fell added: ” I always credited Brian with the by-line ‘Calypso Rugby’ which epitomised the way he wanted to play rugby at the time – open running rugby and from behind your own line if you wanted.
“For me, this summed up Brian – he never took life too seriously, performed everything with a sense of enjoyment and a whole lot of style.”
In his early days at school, he was a prominent athlete, coached by a quality rugby coach of the time. He showed lots of promise, on occasion captaining the school 1st XV. Leaving school it was a natural step to join Wigton Rugby club where he developed into the all-round rugby player he was.
After school he joined the family-run newsagents and as his rugby career ran to a close established a squash/ fitness centre in Wigton, coupled with establishing a similar centre in Egremont.
On retirement Brian became a Blue Badge guide for visitors based in Keswick. He had completed all the Wainwright walks in his 50’s and 60’s and was intent on completing them again in his 70’s, sadly not to be.
He has the distinction of being one of two people to captain Wigton first team on two occasions in differing decades – the other being Keith Warwick.
Among the notable games Brian played in were a Presdents XV v England Under 23s at Kendal.
This game was to celebrate the centenary of Cumberland and Westmorland rugby union and ironically was the final game the counties would be known as the “Twin Counties” thereafter to be known as “Cumbria”
In the England Under 23s side were players who would later go on to represent the full England side with some notable names including Geoff Evans, Steve Smith, Dusty Hare, Peter Squires ,John Horton, and Phil Blakeway.
The Presidents XV won 28-25 when Brian was among five Wigton players in the side – Keith Warwick, Brian Reay, Alan Fell, Kenny Bell and David Dewis.
And of course there was the memorable Wigton v Sale game in which the Green won 24-7, with Brian scoring nine of those points.
There were a series of County Cup winners medals and 7’s winners all around the North of England. A notable one was when Wigton reached the final of the first of the year Scottish senior 7s at Earlston only to lose to Kelso who fielded several full Scottish internationals at full XVs level.
Brian leaves wife Ann and three children Victoria, Andrew and Christian and grandchildren.
Donations are to be divided between the Children’s Liver Disease Foundation and the Rob Burrow Foundation MND.
