Tom Berry (rugby union) - Misplaced Pages

England international rugby union player

Rugby player

Tom Berry

Birth name

Joseph Thomas Wade Berry

Date of birth

17 July 1911

Place of birth

Slawston, Leicestershire, England

Date of death

1 July 1993(1993-07-01) (aged 81)

Place of death

Market Harborough, Leicestershire, England

School

Eastbourne College

Occupation(s)

Farmer

Rugby union career

Senior career
Position(s)	Flanker
Years	Team	Apps	(Points)
1932–1948	Leicester Tigers	277	(45)
International career
Years	Team	Apps	(Points)
1939	England	3	(0)

Joseph Thomas Wade Berry (17 July 1911 – 1 July 1993) was a rugby union player and administrator who appeared in 277 games for Leicester Tigers between 1932–1948, and three times for England in 1939. He was President of the Rugby Football Union for the 1968–69 season, the first person from Leicester Tigers to hold the position and was also tour manager of England's first over-seas tour in 1963.

Playing career

Berry made his Leicester Tigers debut on 5 March 1932 against Harlequins at Welford Road, Berry played No. 8 and scored a try as Tigers won 13–11. He was a regular in the team from then until the Second World War, a utility forward he featured in all five positions in back of the forward pack playing at least 24 games in each season.

Berry succeeded Bobby Barr as Leicester captain for the 1938–39 season. Berry made his England debut in the 1939 Home Nations Championship on 21 January 1939 against Wales at Twickenham. He retained his place for the whole championship as England shared the title with Wales and Ireland.

After serving in a reserved capacity during the war Berry returned to captain a much changed club. Berry lead the side in their first post-war fixture against Cardiff with the side featuring 10 debutantes. Tigers lost 12 of their first 17 fixtures but as the new side settled results improved for a seasonal record of 16 wins, 2 draws and 16 defeats.

His final game was against Blackheath at Welford Road on 17 April 1948.

Administration career

Berry represented Leicestershire Rugby Union on the RFU committee from 1953–68 and was an England selector from 1951–1966. As Chairman of Selectors, he was tour manager on England's first overseas tour to Australia and New Zealand in 1963. In 1968 he became Leicester's first President of the RFU.

Sources

Farmer, Stuart; Hands, David (2014). Tigers - Official history of Leicester Football Club. The Rugby Development Foundation. ISBN 978-0-9930213-0-5.

References

"Tom Berry". ESPNscrum. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
"Presidents of the RFU". rugbyfootballhistory.com. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
^ Farmer & Hands 2014, p. 348.
Farmer & Hands 2014, p. 103.
Farmer & Hands 2014, pp. 111–115.
"England 3 - 0 Wales (FT)". ESPNscrum. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
Farmer & Hands 2014, p. 117.
Farmer & Hands 2014, p. 123.

v t e Rugby Football Union presidents
To 1900	1871-74: A Rutter 1874-75: F Stokes 1875-76: L J Maton 1876-77, 1877-78: C D Heatley 1878-82: A. G. Guillemard 1882-84: J Maclaren 1884-86: Frederick Currey 1886-88: L Stokes 1888-89: A Budd 1889-90: Harry Garnett 1890-92: E T Gurdon 1892-94: W Cail 1894-96: Roger Walker 1896-98: R W Whalley 1898-1900: J W H Thorp
To the First World War	1900-02: Francis Hugh Fox 1902-04: M Newsome 1904-07: G R Hill 1907-09: C A Crane 1909-11: T C Pring 1911-13: A M Crook 1913-14: A Hartley
To the Second World War	1919-20: A Hartley 1920-22: E Prescott 1922-23: R Henzell 1923-24: M F Waters 1924-25: W S Donne 1925-26: H E Ferens 1926-27: J Baxter 1927-28: P Royds 1928-29: V H Cartwright 1929-30, 1930-31, 1931-32: W T Pearce 1932-33: A D Stoop 1933-34: R F Oakes 1934-35: J Milnes 1935-37: J E Greenwood 1937-39: B A Hill 1939-40: G C Robinson
To the professional era	1945-47: J Daniell 1947-48: B C Hartley 1948-49: L G Brown 1949-50: E Watts 1950-51: W Wakefield 1951-52: H Cleaver 1952-53: P Holman 1953-54: J Brunton 1954-55: W C Ramsay 1955: L Clifford 1955-56: W B Gibbs 1956-57: L B "Ginger" Osborne 1957-58: A Marshall 1958-59: J Lawson 1959-60: J A Tallent 1960-61: A T Voyce 1961-62: R G S Hobbs 1962-63: C H Gadney 1963-64: A G Butler 1964-65: L Edwards 1965-66: A Walker 1966-67: D H Harrison 1967-68: J R Locker 1968-69: J T W Berry 1969-70: D T Kemp 1970-71: W Ramsay 1971-72: T A Kemp 1972-73: R. M. A. Kingswell 1973-74: M R Steele-Bodger 1974-75: K H Chapman 1975-76: G Tarn 1976-77: R E G Jeeps 1977-78: A Wharton 1978-79: S R Couchman 1979-80: A W Ramsay 1980-81: J MACG Kendall-Carpenter 1981-82: D K Brooks 1982-83: J V Smith 1983-84: C R Jacobs 1984-85: A E Agar 1985-86: D W Shuttleworth 1986-87: A A Grimsdell 1987-88: John Burgess 1988-89: J R Simpson 1989-90: D L Sanders 1990-91: M A Pearey 1991-92: P G Yarranton 1992-93: D D Serfontein 1993-94: I D S Beer 1994-95: D H Easby
To the present day	1995-96: W J Bishop 1996-97: J T Richardson 1997-98: P G Brook 1998-99: P C Trunkfield 1999-2000: J H Addison 2000-01: D P Rogers 2001-02: R S Manock 2002-03: W G D Morgan 2003-04: R W Horner 2004-05: M S Phillips 2005-06: L C K Angel 2006-07: R A G Rogers 2007-08: B Taylor 2008-09: Brian Williams 2009-10: John Owen 2010-11: Richard Appleby 2011-12: Willie Wildash 2012-13: Paul Murphy 2015-16: Jason Leonard 2016-17: Peter Baines 2017-18: John Spencer 2018-19: Chris Kelly 2019-20: Peter Wheeler 2020-22: Jeff Blackett 2022-23: Nigel Gillingham 2023-24: Rob Briers

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