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Colin William McFadyean
was born on 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
made his debut for
Clifton
against the French 1st Division club Stade Marmande of
Bordeaux
while on a tour of
France
in 1962, and scored two tries in a 16-11 win.
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.
Colin
McFadyean was captain of the 1965
Loughborough
College
team that lost the final of the Middlesex Sevens to London Scottish 15-8.
Standing
(L-R): ?, Norman Barker, Alan Dobbins, Dave Rollitt, Ron Tennick, ?. Crouching:
Geoff Davies, Colin McFadyean, Gerald Davies.
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.
He
won eleven caps for
England
, the last two as captain. His caps were won in succession while a club player
at Moseley
. He scored a drop goal against
Scotland
on 19th March 1966, and tries against
Ireland
on 11th February 1967, a brace against
Scotland
on 18th March 1967 and another in his first match as 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.
He
toured with the British Lions in 1966 to
Australia
,
New Zealand
and
Canada
. A disappointing tour saw four tests lost to the All Blacks, the highlight of
the tour being the 31-0 win against Australia in Brisbane on 4th
June.
 Back
Row (L-R): D.Rutherford (England), A.R.Lewis (Wales), D.K.Jones (Wales),
D.L.Powell (England), K.W.Kennedy (Ireland), S.J.Watkins (Wales), D.Grant
(Scotland), C.M.H.Gibson (Ireland), C.W.McFadyean (England), S.Wilson
(Scotland), F.A.Laidlaw (Scotland). Middle Row: K.F.Savage (England), H.Norris
(Wales), D.Williams (Wales), R.A.Lamont (Ireland), W.J.McBride (Ireland),
B.Price (Wales), W.D.Thomas (Wales), F.P.K.Bresnihan (Ireland), G.Prothero
(Wales), A.J.W.Hinshelwood (Scotland). Front Row: D.Watkins (
Wales
), D.I.Bebb (
Wales
), R.J.McLoughlin (
Ireland
), J.W.Telfer (
Scotland
), Mr D.J.O'Brian (hon. manager), M.J.Campbell-Lamerton (capt.) (
Scotland
), Mr J.D.Robins (hon.assistant to manager), A.E.I.Pask (
Wales
), M.P.Weston (
England
), N.A.Murphy (
Ireland
), R.M.Young (
Ireland
). Absent: J.C.Walsh (
Ireland
)
Above
the 1966 Bristol Lions with ex Clifton RFC player Colin McFadyean.
The
England
team that played
Wales
on 20th January 1968, Colin McFadyean’s first match as
England
captain. (L-R) Back Row: D.W. Brown (touch judge), B.W. Redwood (
Bristol
), B. Keen (
Newcastle
University
), D.H. Prout (
Northampton
), R.H. Lloyd (Harlequins), B.R. West (
Northampton
), M.J. Parsons (
Northampton
), D.J. Gay (
Bath
), R.B. Hiller (Harlequins), M.J. Coulman, D.P. d'Arcy (referee). Seated: P.J.
Bell (Blackheath
), J.F. Finlan (Moseley), C.W. McFadyean [captain] (Moseley),
J.V. Pullin (
Bristol
), P.J. Larter (
Northampton
), K.F. Savage (
Northampton
).
In
1991 he became head coach at
Bristol
and then Cleve, until sidelined by a knee replacement in 2000. In 2001
McFadyean was Deputy Head of
Ilminster
Avenue
Primary School
in
Bristol
.
At
the launch of the book For College, Club & Country – A History of Clifton
Rugby Football match last year I met Colin. He got out of his pocket a trivial
pursuit he had kept. “I can’t believe I found this question”, he said,
“Which England captain has never won or lost a game in charge”. I’d never
thought about it before. Colin must be the only
England
captain to hold this honour unless someone knows otherwise.
email: patrick.casey@cliftonrfchistory.co.uk
http://sites.google.com/site/caseybooks/
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The
Rugby History Society