Respect, that’s what everyone had for Harry

THE funeral of Coventry Rugby Club legend Harry ‘H’ Walker was held at Holy Trinity Church on Tuesday as his life was remembered and celebrated.

Harry was England’s oldest-surviving international and his name was synonymous with Coventry and Warwickshire rugby for his outstanding contribution to the game, both on and off the pitch.

Coventry Rugby team manager Tony Gulliver was one of the pallbearers for Harry who sadly passed away in June at the magnificent age of 103 after a short time in hospital.

Gulliver told BBC Coventry and Warwickshire, “It’s a very sad time. I’ve had some great times with Harry, both on and off the pitch, he was a hard man but fair as well, he loved his forwards.

“I have based my management style on him and how I treat the players now and I’m probably not quite as hard as he was but he was a good man. It was an absolute honour when Richard asked me to be a pallbearer, it took me back to start with, it was very emotional.

“He asked me to organise the rest of the pallbearers together with the remit of them being players that I played with in the 80’s when Steve Evans the former Telegraph reporter called us Harry’s chicks.

“Respect. That’s what everyone had for Harry.”

Harry picked up nine caps for his country after the Second World War and held almost every position at Coventry Rugby during his dedicated career with the club.

The current squad and management staff stopped to take a minute to reflect and acknowledge the great man. Reverend Graeme Anderson said the Holy Trinity Church was ‘absolutely packed. “It was a huge turnout for Harry, the church was absolutely packed, there were even people standing at the back,” he said. “It was full of rugby people including David Duckham and three tributes were read out for Harry. Afterwards, everyone lined the route between the church and the hearse and there was a round of applause, which was spontaneous but really quite lovely.”

Gulliver was joined in pallbearer duties by Steve Thomas, Graham Robbins, Lee Johnson, Steve Wilks and Steve Brain and club president Peter Rossborough delivered the main eulogy. There were also readings by H’s son, Richard Walker and one of his grandchildren, Ross Walker.

Micky Steele-Bodger, the 92-yearold president of the Barbarian Football Club, also known as ‘the BaaBaas’ was also in attendance.