Giant tribute at Catalan stadium
FANS of Huddersfield Giants paid a poignant tribute in the south of France.
Supporters handed over a specially-commissioned Giants flag to the family of French bar-owner Barend Britz who was beaten to death in December.
And they did so after parading the flag around Catalan Dragons’ Stade Gilbert Brutus ground in Perpignan in front of more than 9,000 spectators at the Giants’ weekend fixture.
The gesture was warmly appreciated by many in the crowd who knew the victim.
Britz was a former South African rugby player who was killed in an attack at his bar early in December.
The 63-year-old died in hospital after being attacked when he remonstrated with a man who tried to wreck the bar – a popular spot in Perpignan’s Place de Republique and a favourite of many visiting rugby league fans.
A 30-year-old man has been arrested.
Britz played rugby in his native South Africa before moving to France to join the USAP team in Perpignan, where he became a crowd favourite. He retired in the mid-80s.
Giants fan Richard Donaldson knew Britz through visits to the South of France to watch his team.
He was joined on the pitch by fellow Giants fans James Travers-Bamforth, Pete Schofield, Jim Pawson and Dave Mallalieu during the half- time interval of the game, which Dragons won 27-10.
Donaldson said: “He was a wonderful guy and a lot of people will miss him.
“It was great to receive such a reception from the fans at the stadium. We then took the flag to his bar and handed it over to his wife and it was very emotional. We will miss him.”