OLDHAM official John Chadwick, vice-president of the club and a former secretary and chairman, has expressed his wish that Roughyeds should be one of the first clubs, outside his own Rochdale Hornets, to pay public tribute to Peter Rush, a former Hornets chairman, who has died suddenly and unexpectedly at the age of 88.
Said John:
“This is terrible news. No one knew what Peter did for Rochdale Hornets. He was a great guy who was known by lots and lots of people in the game, both at pro level and in the amateurs, The game of rugby league is greatly poorer for the passing of Peter Rush. The greatest game transcends inter-club rivalry. Of course, we were rivals, but we were also the best of friends, It was good to know you Peter, rest in peace.”
The Hornets website tells us that Peter’s connection with Hornets spanned 60 years. To the end of a great and varied life, he was a man of many parts – owner of a hotel in Heywood and a former Mayor of Rochdale, a man who was always busy in civic life, but always, always, put rugby league – and Hornets – at the top of his priorities, writes ROGER HALSTEAD,
As a young man, he played for Hornets as a hooker, but it was in later life, as a club ambassador, a former director and a former chairman, that he really made his mark on that town’s sporting heritage.
Apart from anything else, he raised thousands of pounds for Hornets, a club with which he had a lifelong connection, having been a fan since he was a boy.
Added John:
“They don’t come along like Peter every day. He will be missed by the amateurs and professionals alike. He was a Hornets ambassador to the end – a perfect fit for a man who wasn’t only Hornets through and through but who was a genuine man of Rugby League, a role for which he will always have my admiration.”
Peter was also a founder-member of Spotland Rangers.
His funeral details will be given on this website when they are known.
