GEORGE FORD, England Rugby Union fly-half star, Diggle resident and middle son of Roughyeds managing director Mike Ford and his wife, Sally Anne, will never forget the week-end of his 31st birthday.
”It was a magical three days for him, culminating in the greatest event of his life when his wife, Addy, gave birth to their first child,"
said proud-as-punch Mike, who became a grandad for the second time.
Last week-end went like this for George, who recently met lots of Oldham Roughyeds fans when he was guest speaker at his home-town Rugby League Club’s first Networking Community Social for the local business community.
George spoke of his own career and of the similarities with business of team work and relationship building within an elite sporting environment, writes ROGER HALSTEAD.
Speaking at the next Networking Community Social at Boundary Park will be former Great Britain RL international Paul Sculthorpe, a legend of Rugby League who was brought up locally and who was once a ball boy at Watersheddings.
But back to George Ford and THAT week-end. It went like this:
SATURDAY: He celebrated his 31st birthday with England RU colleagues after playing against France in Lyon in the Six Nations Championship. Although England lost 33-31 to finish in third place, it took a last-gasp penalty from half way to sink them and it was generally agreed that, even in defeat, this was a very good and very positive England performance.
SUNDAY: The end-of-championship squad function, at which all players were expected to attend, went on into the wee small hours of Sunday morning. By the time he got back to his hotel, it wasn’t worth going to bed given that he planned to be up before dawn to dash back to Oldham to be with Addy at the birth of their daughter. He left his hotel at 4am, not having gone to bed.
MONDAY: Baby Alarnia duly arrived in the afternoon, several hours behind schedule, and George was there to be with Addy at the great event in the Royal Oldham Hospital and to welcome the new arrival.
He might be an England RU international of nearly 100 caps, but George said:
”I always thought playing for England was the biggest thing in my life, but I know different now. There’s nothing like being present at the birth of your first-born–and I really do mean ’nothing.'"
Mike and Sally Anne become grandparents for the second time, given that George’s elder brother Joe and his wife produced Kobe six years ago.
