It is with great sadness that we report the death of Jim Collett, who passed away on Saturday 24th October. He was a Vice President, Life Member and Friend of the Club.
Rory O’Sullivan President of Blackheath FC reminisces “He took me under his wing and showed me how to play second row in the senior team. I had just turned 18 and as my partner in the row he taught me a lot about the game including some of those ‘dark arts’ but equally and more importantly to Jim, how to celebrate, win or lose, with your fellow teammates with a pint in the Clubhouse after the game. What a Gent!”
Lifelong friends Mandy and Brownie have recalled Jim’s long association with the Club:
Jim moved to London in the early 1970s and was playing rugby for the Standard Life club when his friend, the late David Cheshire, persuaded him to join Blackheath. Dave was captain of the Club ‘A’ team (the 5ths) in the 1975-76 season and Jim took over that role for the following season. There was such a surfeit of players in those days that nobody could be certain of getting a game, so, in 1980, Jim, Paul Gay, Baron Phillips and other fellow players founded a 6th team. The names of Blackheath teams have always started with the letter ‘B.’ Thus the ‘Banshees’ came into existence. It was only later that someone realised that the name was an anagram of ‘has beens’.
From that beginning, Jim was to become a stalwart of the Club, for many years quietly working in the background. In 1984 he took on the role of Bar Director at the Rectory Field. From 1988, and for the next sixteen years, he was one of the four rugby club Directors on the Board of the Blackheath, Cricket, Rugby and Lawn Tennis Company, whilst continuing with his role as Bar Director. In 1993 Jim became fixture secretary for the First XV squad, a position he held for many years.
Jim helped to sponsor both the Club’s 150th Anniversary Dinner at the Painted Hall in Greenwich and the 150thAnniversary Tour to Argentina in the 2007-08 season. As a member of the Royal Blackheath Golf Club, he was involved in organising the Club’s Golf Day.
‘Gentleman Jim,’ also known as ‘The Brolly Man,’ was a partner in Grant Barnett, the umbrella company, and supplied the Club shop with the original red and black umbrellas adorned with the Club logo.
A Banshee through and through, Jim was an ace lineout jumper long before ‘lifting’ became allowed in the lineout, finally hanging up his boots in 1996 after the Banshees’ Easter tour to Jersey. He was the third member of the Collett clan to don a Blackheath Shirt. J.C. Collett played in the mid-1920sand Alex Collett played in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
The thoughts of all at the Club are with Jim’s wife, Val, their children Nicola and Christopher, along with grandchildren Alexander and Matthew. There will be a private funeral, followed by a Thanksgiving on a date to be announced.
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