Teacher, rugby coach and official

Born: August 5, 1925;

Died: August 21, 2017

ARTHUR Ross, who has died of Parkinson's aged 92, was one of the most influential men in Scottish rugby at grassroots level. His work in encouraging young players and in developing Scottish Rugby's coaching network over more than 70 years cannot be under-stated.

He was born in Edinburgh in 1925 – the same year the SRU opened Murrayfield. But much of his schooling occurred outside Scotland. His Glaswegian father, William Munro Ross MBE, was chef executive of railway company LNER, which meant spells living in Newcastle and York.

Arthur was captain of the XV at Monkseaton Grammar School in Northumberland, before going on to play rugby for Percy Park – then a power in the land, and at York. Of course, the world was at war when Arthur emerged from school, and he did his bit, serving in the Royal Navy, where he was involved in the D-Day landings.

With peace, he returned to Edinburgh, where, after a short spell with the Clydesdale Bank, he decided the world of finance was not for him; so, he began a PE teaching course at Woolmanhill College in Aberdeen.

On graduating, he began his teaching career in Edinburgh, initially at Musselburgh, then at Currie and Penicuik, before, in 1956, he went to the Royal High School, where, between 1956 and 1970 he developed many top players and gave the school XV a reputation for playing expansive rugby.

He then moved on to Forrester High School while he also loaned his coaching expertise to Merchiston Castle School. As a player, he donned the colours of Edinburgh Wanderers, Musselburgh and Royal High School FP.

But, it was in coaching he really made his mark, building on his successes with his Royal High teams. He coached, among other teams: Midlothian, then Edinburgh Schools. During his near decade as coach of the Scottish Schools international XV, between 1973 and 1982, he coached the likes of Andy Irvine and David Leslie, to name but two Scotland captains he nurtured.

British Lion and past-president of the SRU, Irvine said: “Arthur was a tireless and dedicated champion of grassroots rugby in Scotland. Adding: “Our game has witnessed many changes over the years. A reassuring constant on the Edinburgh rugby landscape was the knowledgeable and committed presence of Arthur Ross.”

In the early 1970s he was one of the original members of the SRU Advisory Coaching Panel, a body he served on for a decade. In this role, alongside Jim Telfer, with whom he worked on a daily basis at Forrester High School, Arthur, in the words of the great Telfer “was at the heart of the weekend national course at three different levels over a weekend in June, which drove the development of coaching in Scotland for over 20 years.”

One of Arthur Ross's ideas was the annual SRU schoolboys camp, initiated at Bruar, in Perthshire in 1978, while he was also one of the drivers in establishing the Scottish Schools Cup in 1983. He also, in the wake of the teachers' strike of the 1980s, established the Edinburgh State Schools XV, as a means of encouraging the best talent in that sector in the city.

As a coach, at adult level, he led Edinburgh University, Scottish Universities and the Edinburgh District side; he also coached the Combined Edinburgh/Glasgow XV against the touring All Blacks, at Hughenden in 1972. At national league level,he coached Boroughmuir,

His influence was felt outside Scotland he toured as manager and coach to Zimbabwe, Brazil, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Singapore, Brest, Narbonne, Paris and Italy. In the mid-1980s, when the SRU undertook a mentoring role with the Swedish Rugby Union, he coached Enkoping RFC – Swedish champions (1985-86). He also coached the British Universities team in 1990.

Even after retiring, he continued to coach on a part-time basis: at Stewart’s Melville College, George Heriot’s School, George Watson’s School and SRU pathway at Under-16 level. He was still coaching first year boys in his eighties.

At Royal High he was secretary and treasurer, he held various committee posts with his different representative clubs, while at Boroughmuir, where he spent his rugby years after quitting the chalk face, he was president, then honorary member and, at the time of his death, honorary vice-president. He also created and was president of Meggetland RFC.

Meggetland stalwart Stevie Douglas, like Arthur Ross a past-president of Boroughmuir, said of him: “Passionate, informed and analytical he loved rugby and rugby people to their boots. He had time for everyone, coached coaches and mentored players. He was a rugby player’s president and a tireless and dedicated champion of grassroots rugby in Scotland. As a player or coach, even after you had passed through his tutelage, he would recognise your achievements with one of his famous hand-written letters arriving through your door, including motivational messages of support and even the odd pointer.”

This level of dedication to rugby saw Arthur Ross, in 2009, receive the SRU's coveted Spirit of Rugby award, in recognition of his 70 years of service to the game.

To read his rugby CV is incredible in its depth and breadth and it is no wonder. Arthur Ross had an astonishing network of friends around the country. He could walk into any clubhouse and he would be greeted warmly – a measure of his involvement in rugby and the high regard he was held.

Mr Ross, who was pre-deceased by his first wife, Lily, who died of cancer in the 1970s, is survived by his brother Bill, second wife Juliet and daughters Joan, Christine and Fiona and his eight grand-children.

MATT VALLANCE