A year ago we reported the sad death of former scrum-half David Grime who played for the Club in the late 1960s and early ‘70s. He was diagnosed with dementia in 2016 and at the premature age of 71 he passed away peacefully in his sleep on 22nd January 2021.
David played for Fylde for a number of years in the late 60’s and early 70’s and was a life member of the Club, returning over the years for a number of reunions.
During his playing days he was involved in 1st XV rugby, losing his place in the team to Brian Ashton when he went to study at university in Edinburgh. While at Herriot-Watt University he represented Scottish Universities. In the early 1980s David also played for Huddersfield RUFC whom Fylde take their colours from and went on to coach on Sunday mornings for the minis and junior section at Huddersfield. He also refereed for a number of years as part of the Yorkshire Society.
David’s son Matthew Grime has organised a memorial, at Fylde on Saturday 15th, which coincides with Fylde v Huddersfield, the two teams he played for.
Matt said: “I doubt there will be many members who played or remember dad, but it would be nice if any who did know him had the opportunity to pay their respects. We’re holding the memorial between 12:00-17:00hrs in the International Room in the Clubhouse.
“We are hosting family and friends on Saturday and have around 45 attending, but anyone who knew dad is more than welcome to pop in and say hello, we’re hoping to bring a few pictures and rugby memorabilia to display for the day.
“I’m aware of at least one ex player (Paul Birtwistle – my godfather) who is attending, so anyone else who would like to reminisce about dad, raise a glass to him and the ‘good old days’ is welcome to join us from around 14.00 onwards.”
David Grime was a former pupil at Arnold School and was the son of Alan Grime, former owner of the Blackpool Gazette. He is remembered with affection by a number of former players and officials of Fylde who were members of the Club at that time.
Sir Bill Beaumont, who played alongside David, said: “David’s mother Annette was my father’s cousin and his father Alan’s family owned the Gazette. He played scrum half then moved to Huddersfield and came to watch all Fylde’s matches in Yorkshire. He was a really nice person and a very good scrum-half.”
His talent was reflected in a newspaper match report from that period: “Grime’s iron grip sees Fylde home. High powered tackling and a star performance by stand-in scrum-half David Grime saw Fylde grab their twelth win on the trot, a 7-6 verdict over visitors Sale. Grime kept an iron hold on bright England hope Steve Smith …”
Photographs: David Grime playing for Huddersfield RUFC. Team sheets from Fylde match programme v Nuneaton in March 1973.
In the Fylde team photo from around 1969, David is front row, 2nd from the left.
