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04
Nov
Meet the 78-year-old Harrogate rugby official who has twice beaten cancer
Amateur referees need strong characters to survive on a sports pitch.
Harrogate Pythons’ 78-year-old touch judge John Henry is certainly not lacking in that department.
John refereed rugby union matches for over 30 years from the age of 38.
After retiring from officiating, he beat colon cancer twice and has spent the last few years volunteering as a touch judge to stay fit — all while living with long-term type 1 diabetes.
He is the longest surviving diabetic in the Harrogate hospital records.
Speaking to the Stray Ferret this week, John told us why he decided to become a touch judge:
I was watching Harrogate [Pythons] one day, and the touch judge didn’t turn up, so they asked me if I wanted to do it. Now every Saturday through winter, that’s just what I’ve done. It’s a continuation of my refereeing, which I enjoyed.
After I recovered from both of my cancer surgeries, my surgeon said I had to keep exercising. I was a bit too old to be running for 80 minutes in the middle of the pitch, so this was a good alternative.
John played rugby at school but later stopped due to work demands.
Years later, when his children wanted to play the sport, he became a coach to help out.
Becoming a referee never crossed his mind until he stepped in during one of his son’s games. One thing led to another, and soon he was a full-time amateur referee.
He worked with Christophe Ridley, a French Six Nations referee, and Sara Cox, rugby’s first professional female referee.
He's refereed in France, Scotland and England, and officiated a junior World Cup game in front of around 4,000 people.
Despite his experience, he is still faced with the know-it-all attitude of heckling players and spectators.
John said:
You do get nastiness. Some individuals seem to think it’s their job to shout abuse at the referee. And if they can’t get at the referee, because I’m closer, they’ll get at me. The problem is they don’t know what they’re talking about.
When you first get it, it is a little bit upsetting. But you get used to it over time. Those things go straight over the heads of senior referees.
John still works part-time as a health and safety advisor on building sites. He said making unpopular decisions in a professional environment set him up well for refereeing.
Barring a handful of individuals who take it too far, he mostly enjoys giving and taking stick – as long as it’s light-hearted.
The touch judge insisted that the job is gratifying, too.
He added that it’s part of his character to offer advice to players regardless of allegiance, and that it’s “very fulfilling when the opposition says thank-you, because they don’t usually get that sort of help”.
John says he will stop officiating when he no longer enjoys it.
Until then, he maintains a fitness regime that includes two hours of table tennis, a 10-mile bike ride and a separate three-to-four-mile ride before a match. He also covers three or four miles running the line on a Saturday.
He admitted, however, that on Sundays and Mondays he’s “as stiff as a board".
At 78, why does he keep doing it? John said:
The challenge. Are my legs going to last? It’s keeping fit, and I enjoy most of it. Given that I’ve had 30 years of experience, my challenge is doing it properly and making sure none of these howling spectators or bad-tempered players have a reason to say: ‘You can’t do this and that.'
Whatever happens beyond 78, I’ve had a good time.
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