It is with considerable sadness that the Army Rugby Union announces the
death, at the age of 90, of Brigadier Frank Coutts CBE,
our longest serving Vice Patron.
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Brigadier Coutts, having served a short time with the
Metropolitan Police where he got his first taste of ‘men’s
rugby’, was commissioned into the King’s Own
Scottish Borderers at the outbreak of the Second World
War (1939-45). He played for Scotland three times as a
lock forward in the 1946-47 season and first represented
the Army at Twickenham in 1947. He continued to hold his
place during the immediate post war years until 1950 when
he skippered the side. After retirement from the Army
he was elected President of the Scottish Rugby Union for
season 1977-78
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| A man with a gifted pen Frank Coutts wrote the highly readable
short history of the KOSB (25th Foot) and was well known
for his dry wit as an after dinner speaker. He was a kindly
man who considered his appointment as Colonel of the Regiment
to be his greatest honour.
In 1997, exactly 50 years after he had played against
the ‘the Kiwis’, Frank Coutts hosted the
New Zealand Army at an anniversary match at the new
Aldershot Rugby Stadium, welcoming a dozen of the former
New Zealand ‘greats’ including maybe the
greatest halfback pairing of them all—Fred Allen
and Charlie Saxton.
All members of Army Rugby, in whatever guise, wish
to express our sincerest condolences to Brigadier Coutts’
family. A Memorial service will be held at Canongate
Kirk, High Street Edinburgh on 27th October at 1230
hrs.
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