Educated at The King’s School, Canterbury and as a Chartered Accountant, Paul played much of his early senior rugby at Osterley Rugby Club. Moving to Great Missenden, he joined Chiltern RFC where he soon was persuaded to dig out his boots again to play for the Chiltern Hundreds – our Vets XV – and the Extra B’s.

Paul was built to be a tight head prop and when packing down behind him in the scrum, I rarely saw him take a step back. He was a very strong man and was justifiably proud of his tremendous upper body strength giving him the nickname of TUBS in some circles. In the loose, he was equally impressive as a marauding forward and unstoppable from 5 metres out.

When he finally hung up his boots, his support and love for the club did not stop. In his business life, he enjoyed success in shipping, workflow software, and more recently as an owner of cinemas and a successful restaurant as well as having a number of non-executive directorships. When one of his sons, Steven, played in the front row (of course) as a hooker, Paul’s company, Staffware plc, sponsored the Buckinghamshire Under 21’s when they reached the County final at Twickenham. As many of you know, Steven later became the club’s physio. Staffware continued to support top-flight rugby by sponsoring the Barbarians FC for a number of years.

In the late 1990’s, we embarked on an ambitious plan to redevelop our clubhouse. A number of donations were secured both small and large supplemented by a £100,000 loan from the RFU. Despite these valiant fundraising efforts, we were still a significant sum short and it was Paul who funded the gap personally enabling the project to proceed giving us the wonderful facility we enjoy today. At the opening in 2005 by the then RFU President, Leroy Angel, Paul insisted that both he and the amount donated should remain anonymous. Ever the accountant though, he insisted that the club become a CASC (a community amateur sports club) before receiving his donation thereby ensuring tax efficiency for both him and the club. Paul continued to visit the club regularly to support our 1st XV and to catch up with his many friends right up to the onset of his illness.

His funeral will be strictly private, for family members only, but I am sure that the club will have an opportunity to celebrate the life and generosity of this true clubman at a later date. In the meantime, donations in his memory may be made to Scannappeal c/o Peter Kenyon at Arnold Funeral Service, 891 London Road, High Wycombe HP10 9TB or online at www.arnold-funerals.co.uk. 

On behalf of all the members of Amersham & Chiltern RFC, I would like to extend our sincere condolences to his wife Amina, his children and his many grandchildren at this difficult time.

Christopher Smith
President 2002 – 2010
Amersham & Chiltern RFC