Quite simply Peter was part of the furniture. He was the longest serving former player who loved the game and loved the club; Southport Rugby Club loved Peter.

The affair blossomed in his teens when he trod the well-worn pathway from schoolboy rugby at KGV to hometown club rugby. Following Army service Peter returned to Southport and played scrum half shirt for many years. After hanging up his boots he held several positions on the Committee including Club Chairman in the 1980’s and Chairman of Selectors.

At Southport Peter was fondly known by his adopted middle name Septimus (corrupted from Sydney) AKA ‘Seppy’ to distinguish him from Peter K Rostron who also played for the club at the same time. ‘Seppy’ went on to become a keen supporter of Lancashire rugby and for many years travelled away to most County games.

According to Ann Shorrock Peter loved a party but wisely added that some of his antics probably should not be discussed! Jeff Windle was a bit more forthcoming “He was always the life & soul of the party. While playing cards in Majorca alongside the hotel swimming pool ‘Seppy’ declared that if he didn’t win the next hand he would jump in the pool fully clothed. Unfortunately his super hand of cards was not super enough and he lost whereupon he kept to his word and jumped straight into the pool. On extracting himself from the pool he started laughing and then duly took out of his pocket, soaking wet, his wallet, a quantity of bank notes & a pack of King Edward cigars.”

Jeff also recalls that Peter was playing at the Club when he started playing in 1967. He has a Southport Visiter report cutting circa late 1960’s which shows a 14 – 8 win for the Club against Winnington Park – the team was Bill Hefferon, John Keeley, Peter S Rostron, John (Fred) Kermode, Colin Gillett, Jeff Windle, Peter Dickinson, Dennis Philbin, Roger Davies, Roger Osborne, Colin Hodge, Allister Wilson (Hamish’s brother), Fred Schober, P Harrison & (?) D Fender. Some older members of the Club will remember some of these players, a few of which are no longer with us.

In recent years Peter was the first to greet visitors the club old or new and always made a point of talking to the players to praise or on occasion criticise their performance on the pitch. He was so proud of how the club has progressed in recent years and repeated comments on facebook this week reflect that he was integral to this:

“Pete stopped playing rugby some time ago. He had a choice; walk away from the club or stay and follow. He stayed and has been there through thick and thin. One day believe it or not we will all have that choice to make and let’s hope we put in half the shift he has. Today we lost one of our own” “true club man” “club legend and great guy” “A great bloke who will be missed” “ Proper Southport rugby stalwart who will be sadly missed” “A true gentleman who will be fondly remembered” “Peter, you were always there through the good and bad times” “A great jolly fun rugby man. Always had a smile and a kind word after the game weather we played good or bad” “ One of our brothers” “Peter was of the old school being always kind and courteous when I arrived at Southport as an outsider” “RIP Pete (Seppy) Rostron - gone but will never be forgotten. He is a big part of Southport RFC history. Excellent rugby player” “Top bloke”

As well as the overwhelming affection for Peter messages conveyed that the thoughts and prayers of everyone over the last couple of weeks have been with Pat and the family.

No more so than the turn out at the funeral in support of Pat and the family when we paid our in our respects in numbers across the generations to one of our greats.