“It is with great sadness that I have to tell you that Brian Archer has passed away over the weekend. Brian was a stalwart of Leith Rugby as a player, committee man and lifelong supporter of the club from the moment he joined after leaving Leith Academy Secondary School.

He was a very good friend to many and generous with his time. His presence around the club will be greatly missed especially when watching rugby on the television where his advice to referees, Irish in particular was often brutally honest.

I for one will definitely miss his friendship.

I will let you know details of the funeral arrangements as soon as possible.

Regards
Jim Smith
President
Leith Rugby”

Funeral Details
A word version of Brian's funeral can be found at the bottom of this article and until the 21 July the service can be streamed here;

Website
https://watch.obitus.com

Username
joco9975

Password
276539

Tributes

We have collected some further tributes and stories of Brian..

"Back in the day when the first xv used to compete against the 2nd xv at training, I scrummed down with the first pack. Brian was in the 2nds pack. For about 5 scrums the 2nds took us apart to the extent I got so annoyed I shouted out to my team mates "Stop f@@@ing around and get into these clowns".
After team selection that night I found out I had been dropped to the 2nd Xv.
I was not very happy but I turned up at Hawkhill on Saturday only to be greated by Brian and the other pack members where upon Brian presented me with a red nose and clown mask, insisting I wear it all the way to Seafield. He then dubbed me chief clown and never let me forget it."
Tam Bennett

"I met Brian back some time ago when I was young and had hair. He was quick to point out crap hair but that was his way, always to the point. Any way I get off point of tell you what a great guys Brian was. I had the privilege of wining him over on the first training session as I arrived with two backs and im sure he though I was a third only for me to say 'na I pay hooker mate where all the work gets done.'

I think its hard to sum up Brain in one story mainly as there are so many. I can only think it will be hard to be around the club and not see his happy/unhappy face round the place. I will be forever greatful for his friends ship and stories over the years made living away from my family a little bit easier."
David Montgomery

"In my 2nd year as captain, we lost our coach to another team and whilst others were wondering what to do and where we went Brian put his hand up as he always did. He was always wanting what was best for the team and sure he had his faults as a coach but was always, always there putting the club first and trying to get the best out of the team.

I did used to semi dread when I had to text him on a saturday morning to tell him someone had called off and he had to reshuffle his pack. I could imagine himm at the other side of the phone blowing a gasket but it was only because he cared so much. I will always remember after quite a successful game for me and the team, feeling quite good about myself in the bar, when Brian would remind me of my kicking percentage for the day and bring me back down again in the dry, cheeky way he had"
Kenny Dannfald

"My first game playing senior rugby – up until that point I had been a stand off and made
approximately 1 tackle to date in my life and never been near a ruck.
Senior rugby I got moved initially to back row. My first game, I came on a sub and not knowing what I was doing I ran to the 9-10 channel and received a pop from the 9. I had no idea what to do so I just ran straight and got absolutely battered. And ‘ not talking about a big hit, I’m talking about absolutely smoked.
I got up very embarrassed and thinking I had let the boys down. And it didn’t get much prettier from there on out. I left the field gutted and considering whether I was going to continue playing rugby. Only to be greeted by Brian who was jubilant! “your first game of senior rugby and the first thing you do is run it straight down someones throat?!
That’s my boy! We can teach you how to carry in to contact but you cant teach that! That’s the Leith way!” The confidence I got from that one moment from Brian impacted how I played rugby from that moment and even still

Brian has helped coach Leith on a few different occasions during my time at Leith.
But something that was consistent, regardless of who the head coach was, was Brians love for
making people run. Brian became synonymous with ‘2 minute runs’, he absolutely loved them. 2 minute run being there was a huge triangle and you ran continuously from his first whistle to his second 2 minutes later.
You always knew when you were about to have to do them because Brians grin would get bigger and bigger the closer they got.
Brian couldn’t get enough of them, I will always remember the massive smirk on his face as you crawled yourself around the triangle for the fifth time. Or the huge belly laughs he would let out as, miraculously, that last two minutes turns in to three minutes.
Craig Winton

My initial meetings with Brian would have been as a tea lady. He would not want the pie and beans straight after the match but would always come up if we had soup which we occasionally had for visiting teams. He would say he would only eat homemade to which I replied that Mrs Campbell had made it the night before. It was corny I know but makes me chuckle still. There wasn't much glamour around serving teas at Leith so at least this acknowledged what we did.

His knowledge and memory of the history of Leith Rugby was amazing and helped a great deal when trying to remember our dealings with Leith Academy, Leith Athletic and CEC. He also had a memory for members. He was a life member himself and so proud of it.

I'll miss him even all his moans and groans. He'd have been so embarrassed with the outpouring of feelings and sentiment and I hate to think what his language would have been.
Margaret Smith