Rugby Football Union President Robert Horner paid tribute to leading referee Alan Welsby, who died on August 9th at the age of 69.

An international official and then a selector and assessor, Alan was, said Robert Horner, “a very fine referee who went on to help many others and everyone who knew him had great respect for him.

“I knew Alan well through my interest in refereeing and his death is a great loss to the game,” said Robert Horner. “Once he gave up being an international official he worked very hard to bring on the next generation and was a very highly regarded member of the international referees panel.”
 
A member of the Manchester & District Referees Society, Alan Welsby became an international panel referee in the 1970s and took charge of a number of Five Nations and other major games. He then joined the RFU International Selection Committee and represented the North on the RFU Referee Sub Committee. He was an active referee assessor until the end of last season.
 
Robert Horner’s tribute was underlined by Colin High, the RFU Elite Referee Manager, “Alan Welsby’s contribution to rugby union and in particular to refereeing must not be underestimated. It was huge,” said Colin. “He was a man never short of offering an opinion or advice and those who failed to heed his words would eventually come to rue the decision.”