16
ULSTER
RUGBY
A member of the 1948 Grand Slam winning
Ireland team, Jimmy was also a former
President of both the IRFU and the Ulster
Branch and gained playing honours with
Ulster, Ireland, the Barbarians and the British
and Irish Lions.
Born in Belfast and raised in Portadown,
James Edward Nelson learnt about the game
of rugby at Royal School Armagh before
moving back to Belfast and joining Malone
in 1938 – a club he remained a member of
throughout the rest of his life.
He first made his name at the club in the
second-row alongside Blair
‘Paddy’ Mayne. He made
his Ulster debut in 1940 and
progressed to the Ireland team,
winning his first cap against
Australia at Lansdowne Road
in 1947.
Jimmy was a member of
the famous Ireland Grand
Slam winning side of 1948
and played in all of Ireland’s
Championship-winning games
in 1948 and 1949. As a result of
the part in which he played in
these successful Irish sides, he was selected
for the 1950 British and Irish Lions tour to
New Zealand and Australia captained by Karl
Mullen. Jimmy played in four test matches
and famously scored two tries against the
Wallabies, with Jack Kyle another, in a 24-3
win at the Sydney Cricket Ground. He played
in 17 matches of that 32 game tour. He made
the last of his 16 international appearances
for Ireland against France at Stade Colombes
in 1954.
Jimmy was also a regular selection on the
Barbarians XV. He made his last competitive
appearance in Ulster’s famous 5-5 draw with
the touring All Blacks in 1955 before moving
quickly into administration.
A chartered accountant by profession at the
age of 22, he entered into a partnership with
the Belfast firm Craig Gardiner & Co in 1954
and stayed there until he retired in 1981. This
financial background stood him in good stead
as, apart from numerous different roles held
within the Ulster Branch, he also served as
the Branch Honorary Treasurer and indeed
was still the Treasurer when he became the
Ulster Branch President in 1968. He soon
progressed to the Irish Rugby Football Union
where he took on many administrative roles,
including the role of Honorary Treasurer,
before being elevated to the IRFU Presidential
role in 1982. In 1984, his services to rugby,
both on and off the pitch, were recognised
when he was awarded the OBE for his
services to rugby football.
But in spite of the many honours he gained,
Jimmy was still a real club man and his love
of Malone RFC, the club he joined
when he left school and remained
a member of right up to his
death, never waned. Malone RFC
celebrated its centenary in the
season 1991-92 and in preparation
for that season, he was Chairman
of the Centenary Steering
Committee and also agreed to
be the Patron of the Club for that
Centenary season. He was also
the author of the history of the Club
for the centenary booklet.
Whilst his deteriorating health
in recent years restricted him, he was still
to be seen at Gibson Park, when he could,
supporting his beloved Malone right up to a
year before his passing – a Malone man from
start to finish.
The game will miss Jimmy, first and foremost
as a player, then as an extremely competent
servant behind the scenes, where he was
a tireless worker, but most of all as one of
the great characters of Ulster and Ireland
rugby. A great teller of amusing stories from
his playing past, he also remained an astute
and knowledgeable financial expert and few
Honorary Treasurers in the Ulster Branch or
the IRFU would welcome the sight of Jimmy
standing up to ask a question.
Jimmy was pre-deceased by his first wife
Frances and the sympathy of all rugby people
in Ulster, Ireland and the rugby playing world
goes to his second wife Maureen and the
family circle.
John McKibbin
//
Junior Vice President
IRFU (Ulster Branch)
OBITUARY
JIMMY NELSON OBE
During the summer, it was with great sadness that the
rugby world learnt of the death of Jimmy Nelson at the
age of 92 following a long illness.
JIMMY
NELSON
