Harry Jepson (4 February 1920 – 29 August 2016) was an English

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

administrator and president of

Leeds Rhinos The Leeds Rhinos are a professional rugby league club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The club was formed in 1870 as Leeds St John's and play in the Super League, the top tier of English rugby league. They have played home matches at Headi ...

Early life

Born in

Hunslet Hunslet () is an inner-city area in south Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is southeast of the Leeds city centre, city centre and has an industrial past. It is situated in the Hunslet and Riverside (ward), Hunslet and Riverside ward of Lee ...

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

, Jepson was educated at

Cockburn High School Cockburn School (formerly Cockburn High School) is a mixed secondary school located in the Beeston area of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The original school on this site was Parkside secondary modern, which was an all-boys school. The h ...

and subsequently worked for

Leeds City Council Leeds City Council is the local authority of the City of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. It is a metropolitan district council, one of five in West Yorkshire and one of 36 in the metropolitan counties of England, and provides the majority of l ...

. After army service in the Second World War with the

Duke of Wellington's Regiment The Duke of Wellington's Regiment (West Riding) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, forming part of the King's Division. In 1702, Colonel George Hastings, 8th Earl of Huntingdon, was authorised to raise a new regiment, which he di ...

and the

Royal Army Service Corps The Royal Army Service Corps (RASC) was a corps of the British Army responsible for land, coastal and lake transport, air despatch, barracks administration, the Army Fire Service, staffing headquarters' units, supply of food, water, fuel and dom ...

, he returned to Leeds and trained as a teacher.

Teaching and rugby careers

One of his first teaching appointments was at Bewerley Street School where the headmaster, Edgar Meeks, was also the chairman of

. Jepson was a life-long fan of

(and

Hunslet Hawks Hunslet R.L.F.C. is a professional rugby league club in Hunslet, South Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, who play in Betfred League 1. The club was founded in 1973 as New Hunslet, they became Hunslet in 1979 and the club were the Hunslet Hawks ...

), and through Meeks he became involved with the administration of the Hunslet club, first as assistant secretary and from 1963 club secretary. While maintaining his teaching career, Jepson moved from Hunslet to Leeds at the request of the Leeds chairman, Jack Myersclough. With a perennial interest in the development of young players, Jepson was heavily involved in the formation of the Colts League and chairman of the league until 1988 including managing the Colts tour to Australia and Papua New Guinea in 1982. Appointed at Director of Football at Leeds in 1983 he was instrumental in bringing stars like Eric Grothe and

Andrew Ettingshausen Andrew "ET" Ettingshausen (born 29 October 1965) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s. He played his first grade Australian club football for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks ...

to the club. In later years he was made club president of Leeds Rhinos and was also chairman of the

Rugby League Conference The Rugby League Conference (RLC) (also known as the Co-operative Rugby League Conference as a result of sponsorship from The Co-operative Group), was a series of regionally based divisions of amateur rugby league teams spread throughout England, ...

. In this latter role he established a cup competition for clubs in the conference premier leagues and this was subsequently named after him - the

Harry Jepson Trophy The Harry Jepson Trophy is a rugby league competition contested by teams from successor leagues to the Rugby League Conference. It is named after Harry Jepson. History The Harry Jepson trophy was first contested in 1997 by members of the then So ...

. Jepson was an inaugural member of the

Rugby Football League The Rugby Football League is the governing body for professional rugby league in England, and until 1995 for the whole British Isles. The name Rugby Football League previously also referred to the main league competition run by the organisati ...

board of directors and was the chairman of the Rugby League Council when the decision to found the

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...

was taken.

Recognition

For services to rugby league, Jepson was appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(OBE) in the

Queen's Birthday honours list The Birthday Honours, in some Commonwealth realms, mark the reigning British monarch's official birthday by granting various individuals appointment into national or dynastic orders or the award of decorations and medals. The honours are present ...

in 1996. Shortly before his death in August 2016 he was made an honorary

Doctor of Education The Doctor of Education (Ed.D. or D.Ed.; Latin ''Educationis Doctor'' or ''Doctor Educationis'') is (depending on region and university) a research or professional doctoral degree that focuses on the field of education. It prepares the holder for a ...

Leeds Beckett University Leeds Beckett University (LBU), formerly known as Leeds Metropolitan University (LMU) and before that as Leeds Polytechnic, is a public university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It has campuses in the city centre and Headingley. The univ ...

. In November 2016 Leeds Rhinos and Hunslet announced that the traditional pre-season friendly between the two clubs would be renamed the

Harry Jepson OBE Memorial Cup The Harry Jepson OBE Memorial Cup (formerly the Lazenby Cup until 2017) is an annual pre-season friendly between English rugby league teams Leeds Rhinos and Hunslet. History The Lazenby Cup was first played in 1912 after Tracey Lazenby donated ...

, having previously been known as the Lazenby Cup.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jepson, Harry 1920 births 2016 deaths British Army personnel of World War II British rugby league administrators Leeds Rhinos Officers of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Cockburn School, Leeds Duke of Wellington's Regiment soldiers Royal Army Service Corps soldiers