Michael Roland Steele-Bodger

CBE 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 ...

(4 September 1925 – 9 May 2019) was an English

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

footballer who played flanker for Harlequins, and

Barbarians A barbarian (or savage) is someone who is perceived to be either uncivilized or primitive. The designation is usually applied as a generalization based on a popular stereotype; barbarians can be members of any nation judged by some to be less c ...

, and was President of the

Barbarian Football Club The Barbarian Football Club, known as the Barbarians is a British-based invitational rugby union club. The Barbarians play in black and white hoops, though players wear socks from their own club strip. Membership is by invitation. As of 2011, p ...

and President of the

East India Club The East India Club is a gentlemen's club founded in 1849 and situated at 16, St James's Square in London. The full title of the club is the East India, Devonshire, Sports and Public Schools' Club due to mergers with other clubs. The club was o ...

, London. He was educated at

Rugby School Rugby School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain. Up ...

and

Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Gonville and Caius College, often referred to simply as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and one of th ...

, and played for Cambridge in the

Varsity Match A varsity match is a fixture (especially of a sporting event or team) between two university teams, particularly Oxford and Cambridge. The Scottish Varsity rugby match between the University of St Andrews and the University of Edinburgh at Murray ...

in 1945 and 1946. On graduation he studied at

Edinburgh University The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 1582 ...

and represented the Edinburgh University rugby club for two full seasons. Steele-Bodger followed his father

Harry Harry may refer to: TV shows * ''Harry'' (American TV series), a 1987 American comedy series starring Alan Arkin * ''Harry'' (British TV series), a 1993 BBC drama that ran for two seasons * ''Harry'' (talk show), a 2016 American daytime talk show ...

by becoming a

Veterinary Surgeon Veterinary surgery is surgery performed on animals by veterinarians, whereby the procedures fall into three broad categories: orthopaedics (bones, joints, muscles), soft tissue surgery (skin, body cavities, cardiovascular system, GI/urogenital/ ...

, as did his elder brother

Alasdair Alasdair is a Scottish Gaelic given name. The name is a Gaelic form of ''Alexander'' which has long been a popular name in Scotland. The personal name ''Alasdair'' is often Anglicised as ''Alistair Alistair is a masculine given name. It is an Ang ...

who also played for Edinburgh University. He gained 9 caps for England, playing in all 4 matches in the 1946-47 season and all 5 matches in the 1947-48 season. In his final international, against in March 1948, Steele-Bodger had to move to scrum-half when Richard Madge left the field, despite suffering from concussion himself. An

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are also called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation ...

injury ended his playing career in 1949. Subsequently, he was a selector for England and The Lions, President of the

Rugby Football Union The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the Sports governing body, national governing body for rugby union in England. It was founded in 1871, and was the sport's international governing body prior to the formation of what is now known as World Rugby ...

in 1973-74, and Chairman of the

International Rugby Board World Rugby is the world governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international rug ...

. In 1948, he inaugurated the annual tradition of bringing a guest Steele-Bodger XV to play Cambridge University as a warm-up to the Varsity Match. He was an active member of the

Round Table The Round Table ( cy, y Ford Gron; kw, an Moos Krenn; br, an Daol Grenn; la, Mensa Rotunda) is King Arthur's famed table in the Arthurian legend, around which he and his knights congregate. As its name suggests, it has no head, implying that e ...

being one of the founding members of his local Tamworth Round Table in 1952. He was appointed

Commander 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 ...

in the 1990 New Year Honours "for services to Rugby Union Football." Steele-Bodger died on 9 May 2019, aged 93.

References

External links

* http://www.scrum.com/england/rugby/player/4912.html * http://www.rugbynetwork.net/main/s98/st113904.htm 1925 births 2019 deaths Harlequin F.C. players Barbarian F.C. players English rugby union players Rugby union flankers England international rugby union players English rugby union administrators Cambridge University R.U.F.C. players Edinburgh University RFC players People educated at Rugby School Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Sportspeople from Tamworth, Staffordshire Commanders of the Order of the British Empire English veterinarians British veterinarians Rugby union players from Staffordshire {{England-rugbyunion-bio-stub