Rugby in Cheltenham and beyond was tinged with great sadness on Saturday following the death of the very well respected John Woodward.

Known to pretty much everyone as Woody, he died on Friday afternoon after suffering a stroke a week earlier.

He had been due to attend a vice-presidents' day at Old Patesians on Saturday and there was a minute's silence in his honour before their game against Chippenham at Everest Road.

The Pats were just one of the clubs that Woody, a scrum-half, played for in a career that spanned many years.

He was most readily associated with Cheltenham, particularly once he'd stopped playing when he took on a number of prominent roles at the club.

Born and bred in Cheltenham in the late 1940s, Woody was one of nine children and he was always keen on sport from an early age.

And it wasn't just rugby, he was a big supporter of Cheltenham sport in general because he used to go and watch Cheltenham Town Football Club play and also became a big cricket fan – he was a regular visitor at both the Victoria Ground where Cheltenham play and the Cheltenham Cricket Festival.

Woody was a bright boy – he attended Cheltenham Grammar School – but when he left school he didn't get a job immediately, instead opting to go abroad and help some of the less well-off people in the world.

"He signed up for the world voluntary organisation," said his great friend and another Cheltenham Rugby Club stalwart Mike Edwards. 

"He went to St Lucia and did a lot of good work there, he went back there a couple of years ago."

A trained engineer, Woody worked all his life at Walker Crosweller, now Kohler Mira, in Cheltenham.

He played rugby for Cheltenham Colts and Cheltenham Colts Old Boys as well as Cheltenham and Old Pats and was a founder member of Cheltenham Saracens.

"He was a wily old fox, he was a very clever player," said Mike Edwards. "He wasn't the biggest physically but he could play."

Woody and Mike Edwards became great friends when they ran Cheltenham Colts some 40 years ago.

"I was the fixture secretary, he poached me from Cheltenham Saracens," recalls Edwards. "He was the team manager, he did pretty much everything."

Those were the days when Cheltenham Colts were right up there among the best teams in the land and Edwards added: "He will be carried in and out by ex-Cheltenham Colts players at his funeral."

But it wasn't just the Colts that Woody looked after over the years.

He was also Cheltenham's first-team manager for a period and in recent times he was the club's historian – for many years he laid a wreath on Remembrance Day outside the Municipal Offices in tribute to Cheltenham rugby players who died in the great wars.

He has been a huge source of stories for The Local Answer over the past three years – even though he steadfastly refused to go online! – and it wasn't just The Local Answer because one of the stories was followed up by The Times newspaper who gave Woody a call – he liked that!

"He did a lot of jobs at Cheltenham," said Edwards, "he was totally committed to the club. He wasn't a bloke who stood in the background, he was a leader.

"He was driven, everything he did he was driven, almost obsessive.

"He didn't suffer fools and if he said he was going to do something he did it."

And he had strong values.

"Everything had to be dead right," continued Edwards. "He was very big on etiquette in rugby, he was always concerned about projecting the right image.

"He'd always be dressed in a blazer and a tie and if someone turned up without them, he'd go and find them a blazer and tie!

"He was very principled about things."

Woody and Edwards spent a lot of time together over the years at various sporting events in this country and further afield and Edwards said of his best man; "He was quite witty, he was a great bloke to be with, always a laugh.

"He was quick on the uptake and always one step ahead of everyone. He knew the ropes and had the respect of everyone."

He was also a life member of the Cheltenham and District Rugby Combination and ran Combination teams back in the day.

"He was very influential," said Edwards. "Although he enjoyed other sports, rugby was his game and he will be sadly missed, he leaves a big gap."