It is with huge sadness that we announce the passing of Jerry Mapp, on Tuesday, 18 May 2021.  Jerry was a Chingford RFC playing stalwart who also had very close connections with Wanstead RFC. To those of us who knew Jerry, he was a legend in many respects, not just on the field but off.  Jerry was relatively tall and, in his early years, fast.  Not surprisingly, he ended up playing on the wing and, indeed, made his debut for CRFC's 1st XV in 1978/79 not soon after turning 18.  I was captain that season and truly impressed by the pace and strength of this teenager.  Indeed, so good was Jerry that he was quickly spotted by senior clubs and spent some time with Blackheath RFC before returning to CRFC. As the years went by Jerry, fuelled by his burgeoning police career, began to bulk up and at one stage tipped the scales at around 23 stone.  By then he, like most of us, had entered the world of veterans' rugby and one of the best sights to behold was the look on opposing players' faces when the big man ran onto the pitch wearing number 10 on his jersey.  This was not a joke as Jerry often played between the back row and fly-half/inside centre.  I have one abiding memory of Jerry's running strength in a game where, after receiving the ball, he ran into a large group of opposing forwards, emerging the other side, still running, with some 5 players hanging off him!  It was almost cartoon type action, but the reality was that Jerry had a very low centre of gravity, which made it almost impossible to get him to the ground.

Off the pitch, Jerry was just as industrious, supported by his wit and humour and capacity to drink.  On a veterans tour of Rome, my second abiding memory is of Jerry, in the absence of any Guinness being available, wandering around the host team's clubhouse with a very large demijohn full of white wine perched on his shoulder (it was that heavy) which he would nonchalantly swig about every 10 seconds.  The story goes that he actually drank the entire contents of the demijohn (probably 5 litres plus) during the course of the evening and still managed to walk to the coach for the drive home.

My own favourite story is from another veterans tour, this time to Barcelona, where, having been separated from the rest of the tour group, Jerry and I ended up in a club where we were about to be taken to the cleaners for a bill which we had not accumulated - the bouncers saying in broken English that we had drunk several bottles of Champagne.  We had both been sitting down and when Jerry stood up, all 193cm and 20 plus stones of him, there was a notable silence from our accusers (the tallest being about 175cm and 10 stones) and we were allowed to go on our way. 

I knew Jerry for the better part of 45 years and will miss him immensely, as I know will a great number of people in Chingford RFC, Wanstead RFC and the many other social circles which Jerry enjoyed, including the Beefeaters at the Tower of London. Jerry was diagnosed with his illness about 8 years ago and was, at the time, given no more than 5 years to live.  The fact that he not only significantly outlived this prognosis, but went considerably beyond is testimony to the sheer strength of the man.  During the last year or so, he was in and out of hospital battling many subsidiary illnesses because his immune system was gradually failing and this is what finally took this great man. Rest in peace Jerry.

Tom Hardy
Former Club President