The Cornwall Rugby Football Union ( CRFU ) are delighted to announce that Floyd Steadman OBE DL Hon D Ed has accepted an invitation to become our Patron.

Floyd has led an incredible life that has been well documented in the media and in his book, “A Week One Summer”. His parents came to the UK in 1956 as part of the Windrush Generation, answering the call to help rebuild the motherland after the destruction of the Second World War.

His family along with many others suffered racism and discrimination, while Floyd also had an abusive father, whom his mother left. His father rejected him and he spent 7 years in care from the age of 10.

Floyd developed a love for rugby at school and eventually attended Borough Road College to train as a PE Teacher. His  rugby career is most closely associated with Saracens Rugby Club who he began playing for in the late 1970s.

He quickly established himself as a gifted scrum-half becoming the first black captain of a Premiership rugby club when he led Saracens at the age of 23. Floyd played a total of 469 Saracens games and is a member of Saracens Hall of Fame.

Floyd’s wife was a Madron girl, Denise Friggens, who sadly died in 2016. With Denise’s sister Sally married to Phil Westren, Floyd played several games for the Pirates,  once playing for Saracens against Northampton before turning out for the Pirates against St Ives the next day having travelled straight down after the game.

Floyd also played for the Barbarians and Middlesex, captaining them in the 1989/90 County Championship semi-final against Cornwall at  Redruth. The game was drawn but Middlesex went through on most tries scored.

When Floyd’s Rose Award was conferred on him by the RFU Council in 2023 he became the sole recipient of this annual recognition of a “remarkable contribution to the game”.

Parallel to his rugby career Floyd has enjoyed a very successful career in education holding positions as a Deputy Headteacher and Headteacher  at several schools.

Floyd was awarded the OBE in the first of King Charles’s New Year’s Honours Lists in January 2023 for services to rugby, education and charity.

On retiring to Cornwall Floyd lives in Ludgvan close to his Cornish family. He was recently appointed a Deputy Lieutenant, supporting the Lord Lieutenant in Cornwall, and sometimes deputising for him. The Lord Lieutenants are representatives of the King for each county in the UK and, with Floyd’s expertise in education and sport, he is an immense asset to the life of Cornwall.

Floyd continues to travel and give talks stressing the need to continually challenge perceptions, break down barriers, and address unconscious bias within ourselves and our community. “I love what I do and I hope I can continue to make a difference. I suffered racial abuse when I was playing, and throughout many periods of my life, and I’m dedicated to trying to change people’s perceptions and attitudes”

The current handbook can be accessed here.