The following message has been penned by Nick Cousins, former President of the Society, regarding Sally Tooth.

We were saddened to learn of the death of Sally Tooth.

Sally died suddenly but peacefully in her flat on the evening of Thursday 31st October. She will be very much missed by many friends not only in the London Society but in Dolphin Square, Pimlico where she had lived since 1969 and which, over the years, had been the venue for many referee meetings, infamous late suppers and other social events.

Sally was, of course the wife of the late Gordon Tooth who died in 2008, and having been an RFU referee, assessor and administrator was himself something of a legend in refereeing circles in London and more widely across the RFU. For many years Gordon ‘allegedly’ ran the London Society Intermediate List, a group of referees that sat between the Regional Lists and Tommy Meale’s Top List: a sort of fore runner to a modern-day development squad. ‘Alleged’ because although it was Gordon’s name in the Society handbook, it was Sally who did most of the work and managed ‘her’ referees with a mixture of motherly affection and a rod of iron. In those days it was at best inadvisable to call off a game once appointed and were one to even think of so doing, the tongue lashing from Sally was usually enough to cause a change of mind! Your correspondent once phoned Sally in such circumstances on a Saturday morning barely able to speak or swallow to be answered with the response, “But you are not dead” before the phone was put down. (Not an exaggeration I assure you).

But underneath this sometimes-harsh exterior beat a heart of gold. She was someone to be relied upon to go the extra mile; something she often did after Gordon’s passing when for many years she organised the Golden Oldies table at the Society dinner ensuring a quorum year on year with her chivvying, chasing up and attention to detail.

For those who knew Sally and may be able to attend, there will be a service of remembrance at St Saviour’s Pimlico on December 6th at 2.30pm.