Billy Browne Ulster Bank Club Rugby PRO of the year Nominee
On Wednesday evening of this week Old Wesley committee members were joined by members of the Browne family at Irish Rugby HQ the Aviva stadium for the Ulster Bank League awards. This was 4th running of the now annual awards.
This year our singular nominee was the late Billy Browne for PRO of the year. Billy had attended the two previous years award ceremonies 
to catch up with old and new friends from clubs around the country. This year it was true to say his good humour and stories were missed by those in attendance who knew him or were about to meet him for the first time. Kind messages of support for the Browne Family and the club were conveyed to our President Mark Younge by many other clubs on the night and countless provincial and IRFU committee members again a true reflection of Billy’s wide reach in the game.
The real tribute to Billy came from our MC for the night Adam Redmond rugby correspondent for The Times newspaper who stopped
proceedings during the night to acknowledge Billy and the huge amount of work he had done for the promotion of the club game in Ireland. He shared a very amusing anecdote about trying to get a player nomination from Billy last year but Billy not wanting to break protocol was insuring that Adam would need to speak to the club committee. This was then followed by large round our applause from all in attendance in remembrance of Billy. Unfortunately Billy was just pipped at the post on the night by Robert McGloughlin & Mark Eddy of Bainbridge Rugby Club who were crowned PRO of the year. After the awards Billy’s wife Geraldine went up to the winners and congratulated them on behalf of Billy and the Browne family.
The club would like to thank the IRFU and Ulster Bank Rugby for the hospitality on the night and also congradulate to Mark & Robert on their win.