Dave 'Bez' Berryman player at Penzance & Newlyn RFC

Club History - Players - Dave Berryman

Dave 'Bez' Berryman

In rugby, we are fortunate that a good number of former players give something of themselves back to the game after they have hung up their boots.

It may be as a coach, as an administrator, or might simply be a response from someone who is willing to dig in and help where help is required. Some have done all of these things – ‘Bez’ being one of them.

The son of Fred Berryman, who played for Cornwall Schools and Penzance pre-WW2, Dave first played rugby at Lescudjack School under the guidance of Jimmy Jenkin and Willie Cock.

He played for Mounts Bay Colts in1958/59, when Ben Jelbert was in charge, and also represented Cornwall Colts.

A tall, talented back-row forward, Dave played at Holmans for a season before returning to the Pirates where he played 240 games for the club.

It was a figure which would have been much higher had he not joined the Police and played for the Cornwall, Devon & Cornwall, and the West of England Police teams.

Post playing, Dave served our Mini-Junior Section as a coach and then officer over a period of 25 years, often taking on the quite considerable responsibility of taking our young players on tours, which included trips to places such as Italy and Kenya.

Having been capped for Cornwall in 1962, he was immensely proud when his son Steve also played for the county, the first Pirates father/son combination to be so honoured.

For all that he has done for the Pirates and for rugby football generally, it is no surprise that Dave is both a Vice President and Life Member of the Penzance & Newlyn RFC, with him still actively involved – nowadays as an ‘apprentice’ groundsman, assisting his good friend Graham Paul!