Club sport in Pretoria recently lost one of its great administrators with the death of the president and honorary life member of the Harlequins Sports Club, Neil Smith, at the age of 81. Smith was a very special and beloved personality, not only in the ranks of the Harlequins club, but also in the business world – in particular the corporate car industry. He was born in 1939 in the town of Warrington in Lancashire, England. After studying at Oxford University, he left England in his mid-twenties to work in Germany, after which he moved to South Africa in 1970 to accept a job with the Ford Motor Company. Later he joined Toyota South Africa, which was still a young company at the time, and he would eventually achieve legendary status with this company as well, just like in the local club sports circles. The well-known tycoon in the car industry, Brand Pretorius, was one of the speakers at Smit’s funeral. Smith was a decent rugby player and cricketer at club level in his younger days, but it was his particular love for people and his attachment to tradition and old-world values that made him a legend as an administrator at Harlequins. He was the epitome of a true English gentleman and in addition to his love of sport he also had a fine sense of arts and culture and a special love for nature. His charisma not only made him a popular leader, but it also created a wide circle of friends in the sports and business environment wherever he moved in South Africa and overseas. But he also held strong views and opinions on a variety of topics, which contributed to his status as a strong and credible individual – a quality that had indeed become scarce in modern times. Smith had brought in a culture of honouring teams and individuals in the Harlequins family, arranging functions and awards evenings to pay tribute to stand out individuals and teams. After his death, Smith was honoured by several sports bodies, including the Northerns Cricket Union and the Blue Bulls Rugby Union, for his many years of service to sport at club level. He leaves behind his beloved wife, Helen, and their three children and grandchildren.  

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