...in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List for his service to Northern Irelandsport will bring a lot of satisfaction to followers of both cricket and hockey throughout Ireland. Dixon has been a Colossus in both codes and there could be no more deserving recipient.
Cricket hasn’t received too much recognition at this level down the years and althoughDixonhas been more involved in national hockey in recent times, his record of service to cricket is equally awesome. A distinguished senior hockey player at Cliftonville he went on to captain Ireland and was renowned as a hard-tackling defender. He played his cricket at Instonians and was a member of the Shane Park team that won the NCU Senior League Championship in 1962 before captaining the club to their only Senior Challenge Cup success two years later. He played forUlsterTownand NCU representative teams for many years and still holds the record of scoring the most runs for his club.
As an administrator he took a prominent role in both sports, and soon earned a reputation as a no-nonsense straight talker. He could be argumentative and abrasive at times, but his dedication and commitment were qualities that shone through even the most infamous of incidents. Quite simply, Dixon got things done, and the many hats he wore included sponsorship, administration and sports promotion. He was a director of the well-known insurance brokers Harris-Marrian and the driving force behind their innovative sponsorship for individual and weekly awards over forty years ago. At the same time he held positions in a wide variety of committees in both cricket and hockey disciplines and within the Sports Council for Northern Ireland. It remains something of a mystery how he still found the time to devote to maintaining Shane Park cricket ground at the same time, although he would be the first to credit his long-suffering brother Carson with fulsome praise for his support over many years.
He managed the Ulster Grasshoppers on their historic trip to South Africain 1981/2 and was affectionately nicknamed “Damager” after some colourful incidents on tour.
He was Irish Cricket Union President in 1984 and remains the only person to have been awarded the presidency of both Irish hockey and cricket unions. Amazingly his zeal for administration has never waned over the years as he has just finished his second two-year stint as Irish Hockey Union president. His organization of major hockey tournaments was exceptional and his vision and enthusiasm has been one of the major factors in driving Irish hockey to higher levels on the international stage.
Quite simply, Dixon Rose has given phenomenal service to voluntary sport in Ireland for over fifty years and if he ruffled a few feathers on the way then it was a small price to pay for what he has given in return.
Well done AD Rose, we are all very proud of you.
Clarence Hiles
Editor
