NEWS | Pete Bell tributes this Sunday

The club will pay tribute to legend Pete Bell this Sunday (September 4) as they host the annual Pete Bell Memorial Trophy tag rugby competition on the Club Doncaster Academy pitches between 10am and 1pm.

Both teams and sets of supporters will also be invited to take part in a minute’s applause in honour of Pete prior to kick off at the Dons v London Skolars game.

Pete’s daughter Sarah will be in attendance on Sunday, she is also owner of 100Club bronze partner Jazz Café together with her husband Ross.

It was Sarah’s late father Pete who encouraged her to open a hospitality business in Doncaster. He felt great passion for the city with it being his home town and the involvement he had with the Doncaster Rugby League football club as their conditioning coach for over 25 years.

The family moved from London in to a house they had previously built in Doncaster and all enjoyed spending time together, especially Harrison who loved spending quality time with his grandad, they would regularly go out for breakfast together and attend the Dons fixtures. Having Sarah living in his home City Pete continued to encourage her to open a hospitality business, telling her that the city needed a taste of London that only she could provide. Sarah resisted for a while, insisting that she had retired from Hospitality, but a few months later when her dream property was put on the market she knew it was meant to be.

Pete was overjoyed for his daughter insisting that he would help in any way that he could, even offering to stand in as a waiter, a pot washer, a decorator, a cleaner or anything at all that would help his daughter to get the business on its feet. Knowing that she had her father’s full support Sarah began filling in the required paperwork and applied for the lease. Finally everything was falling in to place for the family, they were beyond excited about beginning their new adventure but they didn’t know that their world was about to come crashing down.

In 2020 Pete Bell was diagnosed with terminal cancer and the family knew they had to prepare themselves to grieve what would be a huge loss. They were no stranger to grief having lost Sarah’s brother Peter Bell in 2012 while serving in the RAF, they would once again be losing another role model and precious part of the family. Sarah and Ross continued to work hard to open Jazz Café while supporting her father through his illness in the hope that the Café would be ready for Pete to see something he had felt so passionate about but devastatingly Pete passed away just seven weeks after his diagnosis and never had that opportunity.

Pete’s passing left the family feeling broken and because of COVID-19 only ten people could attend the funeral meaning they could not give him the send-off he truly deserved. The funeral procession drove around the Eco-Power Stadium, home of the Doncaster Rugby League football club for the many that loved and respected him to say their farewells.

Sarah, Ross and the whole family struggled immensely after Pete passed and at times Sarah could not see how they would manage to open the business her father had always wanted her to own. They marched on through the struggles and Jazz Café opened its doors for the first time in July 2020 shortly after Pete passed away, continuing to open every day since with fond memories of the influence he had on the business.

Rest in Peace Pete Bell you are missed by your family and the people of Doncaster who’s hearts you touched over the years.

Please join us on Sunday to honour Pete and to watch former Dons players in action in the Tag Rugby competition.  

The trophy presentation will also take place during half-time of the Dons v London Skolars match.