Ted Schools was a great bloke and character, a true friend of our family and many others (similar to Fr Alf Parker, mentioned above). he was charismatic and very funny but he took his rugby seriously.
at st mary's, when dave (beefy) bostock moved on (circa '85), ted coached our first XV - he took no prisoners, for sure, but a lovely bloke nonetheless. he even cajoled me into turning out for blackpool rufc youth - which was no mean feat considering i didn't even like rugby, but i could play a bit.
as was the protocol at the time, if you were picked for the first XV you had to play, or you waved goodbye to your place in the football or cricket teams, which was unthinkable to me. i'm only glad i was shit at cross-country...
on the subject of st mary's, special mention to dave mcglaughlin; great teacher and bloke. though retired, he's still helping out, i think, which is a measure of the man. i'll never forget the day after bury v pool in 1985 (when it got v naughty) - we were waiting outside the PE block, everyone singing: "going up, going up, going up...". DM turns up and we all eagerly asked him: "did it kick off big-time sir?" his smile was wry...then cheshire cat. happy days.