ULSTER RUGBY HAVE today announced that they will honour the memory of Nevin Spence by naming a new facility after the centre.
Spence tragically died at the age of 22 along his with his father Noel and brother Graham in an accident on the family farm outside Hillsborough, Co. Down last September.
Exactly 11 months on, the province have named their new education and heritage centre after the lost talent.
The Nevin Spence centre will be housed in the new Memorial End stand and a statement from the province says it “will exist to promote the qualities that Nevin Spence embodied, namely a healthy lifestyle and sporting excellence.”
Part of a (€17.2M) £14.7 million redevelopment of Ravenhill, the centre is believed to still be a year away from completion. The development has also included new stands around the playing field, which will be opened to supporters for the first time during pre-season visit of Leinster later this month.
Support
President of the IRFU Ulster branch, John Robinson thanked the Spence family for their courtesy and support in the decision to name the facility after Nevin.
He added: “It will be a vibrant centre and will demonstrate the benefits that sport can bring to everyone.”
Ulster Rugby Supporters Club chairman Iain Campbell said of the move:
“We all have very fond memories of great days, great tries, great matches and great victories, with Nevin in the thick of it all.
“For him to have been so tragically snatched from us in his prime is a sadness that will always remain with us and the dedication of the Nevin Spence Centre to his memory is indeed a great tribute and a mark of the very high regard in which he was held and of all that he had come to mean to the Ulster fans.”
