Tributes to John 'Pastie' Brown - a 'great man and a local legend'

Tributes have been paid to “local legend” John Brown who trained thousands of the city’s youngsters in the art of boxing, including former Olympic medallist Tony Jeffries.

- by Neil Fatkin

John sadly passed away last month (October) at the age of 85 after a long battle with his health, following a stroke.

He died just three weeks after the passing of his wife Betty.

John established the Sunderland Amateur Boxing Club in the 1970s and spent the following decades training thousands of children and young men in the city and “helping to keep them on the straight and narrow”.

One of those was former amateur boxer Geoff Rushworth, 64, who was trained by John - also known affectionately as Pastie - whom he went on to be close friends after retiring from the ring.