This week's English Apple Man Journal, features almost nothing about apples & pears, but posts memories of an old friend and indulges in nostalgia.
Remembering an old friend - Andrew (Andy) Rutherford
Sadly as we grow old we lose dear friends, each one passing brings back fond memories of the past. Nostalgia is a wonderful comfort in old age and it becomes more precious with each passing day.
Way back in our youth I played football with a special group of friends. From 16 years old until I was aged 23 I was part of Hawkhurst United a local football team playing village football in Kent & East Sussex. In that seven year period we grew into a very good team, winning many trophies and culminating in winning a local Charity Cup which meant so much to us all.
AS mentioned in 1965 we reached The Hawkhurst Charity Cup Final, last won by Hawkhurst United exactly 30 years previously when my father was the star centre forward.
One of my team mates was Andrew (Andy) Rutherford whose family moved into 'Wetheringhope' a large house on Hawkhurst Moor opposite The Eight Bells Public House where we celebrated many a Cup Win with 'Black Velvet' (Champagne & Guinness) Andy played for Hawkhurst between 1957 and 1967.
Andrew was nearly six years older than me and when I first played for Hawkhurst he was in the air force. By 1960 he was back and part of the team as we progressed to a higher league culminating in our many on field successes!
Over the years since our football days, Andrew and I met regularly, playing Golf at various Charity Golf Events. Westerham and Cherry Lodge regular charity venues. We also played at Tenterden Golf Club with Roy (Jumbo) Avery who became an excellent club golfer after retiring from football.
Andrew was a member Dulwich & Sydenham Hill Golf Club with it's panoramic views across London where we would play occasionally and sharing a coffee beforehand with his delightful wife Ann, who I remember would sometimes come to watch Andrew playing for Hawkhurst United with her father in those far of 'halcyon days of our youth' I still have memories of Ann and her father, with my father watching us from the touchline!
Below - Hawkhurst United in 1960
Andrew is squatting centre of front row. He was always 'Andy' to his football friends in Hawkhurst, although he told me nobody else ever called him Andy, in his working life; always Andrew!
But then we did have a few 'choice nick names' for some other members of our team; at right back Alan 'China' Rhoades and at right half Roy 'Jumbo' Avery while captain Alan Gregory was always 'Greg' and in the HCC winning season a young 19 year old Alan (Ginger) Cope
The team: Back row left to right.
Kenny Relf, Roy (Jumbo) Avery, Doug Saunders, Alan (China) Rhoades, Brian Muggeridge, Percy Hodge.
Front row: left to right.
Peter Draper, Alan Gregory (Captain) Andy Rutherford, Peter Ditton, John Guest.
In the picture below: After winning the Robertsbridge Invitation Cup for the third year in a row
left to right: Andy Rutherford, John Guest, Alan Gregory & David Guest.
This picture was taken in September 1964 after we had won the Robertsbridge Invitation Cup for the third year in succession.
1964/65 was a special season as we started with the Robertsbridge Invitation Cup.
Came second in the Hastings League after a season long battle with Eastbourne Working Men's Club. and won the Hawkhurst Charity Cup.
And won the Hawkhurst Charity Cup.
In 1965 we reached The Hawkhurst Charity Cup Final last won by Hawkhurst United exactly 30 years previously when my father was the star centre forward. The HCC Final was always played on Easter Monday and this one was played in a thunderstorm!
I still remember my hair standing on end during a flash of lightening!!
Hawkhurst beat Smarden 6-2 with David Guest scoring 4 goals, Andrew Rutherford 1 goal and John Guest 1 goal.
Left to Right: Hugh Draper (Chairman) Peter Draper, John Guest, Alan (China) Rhoades, Andrew (Andy) Rutherford, Peter Ditton, Alan Greggory (Captain) Doug Saunders (Goalkeeper), Brian Muggeridge, David Guest, Roy (Jumbo) Avery, Alan (Ginger) Cope, Jimmy Dunlop (President), Percy Hodge (Hon. Secretary.
The history of Hawkhurst United was compiled by our goalkeeper - Doug Saunders 'titled' THE OLD BIRD and the CHERRY PICKERS
The Old Bird and the Cherry Pickers is not only a comprehensive history of football in the village of Hawkhurst, but includes many stories of life in Hawkhurst in general, albeit linked to football. In my opinion it is a 'masterpiece' and while we footballers will always remember Doug Saunders as a very good goalkeeper, this homage to Hawkhurst football is a very precious historic book which should be read by the younger generation.
Football has been played in Hawkhurst since the 1880's and Hawkhurst Football Club was 'born' on 9th November 1891. Initially named Hawkhurst Working Men's Club, the name was formally changed to Hawkhurst Football Club in 1892.
In 1935 Hawkhurst United FC played Tottenham Hotspur at the Oak & Ivy Ground, losing 9-1 with my father Jack Guest scoring the Hawks goal.
In 1948 the amalgamation of Moor Ramblers FC and Hawkhurst became Hawkhurst United Football Club.
One of the many interesting facts revealed was the many members of The Clergy not only playing for village teams, but acting as administrators in the formative days of Kent & Sussex football.
I still remember as a child, we were kicking a ball around in the field adjoining our High Street Farmhouse, when a car screeched to a halt, and Our Vicar ??? ran into the field to join us!
My mother ran from the house fearing an accident, what had happened?
He was 'noted' (unapprovingly) to have taken a Church Service with his football kit under his Church robes, ready for a match afterwards!
Below: Sunday Times Obituary: Andrew Duncan Rutherford
The Sunday Times Obituary and Memories from Andrew's colleagues kindly sent to me by his wife - Ann Rutherford
Saatchi copywriter behind 'Labour isn't Working' which changed the face of political campaigning
In 1999, the advertising magazine CAMPAIGN held a vote to declare the greatest poster of the previous century. Though the historic First World War recruitment poster "Lord Kitchener Wants You" did well with the jury, it was pipped to the post by a Conservative Party election poster conceived by the copywriter Andrew Rutherford.
A long dole queue winds toward an employment office beneath a blunt strapline. "Labour Isn't Working" This endlessly reworkable design has been parodied numerous times since it first appeared in 1978, most notably when Tony Blair was photographed in front of a version captioned "Majorism Isn't Working in 1992, and Mitt Romney introduced it to the United States with the caption "Obama Isn't Working in 2012.
When Saatchi & Saatchi was commissioned to produce the poster for Margaret Thatcher's election campaign in the late Seventies, Rutherford volunteered for the job with his art director, Martyn Walsh.
Together they produced a stack of designs for review by Tim Bell, the managing director, who then removed those he deemed unworthy of the client's review.
To Rutherford's disappointment. "Labour isn't Working" was culled. Rather than make a fuss, he waited until Bell left the room, then slipped it back into the pile!
Thatcher also had her doubts but once the double-meaning had been explained to her, she apparently commented; "Well it can't be very good because I don't get it." Her strategist, Gordon Reece however, 'did get it' and he insisted. Labour are going to hate this" he said and they did!!
The Labour reaction, as predicted was furious. The Labour Chancellor Denis Healey when Thatcher was elected in May 1979 accused the Conservatives of selling Thatcher "like soap powder" a comment which reportedly boosted Saatchi & Saatchi's share price by 8p. When Thatcher was elected in May 1979, the Tory party chairman Lord Thorneycroft went so far as to claim that the poster had "won the election for the Conservatives".
Andrew Duncan Rutherford was born in 1936 in St. Leonards-on-Sea to Robert, the owner of a swimming pool business and Cecile, a writer for Mills & Boon. After The King's School Canterbury, he trained as a fighter pilot with the RAF in Canada, but was prevented from qualifying by a sinus condition and so returned to the UK to look for work in advertising. He wrote to 40 agencies. Then suddenly "I had about 30 interviews in two weeks."
After stints at small agencies, Rutherford was hired by the advertising department of The Sunday Times. He demonstrated promise as a writer, but was unpopular with colleagues. "They were jealous of him," asserted his creative director, Peter Philips. "He is pricky and arrogant. But bloody good."
On one occasion, Philipps refused to nominate one of Rutherford's adverts for an award, so Rutherford funded the nomination himself - and won.
Rutherford met his wife Ann, in Battle in 1960, after he was spotted walking past a window by her friend. They married in 1965, and lived in London. Rutherford is survived by Ann and their children, Claudia, Dominic and Harry.
In 1971, he moved to Benton & Bowles as assistant creative director before joining Saatchi & Saatchi in 1973.
It was the first agency to appreciate his talents fully. "There were people to whom I I didn't have to say why I was doing something. They just knew, We all agreed."
His client list included the Health Education Council, the source of some of his best work, including a poster of, a nude, pregnant model smoking a cigarette. "Is it fair to force your baby to smoke cigarettes?" the strapline asked.
His "Labour Isn't Working" poster "fast-forwarded the firm's growth by ten years, according to Maurice Saatchi. Several senior figures would claim responsibility for creation, including Bell. "Tim was lukewarm about it." Rutherford complained. It was only only once Mrs Thatcher liked it that it became his favourite and he's claimed credit ever since." Bell denied claiming creative responsibility.
Rutherford left Saatchi & Saatchi in 1979 to co-found Wight Collins Rutherford Scott which became one of the of the city's foremost advertising agencies.
There was nothing like landing on a simple, effective idea, he said in 1988. "I still rush around the office like a kid saying. "Look what I've done."
Andrew Rutherford advertising copywriter, was born on July 1936. He died on February 6 2026 aged 89.
Below tributes to Andrew Rutherford from his colleagues, "who were there"
A tribute from Ron Leagas
I've been informed that Andrew Rutherford passed away yesterday. When he left Saatchi to start WCRS and I followed suit to start Leagas Delaney, we lost contact, but I'm sad to hear that a talented ex colleague is no longer with us. My condolences to his family and friends. Many have claimed responsibility for the iconic Labour isn't working poster, but I know he penned it. Most advertising is ephemeral and all of us will come and go without leaving much of a mark, but at the very least, Andrew should be remembered as the author of a significant event in British politics.
Tribute from David Wood
And yes Ron - it was Andrew who wrote the Labour Isn't Working poster (I know as I produced the typography & artwork and Martyn Walsh directed the 'queue' image). I also remember that evening we produced about 20 ads (press & posters) and in the morning, in Jeremy's office, Charles went through them all and threw about 4 or 5 out - and that was one of them. When he left Andrew sneaked the ad back in the pile. What a historical sneak that was eh?
Below an addition to the obituary, sent to me by Ann Rutherford....
with an additional tribute, Claude Keith writes...
Sadly we are now down to just four of the Hawkhurst Charity Cup Winning Team from 1965, losing David our centre forward (my brother) David in October 2025 and now sadly we say goodbye to Andrew. God Bless you Andrew.
RIP. Dear friend.
Before we end this week's Journal, the apple & pear buds are bursting into life.
And a thank you to Paul Hamlyn at AC Hulme and BAPL Orchard Watch for the pictures
Below: left to right. Cameo - Braeburn - & Gala buds
Below: Pear buds
That is all for this week
Take care
The English Apple Man