Incredible tributes to Burrow after his passing

AMT Headingley Stadium has seen most things since it first opened its doors in 1890 but nothing will compare with the outpouring of love and support that followed the passing of Rob Burrow on 2^nd June 2024.

After the news was announced at 6pm, the stadium was opened for people to come down and be together, staying open throughout the night as people came down with the news we all hoped would never come began to filter out.

The stadium remained open every day for seven days from 7am until midnight for people to gather, remember Rob and share those moments together. As the week went on the sea of flowers, shirts and scarves continued to grow at the feet of the John Holmes statue.

Exactly a week after the announcement of Rob’s passing, his family and friends gathered once more to remember Rob and show their appreciation for the thousands of well wishers who have given the family so much strength.

That evening, to ensure that the items do not get damaged by the weather and the site remains a fitting tribute to Rob, the tributes were all lifted. Each has been photographed and will put into a book, copies of which will go to the family, one at the stadium and one to be housed in the new Rob Burrow Centre for MND.

The club have preserved all the items safely and will make a decision, in conjunction with Rob’s family, how to use the shirts and items to form a permanent tribute at the stadium.

The flowers, once they were longer fresh were lifted. Any wrappers were recycled wherever possible whilst the flowers were composted separately with the compost then added to the club’s existing Memorial Garden situated near Car Park A at the stadium. All notes on the flowers will also be photographed and added to the above books.

The week long mourning at AMT Headingley was something that will live long in the memories of all those who attended. It was then matched by Burrow's funeral on 7th July. The route that the hearse carrying Burrow's coffin would travel from his home to Pontefract Crematorium was publicised in advance and thousands, young and old, turned out to say their final goodbye. What had anticipated as being a 20 minute slow drive became a 90 minute procession through the streets of the West Yorkshire towns that Burrow grew up in and around. 

The funeral was a private event attended by around 100 invited guests, the majority of whom were Burrow's former team mates with Barrie McDermott, Jamie Jones-Buchanan and Kevin Sinfield each speaking along with words from Rob's family. 

Rob Burrow certainly left his mark on this world and that was certainly demostrated in how we all mourned his passing.