Sir Peter George Yarranton (30 September 1924 – 1 June 2003)[1] was chairman of the United Kingdom Sports Council from 1989 to 1994, and a notable figure in the world of rugby union, both as a player and as an administrator, for more than 40 years.

He was born in Acton in London, the son of Edward John Yarranton (1884-1954) and Nora Ellen (née Atkins) (1900-1978), his father's second wife.

An older half-brother was Donald Yarranton, who found fame later in life as the actor Howard Lang, playing Captain Baines in The Onedin Line.

He developed into a powerful, mobile second row forward, capable of holding his own in the rough and tumble of the sport as well as claiming the ball with prodigious leaps in the line-out.

He kept fit well into his forties, when he became club secretary of Wasps, and in 1963 came out of retirement to play in a match for the Barbarians, the celebrated scratch side which he had also earlier captained.

Many fans were also familiar with his voice from his broadcasts for the BBC, or had relished his breezy observations over the tannoy in the Middlesex Sevens tournament at Twickenham in the 1960s and 1970s.