John Fordham - Former Chairman of Marlow Cricket Club and Chairman and Trustee of Marlow Sports Club
- sportsclubmarlow
- 2 minutes ago
- 2 min read
Sadly our former Chairman John Fordham passed away peacefully on Thursday 8 May with his family around him, aged 83. John made an incredible personal contribution to Marlow Sports Club
John was a keen cricketer and Chaired Marlow CC before becoming Chairman of MSC. MSC was under threat of disappearing in 2006 when Whitbread announced they planned to auction the land we had leased for 42 years for Cricket, Hockey and Tennis. John as Chairman stepped in and led a group of others to finance over £1M, not only to buy the land from Whitbread in 2011, but to actually expand our club by buying an additional piece of land on which our all weather hockey pitch was built. This was done via personal guarantees and third party loans, to which John personally made a huge contribution.
Today, as a Charity to promote sport in the Marlow community, we have almost quadrupled our playing membership from around 700 to over 2500 and added new sports with Marlow Striders, Marlow Riders and Pétanque, and we are a home for Jellytots Playgroup and Horizon Physiotherapy.
Back in 2013 John helped MSC acquire another piece of land behind the hockey pitch and this year we will be a temporary (and hopefully final) home for Marlow Canoe Club as they can connect to the river via a small canal at the corner of our land
It is not an understatement to say MSC and all our sports would not be here today without John's drive, commitment and personal contribution. MSC's existence and continued development is an incredible legacy and reflection of John as a person.
The attached newspaper cuttings from 2006 and 2011 are both fascinating and an important reminder that Marlow Sports Club members owe a debt to those who went before us, and none more so than John.
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