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ROGER TAYLOR AND HALLAMSHIRE 130th ANNIVERSARY
Wed 10 May 2017 22:00
Last Sunday 7th May was the 130th anniversary of the opening of the Sheffield & Hallamshire Lawn Tennis Club Ltd, now known as Hallamshire Tennis & Squash Club, and it was decided to take the opportunity of acknowledging one of Great Britain’s, and certainly Sheffield’s, greatest tennis players, Roger Taylor MBE. Proceedings commenced at 2pm with various on-court fun games on both the tennis and squash courts, followed by tennis coaching clinics involving both Roger and the 2012 Wimbledon Doubles Champion Jonny Marray ably assisted by the Hallamshire Academy coaches. Some 300 people surrounded outdoor court no.1 and following a tribute to Roger he took centre stage to rapturous applause, and then the microphone to address his audience.
Two etched glass screens, adjacent to court no.1, bearing both Roger’s name and the club’s 130th anniversary logo were unveiled simultaneously by him and Jonny Marray. A ‘vintage’ men’s doubles followed with Roger and John Andrews playing Wilf Jessop and Steve Howard, combined ages of 290 years; modesty would have prevented my revealing who won but to be fair to Roger…..! There followed a demonstration of the modern game with Dave Marray, Jason Torpey & Joe Wood joined by 2012 Wimbledon men’s doubles winner Jonny Marray.
The spectators’ joy at these two spectacles was no doubt enhanced by the availability of free gin and tonics provided by the club. An evening session where Roger could be questioned by an audience was rounded off by ‘The Zeroes’.
Special guests were John McGleave & Chris Day, Presidents of the SDLTA and the YLTA respectively, and John Crowther, Chairman of the YLTA.
For more information on Roger Taylor MBE see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Taylor_(tennis)