Club presidents The first club president, Bob Tanner, was appointed in 1994. It was the year of Bob’s vice captaincy, and he was struck down by ill health. When it became clear that he would not be strong enough to take on his duties as club captain the following year, the committee acknowledged his great contribution to the life of the club by proposing that he should be made the club’s first ever president. Bob was delighted to be given this honour, but sadly passed away during his first year in office. The Bob Tanner Trophy was donated in his memory and is played for each winter (see Trophy Hunters for details). The position remained vacant until 2003 when it was re-established on a three-year rolling basis with Ralph Thatcher appointed to the post. Ralph was followed in succession by Theo Ziffo, Martin Hawkins, and Allan Harries. Always looking to move with the times and make the club more open and inclusive, in 2017 June Gaffney was the first woman to be appointed as club president. This was received extremely positively across the membership of the club. June was followed in 2020 by Terry Denby, the current club president. Interestingly, Theo Ziffo shares a heritage with the Vlasto family who were one of the previous owners of Badgemore Park. Martin Hawkins’ son Paul is the creator of the Hawk-Eye computer vision system used in numerous sports such as cricket, tennis, Gaelic football, badminton, hurling, rugby union, association football and volleyball. In his younger years, Allan Harries was a very accomplished rugby player. He played fullback for Richmond Football Club (one of the country’s oldest clubs of any code) in the amateur era, when they were
one of the first-class teams. They played against the likes of Harlequins, Wasps, Saracens and London Welsh and Allan often came up against international players! It is thanks to the captains, president, and committees at the club that the member-related aspects run so smoothly. There is an excellent and supportive relationship between the committees and the management team that is crucial to the success and excellent member experience that is seen at Badgemore.
FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: JUNE GAFFNEY, JOHN TUGWELL, JOHN GRACE, SUE JENKINS, TERRY DENBY, IAN SCHWARTZ, KIM HAWKINS AND MERVYN HARDMAN
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