Club History

It all began in 1978 with a request from Wychavon Sports Council to a Droitwich resident, Mrs, Daphne Slater, (nee Arden) to look into the possibility of forming an athletic club in the town. Daphne, who had a wealth of athletic experiences having gained a bronze medal in the Tokyo Olympics and being a Commonwealth Games champion, was prepared to consider the situation and an article duly appeared in the local press requesting any other persons interested to contact her.

The response was sufficient to be considered further and a public meeting to be held in the Council Chamber at Norbury house on Monday June 19th 1978, was called. The attendance at the meeting including the Major and some town councillors totalled 52 persons and from this number a steering committee was elected. Little time was lost and the first meeting of the committee was held on Thursday 29th June at the pavilion in King George playing fields when officers were elected and the name of the club agreed. Location of the club headquarters, applications to Wychavon and local school for the use of facilities, enrolment of members, registration and a constitution for the club, fund raising and a programme to establish training and coaching sessions were all subjects for extensive discussion and the enormity of the project quietly emerged.

The club were fortunate that Daphne had persuaded her athletics coach Mr Bill Marlow (senior coach, British Athletic Board) to visit the club and offer guidance on how to succeed. He emphasised that the strength of the club lay in the standard of the coaching and asked how many coaches the club had. He appeared surprised to learn the answer, nil, but promptly offered to conduct a few sessions to introduce those interested to the world of coaching athletics. The sessions were held at St. Richard’s school and were attended by some ten to twelve persons. Among those present was a gentleman called George Murray who had previously been seen at the meetings but who was obviously far fitter than most of those in attendance and appeared to know just what was expected of a coach. When approached he indicated his willingness to assist and advised he had recently left the Royal Air Force where he had been a physical training officer for a number of years and had the qualifications for teaching a number of athletic disciplines.

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