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GEOFF DAVIS 1932 – 2005

We regret to report that long time athletics official Geoff Davis, Past President of Belgrave Harriers and Surrey AC, died on the morning of Tuesday 29 November at the age of 73 after a long period of illness. For many years he had been living at Orton Longueville, Peterborough.

Geoff was elected President in 1982-83 when his old club Surrey AC amalgamated with Belgrave Harriers.  Prior to that he had been Hon. Secretary of Surrey AC since the mid '70s and was very much the driving force behind that club through to the 1980s.

Geoff was a very good standard club sprinter for Polytechnic Harriers in his early days and competed in relay teams alongside the legendary E. McDonald-Bailey.

Long after his competitive days and by now living in New Malden, Geoff's daughter took up the sport and went along to Norbiton track (now Kingsmeadow) where she joined Surrey Athletic Club. Inevitably Geoff went with her and before long he had been roped in to help run the club. Around 1973 he became Honorary Secretary and later President but by the end of the decade Surrey AC was suffering terribly from a lack of administrators and officials.  Geoff bore the brunt of this as he took on more and more in the way of club work to keep Surrey AC afloat.

Eventually it became too much for one person and around 1980 he approached Belgrave Harriers, proposing amalgamation.  It didn't happen at that time but within two years the unification of the men's sections of the two clubs did take place; Surrey AC's women's section evolved into the Royal Borough of Kingston AC which subsequently merged with Kingston & Polytechnic Harriers.

Geoff was also much involved in County athletics and he was made a Life Vice-President for his services to Surrey County AAA.

When his career with Pearl Assurance took him away from London, to Peterborough, true to form, Geoff became as staunch a supporter of athletics in Cambridgeshire as he had in Surrey. He became Chairman of both Peterborough AC and Cambridgeshire AA.

Our condolences are extended to Geoff's wife Moira and their three children.