Goodbye to our friend Alec

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It is with great sadness that Cippenham Table Tennis Club announces the passing, yesterday (January 8th), of former Club Chairman and renowned player Alec Watson. He died at Wexham Park Hospital having been admitted early in December. He was 77.

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As a player, Alec had few peers in the Buckinghamshire area during his era, having won the Men’s Singles title at the Bucks Closed Championships on numerous occasions. That was replicated also by a host of Men’s Singles titles in the local leagues: High Wycombe (8 times), Slough (5 consecutive) and Maidenhead (2). As a veteran, Alec was ranked in the top ten in England in the late eighties and was a feared opponent using his guile to vary his chop and float defence, causing opponents much dismay.

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Alec’s great friend of 62 years, Peter Hillier, remembers watching Alec beat Bobby Stevens, the reigning English Closed Champion, at the 1962-63 Bucks Open held at Slough Community Centre. Probably his greatest win!

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Alec first joined Cippenham TTC in 1981 for our debut season in the National (now British) League and played for the Club a total of 301 times until a ruptured achilles, suffered in a Maidenhead League match at the old Cippenham venue in 1994, ended his playing career.

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Alec, who by profession was a bank manager, was also a leader and was Chairman of Cippenham TTC for ten years from 1987 until 1997. This was an era of great progress for the Club and Alec was also Chairman of the Building Sub-Committee that financed and built Cippenham Table Tennis Centre in 1996. For this and many other things, Alec leaves a legacy that few will emulate at Cippenham.

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Our condolences are extended to Alec’s wife, Liz, at this sad time.

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RIP, Alec.