It is with great sadness that we hear of the passing of our dear friend, Richard Edgley.

Richard’s absolute love of tennis took him from the world of insurance to a career in tennis coaching and on to the development of all aspects of disability tennis across the county.

He found this journey hugely rewarding and, as such, played a very special part in the fabric, the ethos and the development of Grantham Tennis Club.

Richard represented all matters coaching on our committee and led the coaching team for many years. He was a key member of the development team which took GTC from a small club to what it is today.

He invested most of his time and found his greatest joy on court with his squads, students and friends. Encouraging tots to adults to love the game - as he did - high fiving all-comers and establishing the tradition of waving at the passing trains. He insisted all of the parents join in at the end of their children’s lessons with games of bodge and rolly-bowly.

With true GTC spirit, Richard, Jackie and their friends would always support themed dinners, club events and quizzes. He loved a quiz – and his knowledge of tennis – players, facts and figures - was truly astonishing, fondly known as Stato amongst the coaching team.

From a tennis perspective, his legacy will be in the development of tennis for all. He never differentiated between players in wheelchairs, visually impaired players or players with learning disabilities – it was just tennis. He changed the landscape in Grantham, Lincolnshire and nationally, leading our club to the LTA’s National Disability Club of The Year Award in 2016.

Richard was celebrated by Lincolnshire Tennis as Development Coach of the Year on many occasions and in 2019 was the recipient of a Lifetime Contribution Award.

The Lincolnshire Award for Disability has been renamed the Richard Edgley Disability Award to honour his legacy.

We will miss his wry humour, gentle nature and dedication - to tennis, GTC and all those whose lives were enhanced by knowing him. We really miss him just being around. We send our love to Jackie, Scott, Ross and Craig at this very sad time.

Lianne and the GTC family