Norman Wilby - Founder of The Middlesex League
The recent loss of Norman Wilby is a sad occasion for all of us who have known and admired him for many years, but it gives us an opportunity to look back over his life and achievements, particularly in the world of squash.
It all started over 70 years ago when Norman was born. Unlike some of us who have served Middlesex for many years, but were born elsewhere, Norman Wilby was a Londoner born and bred.
Norman was a keen sportsman all his life, playing cricket for Parkfield, Hatch End and Sunday League football for many years. He was also a lifelong supporter of Charlton.
Norman first played squash well over 50 years ago at Mill Hill School and also played during his National Service in the 1950s. I first got to know him in the late 1960s at the start of a massive expansion of squash in the UK. He was then playing for the Green Shield squash club which many of you will remember as the luxurious setting for the Annual League Presentation Dances at one time. At that time, there was little opportunity to play squash unless you went to a public school or university, were in the services, or were a member of one of the relatively few squash clubs then available. In London, match play was confined to The Bath Cup, The Cumberland Cup and The Coolhurst Cup, which were fairly exclusive and required hours of travelling round the old North and South Circular roads to away matches at Beckenham, Forest Hill, Wanstead etc. There was also The London League, which again involved the whole of Greater London.
Norman had the vision, drive and organisational skills to form a new league to give match play opportunities to the many newly formed clubs in the area without the need for teams to travel to the far side of London for matches. He contacted representatives of many such clubs, initially organising a few friendly matches and in 1971 he formed the N W Middlesex League with 14 clubs. Officially it was the North West Middlesex League, but many of us have always regarded it as the Norman Wilby Middlesex League.
The original 14 teams were mainly from local firms and the RAF they included the 3 Gs, Green shield, Gallaher and Glaxo the RAF teams from Bentley Priory, Hendon and West Drayton Joint Services Northwood, EMI, Met. Police Hendon, MRC Hammersmith, John Laing, Nat. West Bank, Rank Xerox and Taywood. Sadly none of these 14 still plays in the league The first year each club had to play 9 other clubs, home and away and the team with most points at the end of the season, MRC Hammersmith, won the inaugural league title, Glaxo were runners-up.
After the first successful season, things developed very rapidly with more and more clubs joining until 250 teams were playing in The Middlesex League, as it had then become. In 1986 the mens league had a pyramidal structure of 7 Divisions with 6 sections in Division 7. Norman always gave strong support to womens squash and he formed a womens section of the league in 1975 which, at one time , had 6 Divisions. A junior league followed in 1979 and in 1984 the mens veterans league was started, followed by the womens veterans league in 1985. Last but not least the vintage section was formed in 1990.
From 1971 until 2005 Norman was League General Secretary and Honorary Treasurer. He was a benign dictator of the mens league for nearly 35 years, during which time the rules expanded from a blank sheet of paper to cover 16 pages in the handbook, this expansion largely stimulated by the ingenuity of various team secretaries in finding loopholes in the rules , which then obliged the league committee to create new rules to close the loopholes.
Norman always praised those team secretaries who were sufficiently well organised to avoid the fines for not complying with league rules and he introduced the concept of Secretary of the Year in 1978. However, he also appreciated the contributions to league funds each year from the fines paid by less well organised secretaries.
He made himself available for all those years to take the thousands of telephone enquiries from team secretaries and other players and to offer helpful advice. He could also on occasion be brutally frank with those he felt were doing a poor job and, no doubt a number here today may have received their letters to Norman back by return of post, embellished with pithy comments in green ink. I would also like to acknowledge the tremendous support that his wife, Myra, provided over the years, fielding the calls from often irate and stroppy secretaries while Norman was out playing squash.
Then there was the Secretaries Cup, which Norman started in 1979, the Club of the Year Award, started in 1980, the individual tournaments that ran for many years, the league team that played against the second teams of neighbouring counties, the Annual League Presentation Dances and the many other things Norman initiated; I think you have the picture by now.
Norman also served on the County Committee, not only as Mens League representative from the time the league was formed until 2005, but also as Honorary Treasurer from 1977-81 and County Secretary from 1980-91. He was also awarded the prestigious Hawkey Award by the SRA at The British Open Championship Finals in 1993, alongside the legendary Hashim Khan.
It is extremely difficult to know how best to sum up Normans years of service and dedication. When I have talked to others who knew him they commonly said Firm but fair consistently applied the rules without fear or favour someone who you could always rely upon to do what he promised, promptly, etc. etc.
I remember a man of vision and determination who provided new sporting opportunities for thousands of men and women over the years A man of principle with a good sense of humour. A man who loved his family and home life. A man who will be long remembered for all his achievements.
Gordon Ross, President of Middlesex Squash and Racketball Association
Norman founded the Middlesex Squash League in 1971. I played my first team match for him when he ran a side from Green Shield in about 1979. Five years later at his instigation the Veterans Section was formed and from then until just three years ago I worked with Norman and tried to adopt a uniform approach in that section of the MSL. In so doing I learnt a great deal from him and although things have changed over the years, with sadly a decline in numbers participating and an increasing age profile, it is to his great credit that all sections of the MSL are recognizably largely unchanged from the early days. My memories of him are manifold. He himself played in the League for a number of teams until perhaps no less than 5 years ago when he took part in a Vintage team match. He had a unique and often cheeky style and I well remember his ability to execute a fiendish screw serve. He used to be a coach. He ran marking courses and was himself a Tournament Grade Referee. He ran our social functions and was a capable MC. For a number of years he wrote reports on squash matches in local newspapers. He regularly produced the MSL Newsletter with up to date League Tables before the internet was available. He was efficient and rarely relied on technology.
But what came through was his approach of not favouring any one team or person. He came down heavily on those who were inefficient, unfair or cheated and would fine them and indeed from time to time, quite justifiably, individuals were banned from playing in the League.
He could be dictatorial but if you stood up to him and argued your case he would listen but beg to differ. He could fall out with a team secretary but in most cases the antipathy did not last and on a later occasion the two would be friends again. He did what he thought was in the best interests of the MSL. He could be biting and then humorous.
It would be wrong not to mention the enormous amount of work that there was not just during a season but in the run up and preparations for the following one. In this period Myra was always there and knew all the procedures well. In the earlier days it was a family operation and Norman was assisted by Myra and their two daughters Tina and Kim.
Cheerio, Norman. You are much missed but I hope that what you founded will continue to your credit for a long time to come.
Jack Harris
A great administrator and a nice guy.
Coolhurst SC
Always fair. No favourites. If any team tried to gain an unfair advantage then a league rule would be added to prevent any recurrence. Some found the rules and fines an interference to their normal haphazard method of operation but it did help make the League run smoothly for all and as such everyone knew where they stood. Even the other halves were worried if there was a message from Norman to ring back!
Norman's enthusiasm for all things squash meant that he devoted an enormous amount of time to administration as well as playing. The founding of the North West Middlesex League in 1971 was down to his efforts and he persuaded 14 clubs to compete and quickly grew the League into the largest and best in the UK. Over the years other competitions such as the Secretaires Cup were also introduced. It was hard not to admire the work he put in on a continual basis.
Summer League Secretary, Robin Mace
Normans passion for obeying and enforcing the middlesex rules was legendary and we all fell foul of fines at some point in our team secretaries career. However he was equally fair on Division 1 superstars and Division 7 novices and at times did it with humour and grace. All team players within the county owe him a big thankyou for running the leagues the way he did because of his love for the game of squash. Our thoughts are with Myra and family through their difficult times.
Southgate SC
Very sorry to hear about Norman. He invested an incredible amount of time in Middlesex squash and the support he gave the county was amazing. I will remember him for his no nonsense approach to the league, which made managing a team pretty straight forward, and his wry sense of humour that you undoubtedly need to do the job for as long as he did.
Ealing SC
My abiding memory of Norman is his long suffering but good humoured running of the Secretaries Cup, an annual event that was serious fun, with Norman finding time to participate as well as prove his organisational ability. A competition in the true spirit of squash that, sadly, hasnt survived him.
Oakleigh Park LTSC
Many of us might remember Norman for his generous fines for every misdemeanour we could manage, clearly the basis on which the league was financed some years. The truth is that this was not representative of his underlying character. I remember games in the secretaries cup where he was clearly mischievous in his approach to the rules, never happier than playing a lady, especially getting closer to her than the ball, a real character and a huge contributor to squash in Middlesex. We owe him an enormous debt of gratitude.
Stormont SC
It would be nonsense to declare that Norman was universally popular as an administrator of the league. It seemed to me that he applied the rules without fear or favour and that led to some, usually the less efficient secretaries taking against him. However, he was enthusiastic and committed, perhaps to the point of obsession, and tirelessly devoted to the sport. He served it so well and the strength of the Middlesex League today is largely thanks to his efforts. Middlesex squash owes him an enormous debt.
It is some years ago now but I spent a few evenings at dos like the Presentation Party at the old Greenshield Club in Bushey (that takes us back!) with Norman and Myra. He was almost an antithesis of his "perceived league self" on such occasions. He seemed to know everyone and unsurprisingly everyone knew him. He was unfailingly warm and welcoming and always such a thoughtful companion.
Mill Hill SC
The sport of squash loses another great administrator only 3 months after Kent lose Ian Wright, the great archivist and winner of the IoC's Medaillon d'Or for services to squash.
Norman made the job seem effortless by setting up a system which worked, with the aim of minimising the time he would otherwise have to spend chasing people. But, like the truly great public servants and volunteers, he never spoke about himself and never made any hand wringing references to the time he put in.
Everyone remembers Norman fondly, not least because he made the rules work and created an aura of respect for the system. Norman Wilby was a brilliant administrator, a great lover of squash, and the progenitor of the great league which we all continue to enjoy.
How can a voluntary league work if the beneficiaries do not have sufficient regard for the time and effort of the administrator by sending in their results promptly? I used to carry a supply of stamps in my wallet to make sure I could drop the postcard into a letter box on the way home, rather than risk Norman's discovery of a late postmark and the entirely justified fine that would follow. Getting fines was just the start of a potential further problem, there was a procedure for payment of the fine which, quite rightly, had to be followed meticulously.
Norman Wilby was a brilliant administrator, a great lover of squash, and the progenitor of the great league which we all continue to enjoy. Let's all remember his legacy and try as hard as possible to make life easy for Al and his team of helpers.
MRSA Chair, Gordon Kerr
A few years ago, a clever team captain sent in his team's registration details together with a cheque for £10 as prepayment for fines which he felt he would inevitably incur during the course of the season. Norman's response? He accepted the £10 and fined the hapless captain a further £30 for his cheek.
Anonymous!!!
