I WOULD like to express some thoughts about Brian Atkinson who died recently. I first met Brian about 30 years ago when we moved to Pickering and I joined Ryedale Sports Club.

I played in the second 11 football side and Brian was a strong and committed central defender who never missed a match and was always willing to take his car for away matches, get the kit washed etc. Ryedale was a relatively small club and relied on key people like Brian to enable it to operate.

Brian also played tennis for the club and was a key person in arranging teams for the Scarborough league and the Hovingham league, playing in both sides. I played in the Scarborough league team for many years and Brian was a very good player who made the most of his ability.

I can only remember losing a few matches when partnered by Brian and one of those was in the Scarborough doubles final which we just lost in a tight third set. I finished playing tennis many years before Brian did and he joined Malton tennis club and became a regular member of their first team, playing in the Yorkshire league.

Brian was a committee member of Ryedale Sports club for many years and was responsible for running the football “most goals” weekly competition, which raised much-needed funds for the club. He was also rightly awarded the Clubman of the Year award.

I concentrated on cricket for the last part of my sporting career and there were many occasions when we were short of players – running two Saturday teams was quite difficult and Brian would turn up for either team and field excellently and hold his end up as a batsman. While he never considered himself a cricketer he would have been a regular team member if he had been available.

A few months ago I saw Brian at a birthday party at the recreation club and although he looked very ill he had not lost his sense of humour and it was good to talk about the times we played tennis together.

We have lost a truly excellent person who would always help out on sports club activities and could be relied on to take on tasks and perform them efficiently.

Unfortunately, I was not at the funeral but I am sure there were many sports colleagues who would have been discussing Brian’s qualities and abilities.

Brian Anderson, Newton -Upon-Rawcliffe