Chelmsford League Committee member Paul Nicol has provided this obituary on Colin Gooday - a Chelmsford League stalwart who sadly passed way on 17 June 2018, aged 76.

“Colin was the Chairman of Chelmsford Table Tennis Club for many years before he retired from the role after a diagnosis of Cancer just before Christmas 2017. He was not only an active Chairman, but a guiding hand on the tiller and a true Club stalwart - doing all kinds of tasks that needed attending to such as repairing nets and barriers and collecting fees as well as the more obvious jobs such as organising AGMs, providing lifts and managing Junior teams.

Colin was a strong player as a Junior and like so many players of his era he started playing at the Chelmsford YMCA Club, in 1953 when the likes of Mark Sweeting and Alan Clancy were the shining lights. He retired from the game when he got married and took it up again in the 1980s when his son Neil showed an interest. Neil went on to become a very good local League player and Colin was able to see a third generation of player from that family make his mark with his grandson Ryan becoming one of the best Junior players in the County and winning countless trophies in the Chelmsford League.

Colin and his wife June shared a commitment to supporting people with intellectual disabilities and Colin was the kind of Club Chairman who went out of his way to make sure that all Club members felt included, whatever their playing standard. Fittingly he had been presented with a Life Membership Award by the Chelmsford Club in May. The Church was packed for his Funeral on 16 July showing just how many lives he had touched by his charitable work and love for the sports of table tennis and golf“.