Ken Clarke

So sad to report that we have lost a huge part of Kenley Hockey Club today.

Overnight Ken Clarke passed away peacefully in his sleep at his home in Kenley.

Ken was known around the hockey community as the man in the Guinness Book of Records. He achieved fame and fortune for being the oldest regular playing member at the age of 84 - it didn't mention that he was the fittest player in the team at the time!

Ken was one of the earliest playing members at Kenley and struck a firm bond with one Sid Miners and they became a force for the common good of Kenley. Anyone who visited Kenley in the summer over the last three decades would most likely have found the two of them circulating the boundary, talent spotting the new generation of players or pausing for thought at one of the benches eyeing up what foliage would make the next bonfire...Ken played an active role for both the cricket and hockey sections of the club and was Chairman of the Sports Club for a good few years.

He was a man who was fiercely proud of his Yorkshire roots yet a man who spent the greater part of his life in the South where he put down roots, ran a very successful business that saw him take business trips on Concorde and hold court with bastions of industry but a man that was equally at home with the lads down at the hockey club enjoying a pint and even more so taking time out with his children and then beloved grandchildren.

Here’s to Ken – a true Club man – he will be missed.