The Committee of the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of League Vice President Ray Burroughs after a period of illness.
Ray will be well known to many who have played or managed in the league as the person responsible for all of the media reports in the newspapers across Wiltshire for many years, having taken over the role from Harry Beattie in 1994.
As some of you may know, Ray worked in the Railway Works in Swindon prior to becoming a reporter for the Swindon Advertiser, covering amongst other things horse racing, as well as his comprehensive coverage of local football. After finishing with the Advertiser Ray continued to write for the Wiltshire Gazette & Herald and other publications. He was very proud of his Swindon upbringing and was good friends with our long serving Fixture Secretary, Phil Cook, the two spending many a Saturday evening discussing the fortunes of Swindon Town and other sports when liaising over the Wiltshire League results and fixtures, as well as sharing details of their respective rounds of golf that week.
Many who have managed teams in the league over the years will remember that friendly voice on a Saturday evening calling to find out the names of the goal scorers and brief details of the matches played that afternoon to include in the following week’s newspapers. The coverage of our league was always comprehensive, with all four divisions of the league being featured in the round-ups. The legacy of Ray’s immense efforts for the league over the years can be found in the old newspapers held in the British Newspaper Archive at St Pancras London and Boston Spa, the newspaper library at the Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre in Chippenham and the Local Studies Collection at Swindon Library.
The thoughts of all those involved in the league are with Ray’s wife Jocelyn and family at this sad time.