John Cheadle, Tribute and Funeral Details

We were saddened to hear of the passing of our club founder, and the heart of Bromley Table Tennis Club, John Cheadle on Wednesday 19th March at the age of eighty-nine.

Fifty years ago in 1975, John founded Bromley Table Tennis Club from a small group of youngsters at Bromley Methodist Church. Some of the early members are still involved with the club, and remember the 24 hour table tennis event that John organised to raise funds to purchase their first proper table! The club continued to grow under John's leadership and featured international play throughout the 1980s when it welcomed young players from Bremen, and some members travelled to Germany to be welcomed at their club in return.

In the decades since, many generations have come through the doors and have countless stories of what John has done for them. Some of our current leaders remember John from the 1990s, taking us to matches and teaching us not just table tennis, but life skills like perseverance, fair play and respect.

John’s own children, grandchildren and even great-grandchildren have been inspired by him to play at Bromley. His wife Margaret has always been his number one supporter, proudly collecting newspaper cuttings of John’s many achievements that received public recognition over the years, such as when one of his first students went on to receive their England call-up.

John was widely recognised for his contributions to his local area of Pensnett, where he especially loved to see young people succeed. In 2023 he was the regional winner of Table Tennis England's Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of five decades of work at Bromley, the Dudley League and in the wider community.

John continued to attend the club as much as his health allowed, and many of our current members will have had a chat with him while he watched the club in progress. He also followed us on social media and was proud to see the photos of our current young players doing well in British Junior League and continuing his legacy into yet another generation!

John was a life member of the Dudley League, which will be celebrating its 100th season this year with a centenary tournament at Bromley. The league will soon announce a date and we'd love to see many of John's friends, old and new to remember him and share memories. It's incredible to think that when he started competing in the league in the 1950s he would have played against some of the original players from that 1924/25 season! John was aware that we had hoped to make him guest of honour at the centenary event and a close friend told us he was 'beaming' when he spoke about this.

John's Funeral will be held on 16th April at 12:20pm. His family would like to invite all whose lives he touched to join them at:

Gornal Wood Crematorium

7 Chase Road

Dudley

DY3 2RL

And afterwards at:

The Forge

Chase Road

Dudley

DY5 4TS

John Cheadle, the heart of Bromley Pensnett Table Tennis Club