Ian Murray

WHO IS IAN MURRAY?

After the A.G.M. During which we had discussed the distribution of a leaflet written by Ian Murray, several members asked the Secretary “Who is Ian Murray?”.Those of us who had been members for some time realised that it is about 20 years since Ian left Merseyside and quite a lot of new members had joined since then. The following is an attempt to inform members of the great contribution Ian has made to our Club.

This is a photograph of Ian after completing the climb of the Col De Madeline

Ian Murray joined the Liverpool Eagle R.C. 1969 having just turned 14 years old, he was keen to take part in all aspects of cycling and soon settled into club life.

It was obvious from the start that he had a good head on his shoulders as well as athletic ability, he progressed through out 1969 in both Time Trials and School Boy circuit racing.

He had a fantastic 1970 season, even winning the Junior 25 whilst still a schoolboy. He won the S/B Championship with a 23-17 for '10' and also the Junior Championship with 59-22 and 1-3-21 for '25'. In 1970 he aslo won the Merseyside Schoolboy Track Sprint Championships at Kirkby Track, beating fellow clubmate Steve Fleetwood in the final, showing the strength in depth of the schoolboy talent around in the club at that time.

Ken Ross who was the club racing secretary at the time stated the following in his yearly report.

'For me this year has been my most exciting as racing secretary. The reason for this is the appearance of schoolboys in the club and the fantastic rides by Ian Murray which have been beyond belief. Who knows what the future holds?

At the end of the 1972 season Ian left the Club and joined Liverpool Mercury. While he was with the Mercury he was selected to ride for Great Britain in the Road Race in the Junior World Championships and the Berlin Four Day. Later he moved to Holland and rode for a local club TWC De Kempen. During his time in Holland he developed a friendship with team-mate Peter Winnen who later achieved fame as a specialist climber in the Major Tours.

Some years after returning from Holland Ken Ross met Ian at the Eddy Soens event at Aintree and invited him to join Prescot Eagle which had been recently formed by the amalgamation of Liverpool Eagle and Prescot Road Club. Ken was delighted to have a very successful and experienced rider who had represented his country and had lived and raced abroad. In Ken’s view he would be a role model for the group of promising road men we had in the Club at that time.

Although highly successful when riding in Prescot Eagle colours both on the road and in time trials, Ian turned out to be much more than a mere role model. He had two great qualities as a road man - he knew what he was talking about and was prepared to share this knowledge with his club mates. He did this both in the club room and on training runs. He claims that he was never officially elected Training Captain, but that is what he was to all intents and purposes. If he felt that some one was not riding as effectively as they could, then he told them in a most blunt manner what they should do. Although he was forthright in his comments, he had a manner which did not give offence and many Club members must be grateful for the advice they received from him on the training runs.

Not only was Ian active on the bike, he also gave yeoman service in Club administration. He was an extremely competent Chairman for over ten years. He had the tactical skill to diffuse those tricky situations that always arise in meetings of voluntary organisations and could show strong leadership when required.

It was fortunate for Ian, but not so fortunate for the Prescot Eagle when in the early nineties his company promoted him and he had to move to Milton Keynes. However although no longer on Merseyside, he still kept in touch with the Club by attending social events and actually won the John Kennedy Shield, awarded to the veteran who recorded the fastest time for a ten mile time trial on any course, on several occasions. He usually came to Merseyside to ride the ‘Eddie Soens’ 50 mile circuit race. He never failed to finish and at the time of his retirement from racing had ridden the event more often than any other rider.

Ian takes an active interest in Prescot Eagle by regularly contributing to the Club web site and frequently makes positive suggestions about its structure.