Farewell to long time announcer Douglas Griffin

NEWS Monday 9th December 2024, 8:05pm

by Mike Hunter

  Edinburgh Monarchs

We are sorry to tell supporters that long time Monarchs announcer Douglas Griffin passed away at the weekend at the age of 82. He was our announcer for a total of over 20 seasons and supported the Monarchs for virtually all of his life, having attended during the first season in 1948.

He may have been at the first ever home match on 17th April 1948, and not many can say that now. He continued his support throughout the forties, fifties and sixties and had an article in the opening Powderhall programme in 1977, having assisted Mike Parker with PR prior to the opening.

His period as announcer stretched from the 1980s into the 2000s, and he also did many pre-meeting interviews for the club videos. He was proud of the fact that he had interviewed a lengthy string of World Champions on our behalf including Freddie Williams, Barry Briggs, Ivan Mauger, Erik Gundersen, Peter Collins, Greg Hancock and Billy Hamill.

He also hosted a radio show "Sporting Memories" on Scot FM, one edition of which featured Brian Collins.

Douglas sponsored riders through his company Data Speed, and also sponsored one of the teams in our 70th Anniversary event in 2018. His daughter Caroline ran a fan club for Roger Lambert in her young days. So it has been a lifetime association with the Monarchs for Douglas and his family.

We send our sympathies to Douglas's daughters Caroline, Pamela and Aileen and to his grandchildren, other family and friends.