John Hilton Former European Men's Singles Champion Achieved No.1 Ranking in Europe, No.5 in World Played in 4 World, 4 European & 3 Commonwealth Championships ETTA Qualified Coach

John was born in Hyde, Greater Manchester and has always been a natural all round sportsman having competed as a youngster in Gymnastic competitions and league squash. His introduction to Table Tennis was at the Hyde Lads Club which had teams playing in most of the major leagues in Greater Manchester.

Once the bug had bitten John was keen to develop his game and progressed to Manchester YMCA. The YM was a hotbed of Table Tennis talent and regularly had top internationals and county players practicing throughout the day and night and it was exposure to this level of competition which enabled John to improve knowing that he was learning from some of the best players in the country.

Following a two year spell in Australia where he gained regional representative honours he returned to Manchester and was soon to be seen in the YM almost everyday practicing for up to four and five hours and it was this strict routine that eventually paid dividends resulting in him climbing the national rankings and being selected to represent England in the 1980 European Championships. It was at these championships that he reached the pinnacle of his career by taking Europe by storm winning the mens singles title as a relatively unknown ‘Englishman Abroad‘.

Brian Kean Former Scottish National Mens Singles & Doubles Champion Former Scottish Open Mixed Doubles Champion Represented Scotland in 4 World, 2 European & 2 Commonwealth Championships Scotland National Team trainer & coach over a period of 5 years UKCC Qualified Coach & ETTA North West Coaching coordinator.

Born in Edinburgh and fanatical about sport particularly football and gymnastics. He was a member of the North Merchiston Boys Club where he furthered his interest and participation in the aforementioned. The ‘Merchie’ as it was known afforded youngsters the opportunity to participate in a wide range of diverse activities and Brian regularly appeared in the club pantomimes and spring shows which were always professionally produced events.

It was at the ‘Merchie’ in 1961 where he caught his first glimpse of Table Tennis when the Edinburgh Boys Club Championships were held in the sports hall. This featured a young Scotland Junior International called Charlie Vesco who walked away with the title. Little did Brian know that the next time he would meet Charlie would be five years hence when they would stand at opposite ends of the table in the semi final of Scottish National Championships.

Brian moved to Manchester in 1963 and as a 17 year old he was introduced to Manchester YMCA and it was here that he was attracted to table tennis and was soon practicing up to four and five hours a day. His improvement was quite dramatic as he soon moved from being a 5th division league player to representing Cheshire County team. It was in 1966 that his table tennis mentor and local legend Derek Schofield suggested he returned to Scotland to compete in the National Championships, this proved to be good advice and it was in a sports hall in Glasgow that he renewed his acquaintance with the aforementioned Charlie Vesco a meeting that resulted in success for the East of Scotland Mancunian who then went on to win the national mens singles title.