It is with great sadness that Bishop Auckland Football Club report the passing of ex-Bishops’ player and Olympian Mike Greenwood after a long illness. He was aged 86.
Mike played for the Bishops’ between 1959 and 1962 which included an appearance in the losing 1962 Amateur Cup Semi-Final against Hounslow. Whilst with the Club he gained seven England caps and played one game for the Great Britain side at the 1960 Rome Olympics. Mike also appeared for Corinthian Casuals and in 1961 he toured Malaya, Singapore, Hong Kong, New Zealand and the United States with an English FA touring party of which Tom Finney was the player-manager.
A former PE teacher, Mike worked for the Sports Council in his native West Yorkshire and also worked at Lilleshall for the National Sports Council.
In later years, Mike was a regular attendee at the Bishops’ ex-players annual reunion lunches and other Club related functions. Mike was also the organiser of the 1960 Great Britain (GB) Olympic squad reunions and he was in the national news in 2012 enthusing about how worthwhile the GB experience was and why it should once again become the norm.
Mike was a gentle, softly spoken man who will be very fondly remembered by all of those who came into contact with him over the years. Our thoughts and sympathies go out to Mike’s daughter Fiona and son Nick, along with his many friends.
RIP Mike.
