Alan Thatcher has been organising squash tournaments, big and small, for more than 20 years. He began with the Fosters Lager International Series featuring leading Australian stars Chris Dittmar and Ricky Hill, and has run the successful Maidstone Open for many years, achieving live TV coverage during one tournament which attracted many of the world's leading professionals to the Kent county town. He is co-promoter of the ISS Canary Wharf Classic (with Eventis Sports Marketing) and has also rescued and promoted the British Open, attracting an audience of 1,500 people to the Aberdeen Exhibition Centre when the event was built around local hero Peter Nicol. Alan also conceived and delivered the outstanding Liverpool Open 2006, staged at the amazing St George's Hall venue. It was the biggest tournament in Europe for more than five years and Alan arranged for two days of live TV coverage on Sky Sports, commentating on the semi-finals and final with James Willstrop.
Alan is proud to be a co-founder of World Squash Day, which was devised to honour the memory of Derek Sword, the New York squash champion who was killed in the 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. World Squash Day has been successfully partnered with the World Squash Federation and events regularly take place in more than 40 countries as squash enthusiasts come together on one special day of the year to open their doors and show the world what a great spot we have. This year World Squash Day linked up with Sports Relief and next year (2009) it will be partnered with Comic Relief, the infamous Red Nose Day cavalcade of fun which raises millions of pounds for deserving causes.
Alan is currently planning some surprises for a new style of event designed specifically for TV. Watch this space.
Welcome to SquashUK
Latest News Headlines
Posted on Thu, 19 Jun 08 3:38pm
By HOWARD HARDING Renan Lavigne will be the first Frenchman to become a Director of the Professional Squash Association when his new position is ratified at the next PSA Board meeting in August. The 33-year-old world No27 from Marseille was invited... Click to read entire article
Posted on Thu, 19 Jun 08 3:36pm
BY HOWARD HARDING USA celebrated triple gold in the 2008 Panamerican Squash Championships in Cuenca, Ecuador, winning the men's and women's team titles together for the first time, and claiming their first men's individual gold. Julian Illingworth,... Click to read entire article
Posted on Thu, 19 Jun 08 3:31pm
BY HOWARD HARDING The Women's International Squash Players' Association (WISPA) is planning to launch a Global Grand Slam series next year. Discussions are under way with a number of prospective hosts for these events which will staged on all-glas... Click to read entire article
Posted on Fri, 13 Jun 08 11:23am
BY HOWARD HARDING Former world No5 Squash player Alex Gough has been appointed as Chief Operating Officer of the Professional Squash Association. Gough will work closely with the newly-appointed PSA CEO Richard Graham on the operational aspects of T... Click to read entire article