Alan Arnold
OP 1964
26 March 1946 - 9 February 2023

With our thanks to Alan's son, Andrew

Alan was born in Portsmouth. His first school was Westover Road Infants, followed by Langston Road Junior School. He joined The Portsmouth Grammar School in 1957 where he excelled at cricket and 'throwing things'; in his final year he captained the cricket 1st X1 and represented Hampshire Colts.

Alan loved all sports. His gran started to take him to see Pompey play from a very young age. He became an indefatigable Pompey supporter. His other big loves in the sports world were tennis and National Hunt racing. Alan used to write for the Portsmouth Evening News, following point-to-pointers through to their professional careers. It was a dream of his to own or part own a racehorse. Sadly, this dream never came to fruition so he satisfied his love of it by becoming an annual member at Cheltenham races. He continued to play cricket for IBM into his 50s and he occasionally played for Opera North, which had the added bonus of fuelling his love of opera.

Alan started work with Caltex and then moved to join IBM. A work trip led to him meeting Lorraine on a return journey from the States on the QE2. They married in Lorraine’s hometown of Stocksbridge, South Yorkshire on the Battle of Britain day, 1973. They had their son, Andrew, in 1977 before work with IBM took them to America where their daughter, Katherine, was born.

Despite Alan’s loyalty to Pompey and the challenge of the Yorkshire accent, his latter 38 years were spent in South Yorkshire where he, Lorraine and family dwelt in a farmhouse surrounded by a variety of animals. They also had a house in Le Gironde for 11 years.

Despite distances, he still managed to attend the regular meetings of his old PGS friends.  Along with one of his oldest friends, Steve Limburn, Alan was instrumental in helping to organise the 50 for 50 reunion at the Grammar School in 2014. He cared deeply for his friends and family and never lost touch with any of them. His Christmas card list still exceeds one hundred names and addresses.

The group of long-standing friends would meet in various Hampshire pubs where Alan was always too willing to buy the first round. The meetings continue but he is greatly missed.

Alan liked his curries! Probably because his parents were born in India and moreover his grandfather, while working on the Simla railway, was killed by a tiger. Alan liked to recount some of these stories to his four grandchildren. He lived for and doted on his family. Taken too soon, he had great plans to instil his love for all things ‘sport’ into his grandchildren.

No adjective can truly describe Alan, however.... optimistic, self-effacing, loyal, reliable, generous, calm and uncomplaining are a start.
Alan passed away after suffering a heart attack in Barnsley. It is apt to farewell this wonderful, gentle man, using his own language: "Cheers old bean!"