He was born in Strawberry Hill, south west London, in 1945 and lived for the first eleven years in East Twickenham, subsequently moving to Hinchley Wood near Esher.

Following a successful schools athletic career, he made his senior international debut in the javelin in 1965 and was selected for the Empire Games in Jamaica in 1966.

In 1968 he attempted to qualify for both the javelin and decathlon for the Olympic Games in Mexico City but fell just short with a new personal best of 7,067 points.

He represented Loughborough Colleges in 1965 playing outside the legendary Welsh player Gerald Davis but he halted his career that year to concentrate on athletics.

A brief return to the game for the 1970/71 season for Richmond proved to be his last first class appearance, although later in life he represented Barker Butts RFC in the Warwickshire Cup Final at the age of 38.

His guidance helped Dave Ottley to a silver medal at the 1984 Olympic Games and launched John Trower as a high level coach who would go on to assist Steve Backley and Mick Hill to international titles.