Author: Debbie Lines

Hall of Fame

Ian Burridge

Inducted: 2024

Ian Burridge has been involved at the top-level of croquet as a player since  he late 1980s and as an administrator since the early 1990s. Ian, who was born in Aberdare, South Wales, was introduced to croquet when at school in Colchester in the late 1980s together with a fellow pupil Robert Fulford. Ian progressed rapidly reaching A Class within a couple of years and international selection for Wales in 1990. Ian has been a regular in Welsh teams since then and has captained Wales in the Home Internationals and WCF and European team events for many years.

Ian’s individual achievements at AC include winning the Welsh AC Championship a record 18 times, reaching the Semi-Finals of the WCF World Championship in France in 1995, winning the Coles Championship in 2007, the Southern Championship in 1995, the Eastern Championship in 2015 and 2020 and being selected for the President’s Cup (the top AC Eight) four times between 1995 and 2022.

In team events for Wales Ian captained Wales to victory in the WCF World Team Championship Tier 2 in 2010 and 2017 and the inaugural European Team Championship in 2007. In 1996 Ian was part of the victorious Great Britain MacRobertson Shield Team and in 2000 was a member of the victorious Welsh team in the WCF 14-point World Team Championship.

In recent years Ian has concentrated more on GC and has won the Welsh GC Championship three times as well as the English National Singles, the Ascot Cup, in 2016 and the GC First Eight in 2017 as well as regularly representing Wales in the Home Internationals and WCF and European team events.

However it is probably as an administrator and coach that Ian greatest legacy to the croquet world will be. Ian served on the CA’s council from 1993 to 1998 and as the CA’s Treasurer from 2020 to 2024. Ian has been a committee member of the Welsh CA for many years including a nine-year stint (2011 to 2020) as Chairman. In 2010 Ian was instrumental in rewriting the constitution of the Welsh CA to better reflect how the association actually operated.

Ian was Treasurer of the WCF between 2010 and 2013 and President between 2020 and 2024. For the WCF Ian has been a significant contributor to the Regulations for many of the WCF’s Tournaments.

As a coach Ian was recognised as the CA’s Coach of the Year in 2015. In 2012 Ian identified the lack of activity aimed at developing the next generation of international players and made a proposal to The Croquet Association. The proposal was accepted and Ian was subsequently appointed International Performance Director, an honorary role. Over the next few years Ian setup coaching pods around the country.

In 2023 Ian wrote a book ‘Golf Croquet for Tournament Players’, which aims to provide advice to players of all levels as they progress through the ranks from inexperienced rookie to expert player.

Ian has demonstrated a fantastic commitment to croquet throughout his involvement with the sport - not only in his achievements in playing but also in improving the profile of croquet in his roles as Treasurer and President of the WCF.