It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of former Great Britain coach Barry Merrick, who also coached the successful Leamington Spa team in the former men’s National League.

Barry was 79, and lived and worked in Leamington all his life, playing for Leamington with the likes of Roger Hargreaves, Keith Tallet, Bob and Paul Jelfs, Jim Shekhdar, David Hunt, Colin Commander and John Staniland.

He took charge of GB in the early Seventies, travelling to Hungary to study coaching methods. A strong GB squad, including players such as Martyn Thomas, Graham Bernard, Roddy Jones, skipper Terry Benstead, Andy Lench, Phil Howden and Jim Shekhdar, narrowly failed to qualify for the 1972 Olympics at a tournament in Munich, but went on to compete in the World Championships in Belgrade.