The Dan Maskell Tennis Trust wishes to pay tribute to the great Ian Peacock OBE, who has sadly passed away at the age of 92.
Ian was a Trustee of the DMTT from our inception as an independent charity, later becoming our Vice President. Throughout those years, he was a tremendous supporter of disability tennis and of everyone at DMTT. He was particularly supportive of our Executive Director, Gilly, who affectionately referred to Ian as her ‘life coach’ and a great mentor.
Ian began his distinguished career with Slazenger before becoming the first-ever Chief Executive of the LTA in 1986. Until that time, the LTA had been run by its Secretary, and Ian oversaw a period of significant growth and transformation for British Tennis.
Among his many achievements, Ian established the Indoor Tennis Initiative (ITI), which proved transformational in improving access to tennis for disabled people. He was awarded an OBE for Services to Tennis in 1998 and went on to serve as President, Chairman or Chief Executive of 14 different businesses and organisations involved in sport. Remarkably, he remained President of the Tennis Industry Association (TIA) until the week of his passing.
We are immensely grateful to Ian for everything he did for British Tennis and, in particular, for his longstanding commitment to disability tennis. He leaves behind a truly distinguished legacy and will be remembered for his passion, generosity and unwavering dedication to tennis and to the many people whose lives he touched.
Our deepest condolences are with his wife, Phillipa, and his two children at this very sad time.
