Born in Clapham, London on August 18th, 1938 Alec Goldstone was a latecomer to ice hockey. In fact he had never seen a game until Tony, the elder of his two sons, took up the sport aged thirteen, in 1974.
Alec Goldstone soon became totally committed, taking on the role of manager of the Streatham Redskins and seeing the team become one of the top clubs in the country in the early eighties. In 1982, the Redskins won the English National League title and in 1985, after an amazing upset of the mighty Durham Wasps, they reached the Heineken Championship semi-finals at Wembley.
In 1988/89, he took over as team manager at Richmond and with the help of Mark Didcott, who had previously been head coach at Streatham and an infusion of former Redskin players, he achieved the near miracle of hauling the Flyers away from the bottom of Division One. After the demise of hockey at Richmond, Alec Goldstone went on to perform similar wonders as coach/manager of the Lee Valley Lions, ensuring the club would survive into the 90/91 Heineken League season. That season sadly was to be his last as on July 15th, 1991 Alec Goldstone died at the untimely age of 52 years.
Often described as a man with many opponents, but no enemies, Alec Goldstone more than made up for his late discovery of ice hockey. In seventeen years working within the sport, he demonstrated dedication, good humour and sound common sense as well as an uncanny knack for helping teams through difficult periods. In 1990, Alec and his wife Kathy who had ably supported him as club secretary, timekeeper, team chauffeur, and in numerous other roles, were jointly awarded the “Special Services to British Ice Hockey” trophy.
Kathy Goldstone continued to contribute to the sport on the administrative side at both club and national level, while sons Tony and Adam kept the family name to the fore on the ice with the Lee Valley Lions.
Compiled with research, provided by Martin C.Harris – April 1992
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