Ian McKinnon 1970 to 1977
Ian McKinnon
Ian McKinnon, who arrived at St Mary’s in September 1970, has a clear first memory of life at the school - getting slippered when his arm was in a sling with a broken collar bone!
Ian, from Eltham, was placed in 1 Alpha with Richard Earle as his form teacher. Richard started at the same time. Ian was one of the leading rugby players of this year and rugby has certainly played an important part in his life since then.
The U13 XV in 1971/72 with Ian McKinnon in the middle of the back row. On his left as you look at the picture is his lifelong best friend Peter Alexander
The teachers who made most impression on Ian were Richard Earle (“his humanity”), Rod Turner (“ruthless but fair”) and Ron Hesketh: (“I’m sure he didn’t need the money, always had a shiny new car, and got the whole class through O-level geography with the phrase ‘urban Industrial population!’ If you got an answer wrong in class you were met with the response of ‘phooey, poppycock, balderdash.’ The best teacher I had at St. Mary’s.”
Ian, back row, sixth from left in the 1973/74 U15 side, skippered by Sean Barrett
After playing in the first fifteen in season 1974/75 when he was in the fifth form, Ian left St Mary’s and did his A-Levels at Eltham College.
In 1977 he went to Bradford University Management Centre where he did a four year degree in Managerial Sciences before completing an MBA.
Between 1982 and 1998 Ian worked for Horville-McKinnon Ltd, a family company supplying roll cages to major retailers including the MoD and the NHS.
In 1995, Ian married Mandy Williams and they had two sons, Connor and Tom but deep sadness was to follow: “Tragically, we lost Connor at the age of nine to cancer. Tom is now 22 and working at his old school, Trinity Croydon, as a Sports Coach & Sports Centre Duty Manager after completing his degree in Sports Management at Loughborough University. He’s sports mad.”
Between 2000 and 2010, Ian worked for Fujitsu, managing IT service provision into the financial services sector and was also Quality Officer for Fujitsu Financial Services division, ensuring account BSI compliance and accreditation.
All the time rugby has been a constant. Ian was first XV captain at Old Elthamians RFC for four seasons between 1985 and 1991 and was club secretary between 1986 and 2000.
He was Chairman of Old Elthamians Sports Club from 1990 and 2000 and was in position to receive the first ever lottery sports grant in 1995.
He was also chairman of the high profile fundraiser, The Foxbury Ball, between 1987 and 2007 and President of Old Elthamians Association between 2002/03 and 2003/04.
Ian still keeps in touch with a number of friends from the 1970 intake including US-based Paul Mattison and Adrian Hewett, Peter Alexander, John Talbot, Damian Wells and John Moulange.
He also attended last summer’s drink in Tonbridge with Rod Turner.
In his spare time, Ian enjoys tropical and Koi fish and watching his son Tom play sport whenever he can.