The John Cleighton-Hills Memorial Cup

John, was born in Streatham in 1943 and started his hockey career playing for the Streatham first team from 1958-1964.He then moved to Swindon to start a job as a lorry driver and had to put his hockey career on hold as the Link Centre was not built until 1985.After life as a lorry driver he joined Royal Mail in Swindon and started skating again when the Link Centre opened.  He always used to say that the Link Centre was his rink because they built it after he left Streatham and would always be complaining about the fact a rink was not built in Swindon.

A few of the Panthers players worked alongside John in Royal Mail and asked him to attend a Panthers practice which he did back in 1991 at the age of 48.John finally hung his skates up in 1997 at the age of 54,but continued to be associated with the Panthers as a fan and a great friend to many Panthers players.

Sadly John lost his battle with cancer on Tuesday February 26th 2002 and will be missed by all of his fellow Panthers players, family and friends.

In Johns memory we would now like the Summer Cup to be known as

The John Cleighton-Hills Memorial Cup

This tribute could not be given to a better man, who just loved his HOCKEY!