Navigation

It is with great sadness that I report the death of Les Grainger. He passed away on Tuesday 4th January 2011 following a short illness. He has no immediate family but will be sadly missed by his “lacrosse family” with whom he kept regular contact until his final days.

Mr Grainger had a long association with lacrosse dating back to the post war era when he was a formidable player himself. As a school teacher and then a headmaster at Christ Church primary school in Stockport, Mr Grainger introduced many boys to lacrosse and ran the junior section at Stockport Lacrosse Club for forty years. Ex-players will have fond memories of being picked up for lacrosse by Mr Grainger in one of his vans.

As well as lacrosse, Mr Grainger was heavily involved in swimming, for many years running a swimming session on a Wednesday night for disabled swimmers.

“Mr G” as he was affectionately known to most metro players, was the founder of the Stockport Metros and the exchange tour to Anne Arundel County. This was established in 1976 and has been running successfully ever since. The tour ethos has always been “Friendship through lacrosse” a principle that was central to all the work that Mr Grainger did over the years. 1998 was the final tour for Mr Grainger who insisted the program continue without him. The programme still remains as strong as ever to this day. Without Mr Grainger’s commitment and vision the 600 plus boys that have since toured the US would not have had this fantastic opportunity. He continued to be involved, providing advice and guidance right to the end!

He was an inspiration to coaches, players and parents a like changing hundreds of lives for the better. He will be greatly missed, but remembered with much fondness by all that knew him.

Please feel free to leave your messages of condolence on this websites guestbook. It seems appropriate after the many years of selfless hard work and dedication to Metros that people’s memories of Mr G should be recorded here

The funeral will take place at Stockport Crematorium at 10.45 on Friday 14th January 2011.

Everyone is welcome back at Stockport Lacrosse Club following the service.

Mr Grainger left instructions for no flowers and for any donations to be made to the Multiple Sclerosis Society. Donations can be made online at www.mssociety.org.ukor cheques (made payable to the Multiple Sclerosis Society) handed to the funeral directors Jonathan Alcock & Sons Ltd following the service.

Chris Livesey – Current Stockport Metro Tour Leader