Mont Green was Langley Manor cricket through and through, having spent 73 of his 90 years at the club, he served as a player, captain, administrator, umpire and, for decades since, its groundsman.
He died at his Ashurst home recently (with his wife Valerie at his bedside until the very end) having been the heartbeat of the club since its reformation after WW2. What didn’t he do for Langley Manor ?
He first appeared for Langley Manor in 1948, aged 16, the archives showing that he scored five runs in five innings, with a highest score of four, averaging just one for the season.
Monty went on to play for the club for the next 32 years. During this time he captained the 1st and 2nd XI. He still holds records as a wicket keeper for 15 stumpings in a season (1956) and 31 catches in the 1971 season.
He started umpiring in 1956, finally retiring in 2011 after 19 senior finals, 27 colts cup finals for the New Forest leagues and 30 years umpiring Langley Manor matches in the Hampshire League on Saturdays.
Mont joined the club committee as a volunteer groundsman in 1956, and was still helping brush and remark the wicket between innings until recent years.
At his side throughout was his wife Valerie, who not only made some of the best teas around, but was often seen rolling the wicket !
During his long and devoted service, Mont filled most roles on the committee including becoming secretary in 1986. He was made a Life Member in 1991, Life Vice-President of the club in 1998 and made President in 2008.
In 1967 he found out the pavilion at the club’s old ground behind Colbury Hall was infested with woodworm and would need to be re-built. Three years later, Langley Manor boasted a “new” pavilion, a second hand, refurbished, ex-military prefab acquired from Bitterne. The new clubhouse was completed, paid for by the £70 that club had put aside for this project !
Some 14 years later, Langley’s very future was at stake when in was announced that the new Totton by-pass would be routed through the old ground.
Mont was at the forefront of negotiations and countless meetings with councillors, solicitors, land agents etc before a new site was found in Knellers Lane, little more than a six-hit off the A36.
He died at his Ashurst home recently (with his wife Valerie at his bedside until the very end) having been the heartbeat of the club since its reformation after WW2. What didn’t he do for Langley Manor ?
He first appeared for Langley Manor in 1948, aged 16, the archives showing that he scored five runs in five innings, with a highest score of four, averaging just one for the season.
Monty went on to play for the club for the next 32 years. During this time he captained the 1st and 2nd XI. He still holds records as a wicket keeper for 15 stumpings in a season (1956) and 31 catches in the 1971 season.
He started umpiring in 1956, finally retiring in 2011 after 19 senior finals, 27 colts cup finals for the New Forest leagues and 30 years umpiring Langley Manor matches in the Hampshire League on Saturdays.
Mont joined the club committee as a volunteer groundsman in 1956, and was still helping brush and remark the wicket between innings until recent years.
At his side throughout was his wife Valerie, who not only made some of the best teas around, but was often seen rolling the wicket !
During his long and devoted service, Mont filled most roles on the committee including becoming secretary in 1986. He was made a Life Member in 1991, Life Vice-President of the club in 1998 and made President in 2008.
In 1967 he found out the pavilion at the club’s old ground behind Colbury Hall was infested with woodworm and would need to be re-built. Three years later, Langley Manor boasted a “new” pavilion, a second hand, refurbished, ex-military prefab acquired from Bitterne. The new clubhouse was completed, paid for by the £70 that club had put aside for this project !
Some 14 years later, Langley’s very future was at stake when in was announced that the new Totton by-pass would be routed through the old ground.
Mont was at the forefront of negotiations and countless meetings with councillors, solicitors, land agents etc before a new site was found in Knellers Lane, little more than a six-hit off the A36.
Directors of the Hampshire Cricket Board have paid tribute to Monty Green’s contribution to local cricket.
John Wolfe, Chairman, said ‘I knew Monty for nearly sixty years. He lived and breathed for his club. So many people have reason to be grateful to him’.
Geoff Rhodes, HCB Finance Director, and former Langley Manor colleague, recalls Monty as ‘the heartbeat of the club - content to serve in any capacity, but perhaps never happier than when working on his beloved pitch. He was at the centre of club life all the way from the old ground in the village to the Southern League accredited facility that the Club enjoys today.
John Wolfe, Chairman, said ‘I knew Monty for nearly sixty years. He lived and breathed for his club. So many people have reason to be grateful to him’.
Geoff Rhodes, HCB Finance Director, and former Langley Manor colleague, recalls Monty as ‘the heartbeat of the club - content to serve in any capacity, but perhaps never happier than when working on his beloved pitch. He was at the centre of club life all the way from the old ground in the village to the Southern League accredited facility that the Club enjoys today.
Great esteem
In 1989 the ground was broken and, along with some other members of the club, Mont put in many, many hours to build what is there now – a beautiful tree-lined ground on the eastern fringes of the New Forest and a clubhouse that was opened on 23rd June 1991.
Having got the clubhouse and ground sorted, Mont’s next project to set up a junior section and in 1991 he recruited Ken Webb to help. The club has never looked back and now has a colts set up that he was proud of, with numerous members of the four adult men’s teams and women’s side having enjoyed their formative years in the Manor’s junior set up.
Mont made life-long friends, not only at Langley Manor but way beyond and was held in great esteem by all at the club and elsewhere. His legacy goes on with the foundations that he laid in a field off Knellers Lane, where the club now resides.
Langley Manor Cricket Club owes everything it has now to Mon Green and his wife Val and pledges to look after it in his memory.
In 1989 the ground was broken and, along with some other members of the club, Mont put in many, many hours to build what is there now – a beautiful tree-lined ground on the eastern fringes of the New Forest and a clubhouse that was opened on 23rd June 1991.
Having got the clubhouse and ground sorted, Mont’s next project to set up a junior section and in 1991 he recruited Ken Webb to help. The club has never looked back and now has a colts set up that he was proud of, with numerous members of the four adult men’s teams and women’s side having enjoyed their formative years in the Manor’s junior set up.
Mont made life-long friends, not only at Langley Manor but way beyond and was held in great esteem by all at the club and elsewhere. His legacy goes on with the foundations that he laid in a field off Knellers Lane, where the club now resides.
Langley Manor Cricket Club owes everything it has now to Mon Green and his wife Val and pledges to look after it in his memory.
Mont and Valerie Green, a partnership unrivalled in local cricket. Photos: Daily Echo.
