Island sport remembers 'Peter Mac'

A lifetime involvement in Manx sport

The Island’s sporting community has lost one of its own.

Peter McElroy, who has passed away at the age of 79, was a great supporter of all sport on the Island, particularly athletics and football.

A printer by profession, he was one of the Island’s leading track and road running athletes in the late 1950s and 60s before going on to become chairman of the Manx Athletics Club.

Athletics manager for the Manx Commonwealth Games team in Canada in 1978, he was the first athletics announcer at the inaugural Island Games in 1985 and travelled with Island teams from 1987 for more than a decade as a sports reporter with local newspapers.

He also penned the popular weekly column in the Manx Independent, Chit Chat.

Local athlete Chris Quine says despite experiencing tragedy and hardships over the years, 'Peter Mac' retained an upbeat persona.