Simon ('Prodge') became our chairman since 2009 and oversaw the resurgence of the club after some difficult years in the early 2000s. He had joined Watford Town a few years earlier, finishing his playing days before focussing solely on his administrative activities. He had previously played for Harlow, Hoddesdon and Harefield.
Prodge had worked in publishing but cricket was his passion and he had become managing director of the National Cricket Conference and Club Cricket Conference, which provide great support for recreational cricket. Prodge championed that cause tirelessly.
He also believed, passionately, that cricket should be a force for good and he sought to make cricket a game for everyone, regardless their background. He played an important part in establishing the South Asian Cricket Association and African Caribbean Cricket Association, helping to integrate them into cricket’s mainstream. In addition, he was a driving force behind the East Africa Character Development Trust, a charity bringing hope and opportunity through cricket to thousands of young, disadvantaged Kenyans from slum communities in Nairobi. He was born in Kenya, while his parents were living there.
As a trustee of the Club Cricket Charity, he was instrumental in securing funding from the ECB, cricket’s national body, to distribute defibrillators to clubs. We have one of those defibrillators in the pavilion at Woodside.
Prodge always wanted the best for the club and has been at the forefront of our discussions with Watford Council over the development of the sports facilities at Woodside. We will benefit from a new pavilion, under the plans, and it’s so sad that he won’t see the outcome of his hard work, when work is completed in a couple of years time.
We have all lost a loyal friend and supporter and the game of cricket has lost a very special person. We send our heartfelt sympathies to his wife Lyn and his family.