TTT31. Summer 2023

tennis interests. He did much more than simply edit the magazine and write reports. His contributions included
umpiring, organising tournaments ranging from league and county level to international events. He also
became manager for England international teams and was a member of a various senior organising
committees. We can only speculate now whether he had a deliberate plan in selecting these various roles, but
the resulting synergy had a tremendous positive effect on Table Tennis News. All his activities helped him
become more effective in his main job as editor. He was present in one capacity or another at most important
events and many others besides. The contacts he developed gave him huge influence in securing an
increasingly healthy flow of news.
Even higher
During the 1970s Table Tennis News almost doubled in size. By the end of the decade 44 pages was the norm.
But there was no loss of quality. All the major national and international events were covered. Yates used his
influence to pull in contributions from a steadily increasing number of reporters and photographers. He
developed a keen sense for good photographs and punchy headlines. This is most evident in the front covers.
A selection of George Yates’ editions from the 1970s
The early 1980s saw even greater growth in the size of the magazine. Every edition was now more than 60
pages and several approached 70. We may ask how did George Yates manage to achieve this while holding
down a full-time job with British Rail? Enquiries from two people who knew him confirmed that his work was
administrative, possibly working in a ticket office. Perhaps his work allowed him plenty of spare moments to
concentrate on his next edition. But in the days without internet and mobile phones he couldn’t possibly have
done an effective job closeted in an office. We may never discover how he managed it, but everyone I spoke
to commented about his phenomenal work rate.
Table Tennis Times 31: Summer 2023
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