Obituary for Pauline Longbottom
28th June 1939 – 20th October 2024
It is with great sadness that Yorkshire Tennis has to report that Pauline Longbottom passed away on 20th October at the age of 85.
Family Life
Pauline grew up in Cottingham with brothers Trevor and Ian. She met her husband, Roy, at Cottingham Tennis Club and after they married they moved to East Morton. They had three children, Stuart, Julia and Sarah and eight grandchildren.
Sporting Life
• Pauline’s Tennis Career
From a young age tennis became an important part of Pauline’s life. She played on the junior tennis circuit around Yorkshire and beyond where she made a name for herself as a strong competitor and also made some life-long friends.
Her younger brother, Ian, recalls that childhood holidays were spent in a guest house or caravan in Scarborough so that Pauline could play in the Scarborough tennis tournaments ‘with the likes of Roger Taylor’.
After her marriage Pauline joined Keighley Tennis Club and in 1973 moved to Ilkley Lawn Tennis Club where she played in the first team and was captain for many years. She was also a long-standing committee member. Pauline continued to play competitive tennis into her early 70’s on the indoor courts at both Ilkley and Chapel Allerton. One of her long-standing tennis friends, Liz Wilson, said “I always enjoyed playing with her rather than against her!”
In terms of Yorkshire County tennis playing achievements Pauline was Ladies Over 40’s Singles Champion in 1985, 1986 and 1989 and a finalist in 1984, 1987 and 1990. She won the Ladies’ Veterans Doubles in 1992 and was a finalist in 1994 with Charlotte Lindsay. Pauline was also a member of the Yorkshire Over 65’s Ladies County Championship winning team.
Pauline was a Vice President of Yorkshire Tennis and also held a position as LTA Councillor.
• Family Tennis
Pauline’s children played a lot of tennis too and over the summer holidays they used to play tournaments around the country. Pauline and Sarah played together in Mother and Daughter tournaments for many years which even took them to finals in La Manga.
Karen Mitchell, President of Yorkshire Tennis, recalls growing up with the Longbottom family and playing tournaments up and down the country with them. She also remembers Pauline encouraging and supporting them over many years as they competed for Yorkshire.
• Other Sports and Interests
Pauline was an active member of Bradford Golf Club where she was Lady Captain in 1994. She was Captain of the Yorkshire Ladies County Golf Association in 2002.
More recently she was involved with the Hawksworth Residents’ Association, the Yorkshire Countrywomen’s Association, Ilkley U3A and local bridge groups.
A service of thanksgiving for Pauline’s life was held at St Oswald’s Church in Guiseley on 18th November. Donations in memory of Pauline may be made to:
www.justgiving.com/page/pauline-longbottom-giveityourmax
Pauline will be sadly missed, especially by her family and long-standing friends from the world of tennis and all other sports and organisations that she was involved with.
