THE LIDDIARD A HISTORIC MIDDLESEX EVENT

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By Alastair Aitken

The 78th Liddiard Trophy cross-country race, which is run on the 31st of October this year, organised by Queens Park Harriers, and held at Fryent Park, Kingsbury.

Th event was, founded in 1947 to commemorate E.J Liddiard. The longest surviving founder member with the club, who died in 1946. Queens Park Harriers itself was founded in 1887.

Since 2019 there has been a joint race for the men and the women, competing over the same distance and for that, there is a Patricia O’Cconnor Cup for the winner. Bill O’Connor, an ‘Ever Present London Marathon Man ‘and past President of the Middlesex Association in 2022, organizes the event. Recent winners included Richard Goodman of Shaftesbury Barnet in 2015 & 16 who had been a prolific Metropolitan League winner.

MIKE BARRATT of Ealing harriers, (Now Ealing, Southall & Middlesex), won the Liddiard Trophy 9 times between 1952 and 1965. No one has done anything like that in the history of the event. The next best was Tony Simmons of Luton AC, who won the race 4 times. Three English National cross-country Champions, which includes Tony, have won the event. Julian Goater (Shaftesbury Harriers) in 1972 & 4. and Dave Bedford from the same club in 1968.The Olympic steeplechase finalist of 1956, Eric Shirey running for Finchley Harriers won it in 1955 The team winners, that won it the most in fact 21 times was Shaftesbury Harriers (Now Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers0.

Here I thought it interesting to read what the outstanding ‘Evergreen’ Mike Barrat, the nine times winner of the Liddiard had to say to me about his Liddiard when I spoke to him’

  “Perhaps the most touching thing that happened to me during the whole of my athletics career was the presentation to me by Queens Park Harriers in 1960 of the Liddiard Trophy. They invited me to their Annual dinner and presented me with this beautiful silver salver in honor of all my performances in the Liddiard Trophy race. It had all my performances in the race engraved on it and I consider it a truly magnanimous gesture. After all it was not something they had to do. I am not sure too many clubs would have thought of doing such a thing. Mind you, I reckon they thought I had come to the end of the trail, as I had won the trophy so many times. I still managed to win it for the next 4 years but that does not detract from their gesture in any way. It was truly one of the most touching moments of my life”

Regards Alastair

Details of the next Liddiard on 31st October 2026 can be found on the Queens Park Harriers Website