It is with much sadness we heard that former England international, David Creamer, had passed away in January 2026 in Switzerland where he had lived for a number of years with his wife, Josefine.

David was born on 9 December 1942 in Perivale, Ealing, and became a top junior international towards the end of the 1950s and went on to have a successful career at senior level in the early 1960s before he changed his sport to concentrate on golf, eventually became a golf pro. He took part in two remarkable and unique tours, one on the African continent with Victor Barna and one in North America with Ralph Gunnion.

David came to table tennis prominence when he was the Most Promising Boy in the Butlins/News of the World Coaching Scheme in 1958 and a year later won the Boy of the Year Award. Johnny Leach described him as “a dedicated player possessing considerable ability”.

David progressed quickly and by 1960 was playing in junior internationals. He played against Austria, Federal Germany and Belgium in January 1960 while on tour and won every one of his 12 singles matches. Later in the year he played against Wales and won two more matches giving him a 100% record in junior internationals.

For several years David played in the English Open, a tournament regarded as only second to the World Championships and in 1960 he reached the semi-finals in all three junior events, playing with Wilf Barker in the Junior Boys’ Doubles and Jean Harrower in the Junior Mixed Doubles.

His gained his first senior cap on 11 October 1962 in Norwich against Sweden, the first leg of the Swedish Tour. Although the team lost 5-2, David had an outstanding debut, beating Stellan Bengtsson, later to become world champion, 13, -13, 15 but losing, just, to Hans Alser -18, -18. Certainly, no disgrace as Alser was the European Champion at the time. David played in two further fixtures against the Swedes at Wealdstone and Tottenham and again beat Bengtsson on both occasions. David couldn’t get the better of Alser in any of the matches and also lost to Carl Bernhardt at Tottenham, nonetheless a very impressive debut.

Shortly after these matches, 19-year-old David toured Nigeria with the legendary Victor Barna for three weeks from 15 October 1962. It was a whirlwind tour. Arriving in Lagos, they started with a practice against the Nigerian national team followed by two exhibitions at the King’s and Queen’s Colleges. On they went for a very bumpy 90-mile car ride to Ibadan, stopping off to play at a school in Umaha. Four days were spent at Green Springs Rest House but there was no rest for the players. They took part in another exhibition before 750 spectators on the stage of the local cinema before two more exhibitions at the university and a school.

This was followed by a 400-mile flight to Enugu for a television appearance and two more exhibitions, then a 200-mile car journey to Port Harcourt for another exhibition, after which they flew back to Lagos for more exhibitions and were feted at a cocktail party at the Governor-General’s residence. Another plane journey of 600 miles to Kaduna then onto Kano by plane, which is where David left Victor and returned to London. An awful lot to be crammed in to such a short space of time but an amazing experience for the young man.

David had some excellent results at numerous Open tournaments at junior and senior level including winning the Men’s Singles in the Welsh Open in 1962/63 and runner-up in the Men’s Doubles with brother, Michael. David had previously won the Junior Boys’ Singles here in 1958/59. He won over 30 Open titles at senior and junior level. His results justified his ranking of two on both the junior and senior lists.

David’s successes resulted in him being selected to play for England at the World Championships in Prague, Czechoslovakia in April 1963 and with Chester Barnes, Ian Harrison and Bryan Merrett they finished 9th in the Swaythling Cup.

David also played several senior international matches against China, Federal Germany, Netherlands, Sweden and the USA, all in 1962 and 1963.

Going on tour may sound glamorous but not when you spend the best part of your time sleeping in a Volkswagen Beetle. They travelled thousands of miles from the Mexico border into Canada and as Ralph couldn’t drive, David did the lot, with the table tennis table on the roof of the car!

Unfortunately, the agreement they signed wasn’t met but the gallant pair continued for the full six months, even carrying out one exhibition in a prison. Perhaps the highlight of the tour was a very successful event when Ralph won £100 in Vancouver. A very large sum in those days equivalent to £2,395 today. Unfortunately, Ralph got itchy fingers when later they went to a casino and whilst David went to the Gents, Ralph very quickly lost the lot!

It was the height of Beatles fame in the 1960s and at one school, Erwin Klein introduced Ralph as coming from Liverpool where he was a friend of the Beatles and as you can probably imagine, even having that supposed, tenuous link, was enough for him to be mobbed. I reckon the haircut would have helped.

To add to the woes of losing all that money, the Canadian Police stopped them and put them in jail as vagrants – well, sleeping in a car with table on the top doesn’t exactly give that good an impression. They wanted the pairs’ fingerprints and Ralph willingly gave his saying “I don’t intend coming back” but David refused. When they returned to the US border, David was not allowed in. Eventually, Erwin Klein sorted it out.

When they returned home the two friends met in the Kent Open and Ralph won the Men’s Singles, beating David in the final. Ralph was certain that all that driving had worn David out and so he wasn’t playing his best. It was a good victory for him.

David returned to Butlins as a coach in 1964, 1965 and 1966 and it was while he was here, he developed his love for golf. He received golf lessons from the pro at the camps and later from a local pro. Realising he couldn’t earn a living from table tennis (at the time the biggest prize it was possible to win in England was £5 for a Men’s or Junior Singles), David changed direction and eventually becoming a golf pro in 1966 and later in 1993 joining the European Seniors Golf Tour.

It was a great loss to table tennis when David changed sport but what was table tennis’s loss was golf’s gain.

Being an elite player in one sport is a considerable achievement but to be at the top in two sports is remarkable. After becoming a golf pro, David coached in several countries – Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, Wales and Germany. He coached and was head professional at several clubs in England as well and set up the David Creamer Indoor Golf School in Bristol in 1983.

In 1974 David had represented Great Britain and Northern Ireland in the PGA Cup at Pinehurst, North Carolina, USA. As a senior he made regular appearances on the European Senior circuit from 1993 to 2007 competing in over 200 events. His biggest achievement was in 2000 when he won the Senior Masters at Wentworth, and brother Michael was there to caddy for him. In 2006 David was made an Honorary PGA Member and retired from playing golf the following year.

Our condolences got to David’s wife, Josefine, and Michael’s wife, Jenny, and all family and friends.