Fond farewell to true gent and former Leeds United match announcer

Former BBC Radio Leeds presenter Simon Peters was a matchday announcer at Elland Road during the club’s glory years under Don Revie.

Simon, who emigrated to Majorca with wife Wendy in 1986, sadly passed away at the age of 79 last November.

Now his friends and family back in Yorkshire can say farewell to him at a memorial service at All Saints Church in the village of Spofforth, near Harrogate.

Taking place at 11am on Saturday, April 23, the service has been arranged by Wendy and she hopes it will act as a celebration of “a life very well lived”.

Wendy told the Yorkshire Evening Post: “Some 200 people attended Simon’s funeral in Majorca, which was a fitting tribute to a selfless man who did so much for others.

“I am very pleased to have been able to arrange this month’s service, I feel he deserves to be remembered by his home city.”

Simon, who was educated at Giggleswick School, joined BBC Radio Leeds in 1968 and went on to present a number of popular programmes covering his two great loves, music and sport.

He is also credited with being the first person to play Leeds United’s now-familiar pre-match anthem Marching On Together.

Simon was a keen supporter of good causes including Leeds’s Wheatfields and St Gemma’s hospices.

He was also closely involved with Guide Dogs for the Blind and Spofforth Cricket Club while, in later years, he was instrumental in raising tens of thousands of pounds for Help For Heroes.

Simon made an emotional return to Elland Road at the end of 2005, where he was introduced to the crowd before a game against Coventry City.