A WELL-known architect and footballer, who won silverware in front of tens of thousands at Wembley, and a cherished father has died.
“I am Bournemouth born and bred” – a quote quite rightly proclaimed by Roy Littlejohn, who packed a great deal into his 89 years of life as a talented footballer for the Cherries, architect of buildings such as the Dolphin Shopping Centre, and local golf club president.
However, to a lucky few, he was known as husband, dad and ‘papa’.
Roy Derek Littlejohn was born on June 2, 1933, to Gladys and George Littlejohn in Bournemouth. He, with older sister Audrey, grew up in Alma Road, Charminster and attended Alma Road School.
The school was bombed in 1940 during the Second World War, just a short distance from where Roy lived. He remembered the air raid well throughout his life and recalled how he had to hide in a cupboard under the stairs while it was ongoing.
A regular feature of his childhood was trips to Winton Recreation Ground with his father George, who encouraged Roy to play many sports. This would lead to a lifelong passion for sport, both as a player and spectator.
He attended Bournemouth School for Boys, where he decided that he would like to become an architect. He studied first in Bournemouth and then at the Oxford School of Architecture, qualifying in 1956.
But having played for the youth team of the then called Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic since the age of 17, Roy’s hankering to play the beautiful game never went away.
In a 2009 interview with the Echo, Roy recalled: “After I left school, Jack Bruton took me on at Cherries. I soon graduated from the youth team to the reserves, and went on to play 22 games for the first team, scoring two goals.
“I made my debut at Swindon in 1951 – there must have been 20,000 there. At Boscombe we’d regularly get 15,000 – there would even be 5,000 at reserve games.
“It was a real thrill for me. I’d supported the team as a boy.”
Due to his studying, his National Service was deferred and in 1956 he commenced as a physical training instructor with the No 3 Regiment Royal Engineers in Fleet, Hampshire.
His love of football continued and whilst there he played for Woking FC.
Roy’s time with The Cardinals would lead to arguably his greatest sporting achievement – playing for them when they won the FA Amateur Cup final in 1958 at the old Wembley Stadium in front of around 70,000 people.
He was also incredibly proud to have gained two England caps, again as an amateur, playing against Germany and Scotland.
In 1956, he met a young woman named Pearl at a dance at The Pavilion in Bournemouth and they began dating soon afterwards.
The pair were engaged in 1958 and married in 1959 at Holdenhurst Church, before honeymooning at Carbis Bay in Cornwall.
They settled into a flat in Charminster and then bought a plot of land in Bearwood, allowing Roy to put his architectural skills to good use by designing their first house.
He and Pearl had two daughters, Tracey and Karen.
Following a brief period of working and playing in Woking, Roy returned to the Bournemouth area having secured a position with Leslie Jones & Partners Architects in Poole.
He worked on many substantial projects including designing the Arndale Centre (now the Dolphin Centre) and the RNLI Poole headquarters – remaining with Leslie Jones right through to his retirement in 1992.
Despite his successful career in architecture, Roy still found time to play football in the early 1960’s. He spent time with Poole Town in the Southern League and also turned out for Christchurch before hanging up his boots.
Retiring from work at 59 left Roy free to pursue his numerous other interests. He was a keen artist with a flair for painting buildings as well as landscapes and boats. A selection of his paintings were printed as greetings cards.
Several of his sketches of former Cherries teammates were used for publication in the Bournemouth Daily Echo.
Having proven himself more than handy on the football pitch in his early days, Roy continued his sporting prowess as a keen golfer and was a member at Parkstone Golf Club for more than 50 years – becoming captain twice and president from 2009 to 2012.
In 1988, he achieved his lifelong ambition by scoring a hole in one on the seventh hole at Parkstone.
Roy was a longstanding member at the Constitutional Club in Bournemouth, where he was chairman in 2000. He enjoyed his regular afternoons playing snooker with old friends, as well as the various functions and events over the years.
However, without a doubt, family was a huge part of Roy’s life. He and Pearl were happily married for 63 years and enjoyed a wonderful family celebration in September 2019 for their diamond wedding anniversary.
In his later years, Roy lived with Alzheimer’s disease. He died peacefully on September 6, 2022, at the age of 89.
His funeral was held on Wednesday, September 21, at Harbour View Crematorium in Poole.
His family remember him as someone who “retained his warm, friendly and outgoing personality right to the end,” adding, “Everyone who knew him will remember him for the lively and fun character that he was, a man who had a life well lived.”
Roy Littlejohn is survived by his wife Pearl, daughters Tracey and Karen, grandchildren Natasha, Emma, Freya and Will, and great-grandson George.
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