Tony Miller: 1946-2026
England Athletics is saddened to learn of the passing of Tony Miller. As well as being a devoted member of Crawley AC, he was a highly respected statistician with NUTS (National Union of Track Statisticians) where he continued to contribute right up to his passing. He was a well-known voice commentating and announcing at events from grassroots up to major internationals.
A club stalwart
Many Crawley AC members and those throughout the athletics community have very fond memories of Tony and he will be missed by everyone who had the pleasure of meeting him.
A club spokesperson said:
His talents were nationally acknowledged having spent many years announcing for Sussex and national events. Tony was also a very successful team manager, managing the Crawley AC women's team, taking them to both the GRE Cup Final and the GRE Plate Final in the 1980s. Tony also spent a period of time as club Chairman and spent many hours as the club statistician and also assisted Reg Hook with the Sussex Statistics.
"Tony, during his time with Crawley AC was the heart and soul of the club. He was a well - respected club official, club statistician, team manager, meeting organiser, a fantastic meeting announcer and a great friend to many. Tony was renowned for his encyclopedic knowledge of athletics and in particular athletes' individual performances which would always add a professional sparkle to any meeting he was invited to announce."
His dedication as a statistician
Tony’s work for the NUTS started as a compiler of UK lists for intermediate women in 1972 and over the next five decades or so, his responsibilities expanded to include the all-time lists, the NUTS Annual’s index, then all women’s lists. From 2010 Tony was co-editor of the NUTS Annual with hardly a break, even when he had a triple heart-bypass operation just before Christmas 2020.
For the final NUTS Annual in 2024, he was the main compiler of the whole annual, inputting almost all results into the Tops database, checking these against multiple sources, updating the all-time lists and records, as well as checking all contributions from others. He had the contacts, acquired from over 50 years of compiling rankings, to track down correct results where things look wrong and to find missing information, such as dates of birth. All this amounted to considerably more work than a full-time job!
Even after the final NUTS Annual, Tony was keen to keep the records and all-time lists up-to-date and published on the NUTS website. In particular, he put together all-time lists for the new U14, U16 and U18 age groups implemented in 2026 and he helped UKA with records in all age categories, before and after the change. He was always helpful and positive, and of course his knowledge of athletics was superb.
Announcing and commentating
In 2018, Tony shared his expertise and knowledge and assisted England Athletics in organising and running a series of workshops for prospective announcers, alongside Peter Matthews and Rob Walker. He also presented Peter with his England Athletics Hall of Fame induction trophy in 2018 (pictured).
Peter Crawshaw, former London Regional Council Chair and England Athletics Board member, volunteered alongside Tony for many years.
"I officiated alongside Tony many times when he was announcing at national and regional events. His extensive knowledge of the sport at all levels, allied with his good humour, always made it a pleasure. Most recently, he gave useful support to the group working on updating the scoring of Combined Events following the Age Group changes."
Crawley AC and the wider athletics community are infinitely richer for Tony's dedication and unending support and his passing is a very sad loss for everyone that knew him"
Hall of Fame photo by Mark Shearman
Lee Valley photos by Nicola Evans
Funeral details
Tony’s funeral will take place on Monday 29 June at 3pm at Bierton Crematorium HP22 5BH.
This will be followed by a celebration of his life at The Barn in Bierton HP22 5GA
Anyone is welcome to attend to help the family celebrate Tony’s life.