It is with deep regret that we have to report that Joan Bright passed away after a short illness on the 12th September.
Joan, a Vice President of our club, held the position of Club Treasurer for 35 years right from the first day that our Club was founded in 1975 and rarely missed a Club function or fundraising event. In our early days she was the backbone of our club giving up so much of her time as a volunteer for us whilst holding down a demanding job as a nurse in the NHS and bringing up her family.
So many of our past players owe so much to Joan’s dedication to our sport and many a club meeting and at times when we had just one team, end of season awards were held in Joan’s home.
Joan also washed and cared for our kit every week, darned our socks when needed and what started with one team ended with her washing the kit for all five of our teams as the club grew.
To this day we know many of our players still hear Joan’s voice of ‘Turn your socks the right way’ when loading their own washing into the washing machine, and when choosing new kit we were also encouraged not to have the colour white because of the difficulty in getting the grass stains out!
After her retirement, Joan kept a watchful eye on not only our progress as a club but also on our current and past players, following their successes both on the field and in their personal lives with interest and pride.
Our Club will never see the like of her again and we will miss her and her wisdom in the years to come.
Our condolences to Joan’s husband Alan, and Carol, Malcolm, Stephen, Belinda, Jackie, Mark and their families.
