There will of course be a special beer and a tribute gig at some point and other suggestions are welcome. I have asked PB for a minutes applause on Tuesday and for the opportunity to take the mic (for one time only, don't worry) to make a special tribute. So many of us knew and cared about Roy and it is so tragic that he simply wouldn't listen to any of his good friends who tried so hard to help him. My lovely stepdaughter Rose gets married to Marcus today (two Albion STHs) so that is where my person and my thoughts will be today, of course, but rest assured, Roy will be remembered.
I hope you can all forgive me for intruding? I'm BobG. I support Donny Rovers. A few of the older ones among you might just remember my name maybe. I got a text this afternoon from Vicar. It was shattering. It told me about Roy. I haven't been so upset for a long, long time. I've been sitting here, waiting for my registration to be approved, thinking about Roy, how I came to know him, the daft things he did, and the even more daft places I met him. Would you believe, for example, a wet, cold Tuesday night at Farnborough Town's ground to watch Donny Rovers play Farnborough in the first leg of what was then the Endsleigh Cup Final? He'd come along to show his solidarity with another ill used club. And to see some superior quality football of course. He stayed at my house in Gloucestershire more than a few times. He even stayed at my Mum's house in Donny. He took me drinking around Brighton and he used to send me bizarre requests for mysterious information with which he planned to do things esoteric. He lit up my life. he, along with Liz Costa, Vicar, Paul Samrah and Attila inspired the whole of Doncaster. It was they who organised a mass demo at the old Belle Vue protesting against our wonderful 'benefactor', Ken Richardson. He never once came back to BV after. It was Roy and his colleagues who lit the fire in our bellies. It was he and his colleagues who gave us so many great ideas. It was he and his colleagues who stayed with us, stayed as friends more than a decade after those events came to their close.
Roy was unique. He was larger than life. He was exceedingly intelligent.He was funny. He was scathing. he drank shed laods more beer than I could ever hope to cope with and stay alive. He inspired me. He set me an example I could never hope to emulate. He continued to be my friend - even if we didn't see each other for months on end. Roy shared his talents with anyone who needed help. Roy could always see the bigger picture, the picture beyond the immediacy of the attacks upon your football club mine. Roy even liked watching cricket - even if he did support the wrong team. It's not so long ago I spent a happy afternoon with him at Worcester watching Sussex smash the locals.
Brighton is a poorer place for his passing. Indeed, I go so far as to suggest that England is the poorer for the end of his compassion, his brain and his outlook on life. This country needs people like Roy Chuter. I know, now, I will never forget him.
Roy you old bugger: good hunting from everyone in Donny. I miss you already. I really wish it didn't have to be the way it was.
Cheers
BobG
Tributes being paid in the Argus.
http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/1058..._after_hit_by_train_at_East_Worthing_station/
A pity there are a small number of cretins trolling on the comments section. The Argus website really is a brain dead environment these days.
I have sent a 'complaint' - it would be better to have no comments - anyone with something positive to say can do it here, or email the Argus journo.
A pity there are a small number of cretins trolling on the comments section. The Argus website really is a brain dead environment these days.
A pity there are a small number of cretins trolling on the comments section. The Argus website really is a brain dead environment these days.
For what it is worth, I have sent a 'complaint' - it would be better to have no comments - anyone with something positive to say can do it here, or email the Argus journo.
In all fairness it's not like NSC doesn't share the same views on people jumping infront of a train when it isn't someone that a lot of people on here know.
Not saying they are right as I don't agree with them but it's not just The Argus that these people post on.
Just back from my stepdaughter's lovely wedding to pages of messages, many from people from areas of Roy's life outside of the Albion community who shared his other passion - music. I'd thought I'd share just one with you, from our mutual friend Womble in Lowestoft.
Harty will be posting details of the funeral shortly. There will be a wake afterwards in (where else?) the Duke of Wellington in Shoreham.
And on 24th August after the Burnley game there will be a memorial gig at the Welly in his honour.
Since the news broke yesterday of the passing of Roy Chuter, the North Stand Chat has been filled, page after page, literally by the hour, with glowing tributes to Roy, which shows how widely loved he was by so many people from all walks of life.
Like everyone who knew him, I am utterly shocked and devastated that he is gone. I would just like to share a few lines in memory of a dear friend...
Today I wondered if I had not met Roy, what brilliant music might I never have heard, what great gigs might I never have been to, what wonderful people might I never have met, what great times might I never have shared? The world would have been a much smaller place without his friendship.
Glastonbury, Bracknell, Cambridge; The Men They Couldn’t Hang, The Neurotics, The Oyster Band, Mark Thomas, Blyth Power, John Otway, Robb Johnson, Chumbawamba, The Levellers, TV Smith, Wob and always of course Attila the Stockbroker – we travelled to (or met up at) so many festivals and gigs up and down the country over the years. My happy memories of them are as much of Roy’s company as anything else.
Roy was a stalwart of every Womblestock, organising the beer and other sundries. I won’t forget the sight of him lying on his back in my garden while the beer barrels were funnelled into his mouth. In cartoon form Roy was the star of a Womblestock T-shirt (capsizing the boat by standing on one end). And of course he performed here as Sumo the Poet.
He wrote for my fanzine Wake Up, most notably Confessions of a Culture Terrorist, his wonderful chronicle of the fight to save the Goldstone ground, which included Roy’s legendary and hilarious correspondences with Bellotti’s solicitors.
Over the decades that I knew Roy, there were times of personal crises when we didn’t see each other for many months. But no matter how long the gap, whenever we met up again, it was always as if not one day had passed. Roy’s warmth, openness, generosity and companionship always made every trouble in the world fade away.
Football fanatic, drinking buddy, music fan, travelling companion, journalist, writer, poet, campaigner, confidante, a great, fun guy to be with – Roy was all of these things and more to so many people.
But to me, above all of these, he was simply the best friend anyone could wish for.
Rest in peace Roy. I will miss you so much. But whenever I listen to the bands we loved, whenever I am at a gig or a pub and in the company of our friends, I know you will be there in spirit, alongside Keith, raising a glass and sharing a laugh.
I will keep your light with me, and the memories of so many happy times together – always.
Womble