Memories of good people who have left a footprint rinkside

It’s strange how a text message can not only jolt you, but also spark memories from years back.

News of the death of Mike Lindley took me back 30 years.

In the Heineken era, he and Jan were at the helm of the Supporters Club, and organised travel to
away games for thousands of fans.

Their Wembley excursions saw a convoy of buses depart the car park whether or not the team had
qualified - in fact, in many ways it was more fun if you didn’t have to fret over possible semi-final

elimination.

Sure it was a different era, travel was cheaper, and time was perhaps in greater supply, but there is
no doubt that this rink rocked.

The official Supporters Club was packed with weel-kent faces, and then there were the Three Ds,
whose road trips have rightly passed into hockey folklore. There are still a few of ‘em around these
days too ...

Mike was just a young man back then. He was still young when he passed away after being
diagnosed with a brain tumour. He was just 63.

It was wonderful to read a detailed and very moving obituary in his local newspaper,  the St Helens
Star, which revealed so much about what he’d done since leaving the sport and the area.

He was a much loved figure in his community - a music lover with his own radio show which 
championed unsigned indie bands.

He was also a tireless fundraiser for the homeless and mental health awareness.

It reminded me that while hockey is the glue that binds many of us together, our lives are also filled
with many other passions and pursuits.

Mike’s radio show, on Radio KC, was broadcast in 174 countries and online. It clearly was his
passion - he even hosted one edition live from his hospital bed after undergoing surgery to remove a
cancerous tumour last year.

His life was celebrated with a wake in a local pub on Thursday.

I’m sure a few old-timers from round here will raise a glass to his memory too.

Hockey teams may rise and fall on results, but the clubs - that bigger, wider entity -  are all about
people.

We must recognise, celebrate and remember those who played their part on and off the ice, however
long ago it may have been.

I’ve lost count of the people who have been part of this club and then moved on for many different
reasons - names and faces from the past leap  into my mind as I type this column. 

Shug and  Mr and Mrs Combes spring immediately to the forefront for their support of the team, and
their fabulous company on road trips; the legend that was Mike Drummond, club photographer and
larger than life figure whose antics never failed to raise a smile.

Only he could launch into an Elvis impression by swinging his camera around his head,and launching
into Be Bop A Lula,  before taking the ‘man of the match’ photos ...

They are sadly no longer with us, but they all left a footprint on the ice rink, and in the memories of
those who knew them.

Acknowledging their passing is the very least we should do. Their names and stories may not be
known directly to you, but someone sitting in your section will remember them and smile at the
memories amid the sadness of their death.

The club also lost former Dave Medd recently.

He was a stalwart of many line-ups, starting in the mid 1960s when he iced alongside Kenny Horne,
Jimmy Spence and Eeny Forbes.

He was one of the many players who got a chance to skate thanks to Pep Young rekindling the sport,
and giving them a team to play for.

Medd was a first liner player who enjoyed success in many competitions, and was a stalwart - a rather
old fashioned word perhaps, but a quality we should celebrate - right up until hanging them up at the
end of the 1970s.

He saw the next generation emerging - the young Latto brothers and others - and, in a post on Flyers’
website once said: “Maybe one day before we get much older, someone will organise a get together
for us all before it is too late.”

Sadly such events are too few and far between.

We’re missing something incredibly important by not acknowledging the players who have delivered
honours galore and played with immense pride for this club.

Flyers’s rich, wonderful history shouldn’t be confined to the archives. It should be celebrated and
embraced without a moment’s hesitation.

Sometimes the two most powerful, moving and meaningful words you can say are simply - thank

you.