Eddie May - you're a good man!!!

Well, I’m only too aware that my little blog has remained very sadly neglected over recent months.

My reason for this post is to publicly acknowledge the departure of a good man from my working environment.

Yesterday morning sports news in Scotland heralded the departure of Eddie May from Falkirk Football Club.

For the record, I found Eddie to be one of the most unassuming and moral people I’ve had the good fortune to meet in recent times.

He single-handedly and passively started to revise my opinions on the world of football which surrounds my working day. In my working environment there is a commonly held belief that it is football which makes the world go round. My colleagues accept with good grace that this isn’t a belief that I share, even if they don’t understand it.

Now, I haven’t sat through a whole football match, live or otherwise, since the day that Forres Mechanics won the Highland Football League Cup in September 1984 – obviously not yesterday or the day before!!! The two most memorable things about that day, to me anyway, were the two hours spent standing in the freezing cold (no seated stands in those days) in Elgin. The other was the local radio announcement immediately after the game, that there would indeed be “dancing in the streets of Forres tonight”.

The more opportunities I had to talk with Eddie, the more I began to realise how strongly principled he was. We would talk about the lives of people less fortunate that ourselves, particularly children. Eddie spoke about his thoughts on how young people should grow up with the ability to maintain their chosen lifestyles and careers in the full knowledge of cause and consequence.

Recently Eddie had used his connections at Falkirk Football Club to support fundraising ventures run by my son's school, providing financial sponsorship and items for charity auctions. This was all done without seeking any thanks or acknowledgement.

I really just want to say publicly that I am horrified and sickened by the mob mentality comments of so called football "fans" and "experts" over the causes, reasons for and method of Eddie's departure from Falkirk Football Club.

So, if you're reading this Eddie, thanks for everything. I forgive you for reducing me to tears on occasion. Your leaving is Falkirk's loss and I look forward to hearing what you get up to next and whatever/wherever it is, the people there will have their lives enrichened by having you among them. I just hope they realise it!!