In this tribute to Simon Blyth, Andy Gibbs, who has known Simon since childhood, fondly remembers Simon and all the roles he undertook with Hinckley United and then AFC.
As a club, we will honour his life and memory and from now on, at the end of every season, we will present the Simon Blyth Clubman of the Year award…
“The world in general and non-league football in particular is a poorer place for the passing of Simon Blyth.
It’s difficult to do justice to the roles Simon undertook at Hinckley United and Hinckley AFC over the years, and as Steve Jelfs has said, he will be impossible to replace.
I saw Simon as a galvaniser of the supporters, we took our inspiration from him. I remember Darlington away, one of the rare occasions when he wasn’t driving supporters himself, so he took full advantage with a celebratory day out and one of the great away days occurred. The result was incidental to a cracking day out.
During that awful final season in the Conference North, Simon’s enthusiasm wasn’t dimmed. I can recall the small band of Hinckley fans outsinging nearly 3000 Chester fans. United’s supporters earned a lot of respect during the difficult campaign and much of that was down to The Big Man.
He carried that enthusiasm into Hinckley AFC. Though he didn’t take on any official capacity at the club, everyone knew him and what he did and the growing reputation of the club had much to do with his efforts in engaging the fans of Hinckley and elsewhere.
He took on running the club shop and transformed it into one of the best on the circuit. The shop would always be a first port of call for visiting fans to see what hidden treasures lay amongst the programmes, books and general memorabilia.
Simon would do anything the club asked of him. He contributed articles for the programme (his Away Days column was pure gold), did radio reports, organised the raffle, and arranged away transport. To me he was a modern day Glenn Farmer – that multi talented person every non-league club needs to survive and flourish.
His loss is huge but he leaves a mountain of memories and I feel privileged to have known him and called him a friend.
RIP Simon.”
