This has been one of those weeks that knocks for you for six, we heard of the death of Roger Granger, a long term fan who would not only make his way to Champion Hill but I would also be able to find and chat to at almost every away game despite, and I hope he will forgive me for this, not being the youngest or most mobile of travellers. Hats off to Max, the Brixton Buzz photographer, for accompanying him on many of those trips.

When you run a football club your family expands. You slowly inherit people like Roger game by game, you start with a nod, then a ‘hello’ and, before you know it, you are connecting trains together at Clapham Junction and a few hours later dissecting the game in some random pub on the coast checking trainline for whether your ticket is valid on the next train out. I have only been chairman for seven years but I have gained and then lost so many in our family that the grief can feel relentless.

But I have never lost a player and I cannot begin to believe how that feels or what Chichester City FC are dealing with.

The death of Billy Vigar has left us numb. Lord knows what his family are going through, he left to play a game of football, that shouldn’t be anything we have to worry about. What good are condolences or thoughts or prayers, when all his family want and deserve are that it didn’t happen in the first place and I ache with pain at the fact that it shouldn’t have happened.

We were blessed to have Duncan Chapman in our family when we returned to Champion Hill as he set a non-negotiable high bar for safety if he and I were going to run this club. We had Shaun Dooley, our club legend and first safety officer who enforced that bar from day one under fan ownership and we are blessed that Southwark Council recognise the importance of football ground safety and have Roy Pickard and his team with us every quarter while the club has Mel Hughes, Gavin Smith and Earl Annakie who look after everyone week in, week out. Between them all they do their best to protect every player and supporter that walks into Champion Hill because everyone should have the right to expect to walk out again at the end of the match. 

You cannot guarantee that something awful won’t happen but you can guarantee you did everything in your power to avoid it and you can guarantee you prioritise those in your care and not dismiss health and safety as an ‘unnecessary drain’.