Very sadly our friend Chris New passed away in hospital last month. Chris had suffered with cancer for a good while but his condition sadly worsened in the last few days of April.
Personally I first remember meeting Chris in the Red Lion in 1979 after training and he is one of a group of senior players I remember well. Chris was one of the oldest serving club members who wasn't a founder member. Chris captained a number of our senior teams over the years and was a long time Vice President. The picture below was taken during the 1991 Vets Tour to Plymouth.
I received this message last night from Mike New, brother of Chris, following the excellently attended and socially distant Guard of Honour on the way to the crematorium yesterday.
"Good evening George. I would like to put on record what a fabulous tribute & send off for Chris today. The lads and ladies from the club did him proud. It was fantastic to see so many of you there. I think I am not wrong in saying that I & Phillippa were moved with the turn out; a fitting response for such a lovely & likeable chap. He will be sadly missed but never forgotten.
It is just a shame that we were restricted to numbers for the service which was delightful. No doubt we can ‘celebrate’ in due course. I know he was partial to JD & coke so we are getting some on Friday to *toast* his onward journey!
Please express our thanks to the Club on behalf of Phillippa and the New family for such a lovely gesture. I have spoken to Steve Milner & thanked him for arranging this.
Hope to see you in the not too distant future."
Chris - RIP - I'm sure we'll raise a glass in your memory on our own today but as a group in the future when better times return.
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