The Pitching In Southern Football League expresses sympathies to the family and friends of former Bideford FC chairman Roy Portch, who has sadly passed away.
Roy grew up in Bristol, where he became a Bristol Rovers fan and qualified as a gas engineer working for British Gas.
Along with his brother Mike, he moved down to Bideford, where he set up his own gas services company.
In 2005, Bideford`s then-chairman Paul Mitchell suddenly announced that he was moving to Malaga in Spain and handed Ian Knight a pile of outstanding invoices and cheque book, announcing that there was £50 in the bank and goodbye.
Roy Portch, who by then was an adamant Bideford supporter and sponsor, stepped in and sorted out the immediate problems, and there started a decade with Roy at the helm as chairman, overseeing promotion to the Southern League.
Roy stepped down in 2015, after suffering with stress, almost all brought on by the toll of keeping the club`s head above water, with the financial demands of running a club at this level.
In the last two years, Roy had suffered from ill health, as he bravely battled against cancer, requiring regular trips to Exeter for treatment.
RIP.
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