A friend’s tribute to football fan....
A FRIEND of former Ingles FC and Shepshed Albion Player Raymond Mitchell has written a moving tribute to his former neighbour and friend. Mark Monk’s tribute is featured here.....
I WAS devastated to hear of the sudden passing of Raymond Mitchell; my former neighbour and lifelong friend. Just a week earlier Ray and his wife Sheila joined me, other close friends and family to celebrate my birthday in the Black Swan.
As ever he looked fit, healthy and happy.
Ray’s association with the Dovecote exceeded our acquaintance and probably went back more than 50 years.
He’d actually played for Shepshed Albion in his younger days.
This came about even though his father was one of the driving forces behind Ingles FC.
Fearing that his dad would be accused of favouritism, Raymond chose the black and white of Albion over the red and white of Ingles.
To those of us who knew him well, this was the sort of selfless gesture he was loved for.
His thoughtfulness and kindness extended beyond Shepshed; in 2008 following his retirement he volunteered to go to poverty stricken Malawi in Africa and help build a hospital.
His trip to Africa afforded him the opportunity to indulge in another of his passions which was art.
He was self-taught and as well as some of the wonderful things he captured in Malawi he also painted and drew many of our local landmarks.
I think his ability as an artist spoke for itself when one of his paintings was chosen to hang in Loughborough Town Hall late last year, a very proud moment for him and his family to see his work displayed amongst professionals.
Yet another pride and joy of his was his garden and allotment which he lovingly tendered for many years.
Football in Shepshed was something else Raymond was proud of. Another old friend of mine who shall remain nameless also played for Albion and was critical when Maurice Clayton came in with his disposable wealth, changed the club colours and club name to Charter- house.
He felt that the local lads were squeezed out, however Raymond felt no such bitterness.
Ray loved every minute of the “glory days”, seeing the side from the village where he was born and bred achieve national recognition.
He sustained his support when the club briefly reverted back to Albion before settling on Dynamo in 1994.
It must have been in the late 1970s when Ray took me to the Dovecote for the first time.
I cannot recall exactly when and I think it may well have been a students varsity match.
However I’d accompany him to matches in the Leicestershire Senior League as Charterhouse stormed up the non-league pyramid, leaving the likes of Anstey Nomads, Friar Lane and Wigston Fields trailing in their wake.
I remember my first away game, travelling in Raymond’s Vauxhall Viva to Enderby Town for a night match.
We got hopelessly lost going and just made kick-off.
We also got lost coming back, taking an unplanned detour of north Leicester and the suburbs of Loughborough.
At the time, Sheila and my parents were frantic with worry but we often laughed about it as time went by.
Fortunately Gladys and Ken Webster took on the tireless and thankless task of arranging coach travel for supporters, Raymond traded the Viva for a Honda motorcycle and Tricentral coaches took the worry out of getting to away matches.
Raymond was there in 1979 when Shepshed were so unlucky to lose out on a trip to Wembley, taking Billericay Town to a replay in the FA Vase semi-final.
Raymond was also one of 2000 plus Shepshedians who travelled up to Deepdale, Preston in the FA Cup first round proper on Saturday, November 20, 1982.
To this day I regret not accepting his invitation to tag along with him even though we lost 5-1.
As well as supporting Shepshed, Raymond also followed Leicester City and how very appropriate that just a month before he turned 65 “little” Leicester stunned the football world by winning the FA Premier League in 2015/16.
Although I’m not a Leicester fan I was made up for him. Raymond’s two daughters Joanne and Caroline are season-ticket holders at the King Power so obviously his love for the game rubbed off on them.
Shortly before his passing, Ray predicted that Leicester had a good chance of winning the FA Cup this year. I hope and pray his prediction comes true, just for him. I’m sure he’ll be looking down upon us this afternoon cheering Shepshed Dynamo on.
Thanks for everything Raymond, you’ll be missed and never forgotten.