'He was a friend to us all': Leamington Football Club pays tribute to long-serving vice president and supporter Terry Willoughby

Leamington FC has given a heartfelt message to the family of the club's long-serving vice president and supporter Terry Willoughby.

Terry died of natural causes aged 92 on October 12.

He first became involved with Leamington teams when his father Samuel helped Leamington Victoria to become the senior side in the town after the demise of the Magpies and he went on to play for Lockheed Leamington before his time with Leamington FC.

A statement from the club to Terry's friends, loved ones and his son Bob says: "On behalf of Leamington Football Club and Brakes Trust, may we offer our sincere and heartfelt condolences to Bob on the sad loss of his smashing dad who was a friend to us all."

The club has said that sport ran through the Willoughby men as Terry’s father Samuel helped Leamington Victoria to become the senior side in the Spa town after the demise of the Magpies in 1937.

Samuel became chairman at one stage and Terry went along originally to watch, but later got roped in doing the statistics and match reporting.

In his early days Terry was an all-round athlete lining the shelves at home with many trophies.

By 1951 'the Vic's were struggling to field a full team but, in their glory days, several players like the Montgomery and Gardner brothers moved on to the upcoming works team Lockheed-Leamington, as did Samuel and Terry.

During the Second World War, a Scotsman named Ashley Cooper Kane, a whisky salesman from Edinburgh, became friendly with the Willoughbys and was invited to live with them,.

Ashley started work at Lockheed and, to return the favour, took them back home to see Motherwell play and, to his final day Terry still collected the home programmes of 'the Well'.

After the war, Terry met and married Winnie who also became a Brakes supporter and they had a son, Robert. When AP announced the sale of the football

ground, Terry immediately started a campaign of writing to the local papers, but all to no avail.

During the hibernation, Winnie and Terry turned their wedding anniversaries into gala evenings with all the profits going to the club. Since moving to the New

Windmill Ground, Terry regularly supplied the Programme Shop with books and programmes to help boost the club funds.

Terry started losing his balance and his doctors could find no reason for it. Then around 2015, he suffered a massive stroke that would have killed lesser men but he bounced back and regained most, if not all, of his faculties.

Terry's funeral has already taken place in Leicester.