A SOBERING month for all at the club was brought painfully into focus last week with the passing of George Baldock, writes OxVox chair Paul Peros.
This came on the back of losing fan and local footballer Jack Badger, who tragically took his own life in September.
At a time when it is easy to think that football is everything, it is a stark reminder that it really isn’t.
What is important is the friends and family that we share it with. What is important is that we as supporters, and a club, watch out for each other and remember that as all-consuming as football can feel, as important as those little annoyances and grievances can become, there are people involved throughout our club who deserve us taking a second thought about.
Supporters, staff, players. We all need to do better at checking in with friends. Talking to each other. Accepting our differences. Taking another look before pressing send on a post.
READ ALSO: U’s boss pays wholehearted tribute following tragic deaths
As I sit and write this update, the unimaginable news has just broken that our previous manager Liam Manning’s young son has passed away.
If ever something highlighted how little our football feuds mean it is perhaps this. A pantomime villain a few weeks ago and all of that forgotten in an outpouring for a man and family who have suffered one of the most painful losses.
Our thoughts and condolences have already been sent to Bristol City and their supporters trust, and we can only reiterate that here. Liam was once a yellow and left us in a great position. We wish him and his family the strength to get through this.
Get unlimited access to five months of #oufc news during the October flash salehttps://t.co/EAWTLKMtfo
— Oxford Mail OUFC (@OxfordMailOUFC) October 14, 2024
What I have always known but appreciate much more now, is that there are some fabulous people connected to our club.
Watching our own Will Vaulks talk about the suicide of both his grandfathers, and the raw grief and incredible bravery of Luke Beauchamp and Jack’s mother Sharon was both emotional and uplifting.
Listening to Jerome Sale and George Elek on The Dub special about George Baldock, a man who in such a short time made such an impact on us all, was equally hard.
It represented our shock and grief so well and was excellently handled by both. Our thoughts and condolences go out to George’s brothers Sam and James, and all the family at this terrible time.
This column was to carry more on our recent trust AGM, but we will follow up in more detail later.
For now, our attention is on the people from our amazing community that we have lost, and efforts to link up with charities with which we can hope to help in the coming months.
Through all this pain and darkness, what shines through is the coming together of people connected initially by little more than the love of a silly game and our team in yellow.
Football matters because of the people we share it with. Please share with them. Talk to them. Talk to us.
Thank you for your time. Forever Yellow.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here