ONE of Cornish football’s most distinguished administrators for well over half a century, Gerald Sobey, has died aged 93.

He passed away peacefully in his sleep at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth last Friday.

Gerald was one of football’s legendary characters – known at all levels of the game – and such was the esteem in which he was held by clubs and the county FA that he also had the honour of being a vice-president of the Cornwall County Football Association.

His son, David, said: “Dad has had a lot of health issues in the last few years but, remarkably, kept bouncing back from them one at a time.

“His memory was completely intact the whole time and until a couple of months ago he was still driving and spending a lot of his time going around and helping others – that was dad all over. He would never complain, just enjoyed life to the full. I was so proud of him.”

The “Football Family” has been fulsome in its praise of Gerald on the Cornish Soccer Forum: “Done a lot for local football. You served local football well” – Terry Stephens; “Lovely man and great service to Cornish Football” – Mark Leah; “Cornish football has lost a true gentleman and a fantastic ambassador” – Kevin Richards; “He was a lovely man and nothing was too much trouble for him” – Nigel Jewell; “So sorry to hear this, Gerald gave great service to referees and the old Falmouth/Helston league over the years” – Ieuan Gregory.

Gerald was involved in all aspects of football, but little did he realise that when he first began his career in 1947-48 that 70 years down the line he would still be involved as an administrator with the Trelawny Football League.

Before his National Service, Gerald, who lived in Mawgan, near Helston, kicked off his playing career in 1947-48 as a goalkeeper with Mawgan United, a club he helped form. When he returned from duty he continued to play for the club although at the time confessed that getting selected on a regular basis was not easy.

Gerald said at the time that “I played for three seasons. Well, I was signed on for three seasons, but couldn’t get a game because basically I wasn’t any good.”

In effect that was the beginning of the end of his football career and, despite being so young, it was then that he first started life as an administrator, albeit in a minor role.

He became secretary of Mawgan Football Club for a couple of years, but in 1953 when he was just 23, Edward Noye, himself a referee, persuaded him to take up refereeing.

Gerald enjoyed a long and successful career as the man in the middle and he took charge of his last match in 1974 when he refereed the representative game between the Cornwall Combination League and the East Cornwall Premier League. 

He had also refereed all the local cup finals as well as being the referee for the Easter Monday Finals runners-up match between St Austell and Saltash and the Cornwall Junior Cup Final runners-up game between Constantine and St Lawrence's Hospital.

Not only did Gerald play and referee, but he took the first steps to becoming a much-admired administrator when he joined the Helston and District Football League committee way back in 1954 and a year later became the referees’ appointments secretary.

Gerald remained with the Helston and District League until its amalgamation with the Falmouth and District Football League in 1960-61 and a year later succeeded Ventris Collins to become its secretary until 1987 when he stood down. As well as being the secretary he was also the fixtures secretary and because of the increasing workload as secretary of the Cornwall Referees’ Appointments Board he made the decision to take a break.

It was a very short sojourn and the following season he was back in the hot seat following Neil McDonald’s decision to stand down. 

Despite the ever-increasing workload, Gerald remained in the post until the league amalgamated with the Mining Division Football League in 2010-11 to form the Trelawny Football League. He finally retired in 2017.

Over the years Gerald had given thousands of hours of his time in helping to provide organised football in the Helston and Falmouth areas and he would have been proud of how much the game had grown during his period in office.

With Gerald in charge of a league you were assured that all clubs would be treated fairly, and that reputation remained with the league’s clubs throughout his time.

He will never know how popular he was, but he didn’t take on the job for praise but because he just loved the game and it was all the more richer for his involvement over seven decades.

The funeral details are yet to be released.