We are saddened to hear of the passing of former Brighton & Hove Albion club secretary Steve Rooke, aged 57.Steve was the Football Association’s registrations manager but began his career in football administration with Worthing FC, combining his BBC Radio work with his other passion, football.
He moved into professional football with the Albion in 1988, following Barry Lloyd to the club from Woodside Road, and the former Seagulls boss paid the following tribute.
“The news has come as a real shock. I was only at Wembley recently for the England v Peru game and Stephen came into my thoughts that night. You lose contact with people over time and I thought it would be nice to catch up with him again soon.
“He was a lovely guy and when it came to his job, he was a real stickler for getting things right – a bit of a perfectionist – whereas I was the opposite, so it was a good pairing!
“When I moved to Brighton, I didn’t hesitate to bring him with me because I knew I had someone I could trust and rely on – especially in those days when you needed a close association between the secretary and manager when signing players, liaising with their families, and everything else that goes with it.
“I was disappointed when he left us, but he went with my best wishes, and although he was a straight-laced individual, give him a beer and you saw another side to him – a fun character who was great to be around.“He had a real passion and allegiance to the game and will be sadly missed by all those that knew him. My thoughts go out to his family.”
Steve left Albion to become club secretary at Wimbledon in 1992, at the start of the Premier League era, where he remained until moving for a short spell with MK Dons.
Current club secretary Derek Allan, who was appointed in January 1995 after replacing Ron Pavey, added, “I have known Steve Rooke since his early days at Wimbledon FC. He was an excellent administrator and has been a great help to me during my time here at the Albion. His knowledge and expertise were invaluable especially in his role as registrations manager at the Football Association.
“I was extremely saddened to hear the recent news of his untimely death and I and the rest of his ‘football family’ will never forget him. God Bless you Steve. My deepest sympathies go out to his wife Kathryn and children Rachael and Daniel.”
Steve joined the Football Association from his role as CEO at the Manchester County FA in September 2007 and in February 2013 was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
“I first came across Steve when he was the sports editor of the old BBC Radio Brighton and I used to help out collecting and collating score updates,” added The Argus’s Andy Naylor. “He was a model professional throughout his career in the media and as a football administrator. He was also a thoroughly nice bloke.
“I had been aware of his fight with cancer. I last saw Steve at Tony Millard’s funeral, when he was understandably quite emotional.
“Tony, my Argus predecessor John Vinicombe and Steve were all media icons of Albion’s FA Cup Final era and all personal colleagues and friends.
“I’ll miss Steve as much as I miss John and Tony. My thoughts are with his family.”
The thoughts of everyone at the Albion are with Steve’s family at this very sad time.
Original article
He moved into professional football with the Albion in 1988, following Barry Lloyd to the club from Woodside Road, and the former Seagulls boss paid the following tribute.
“The news has come as a real shock. I was only at Wembley recently for the England v Peru game and Stephen came into my thoughts that night. You lose contact with people over time and I thought it would be nice to catch up with him again soon.
“He was a lovely guy and when it came to his job, he was a real stickler for getting things right – a bit of a perfectionist – whereas I was the opposite, so it was a good pairing!
“When I moved to Brighton, I didn’t hesitate to bring him with me because I knew I had someone I could trust and rely on – especially in those days when you needed a close association between the secretary and manager when signing players, liaising with their families, and everything else that goes with it.
“I was disappointed when he left us, but he went with my best wishes, and although he was a straight-laced individual, give him a beer and you saw another side to him – a fun character who was great to be around.“He had a real passion and allegiance to the game and will be sadly missed by all those that knew him. My thoughts go out to his family.”
Steve left Albion to become club secretary at Wimbledon in 1992, at the start of the Premier League era, where he remained until moving for a short spell with MK Dons.
Current club secretary Derek Allan, who was appointed in January 1995 after replacing Ron Pavey, added, “I have known Steve Rooke since his early days at Wimbledon FC. He was an excellent administrator and has been a great help to me during my time here at the Albion. His knowledge and expertise were invaluable especially in his role as registrations manager at the Football Association.
“I was extremely saddened to hear the recent news of his untimely death and I and the rest of his ‘football family’ will never forget him. God Bless you Steve. My deepest sympathies go out to his wife Kathryn and children Rachael and Daniel.”
Steve joined the Football Association from his role as CEO at the Manchester County FA in September 2007 and in February 2013 was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
“I first came across Steve when he was the sports editor of the old BBC Radio Brighton and I used to help out collecting and collating score updates,” added The Argus’s Andy Naylor. “He was a model professional throughout his career in the media and as a football administrator. He was also a thoroughly nice bloke.
“I had been aware of his fight with cancer. I last saw Steve at Tony Millard’s funeral, when he was understandably quite emotional.
“Tony, my Argus predecessor John Vinicombe and Steve were all media icons of Albion’s FA Cup Final era and all personal colleagues and friends.
“I’ll miss Steve as much as I miss John and Tony. My thoughts are with his family.”
The thoughts of everyone at the Albion are with Steve’s family at this very sad time.
Original article