Former Cheltenham Town chairman Dave Courtney has sadly passed away this week.
Everyone at Cheltenham Town Football Club was saddened to hear of the death of former chairman Dave Courtney, who passed away last night after a long and brave battle against illness.
Dave was a well-known personality in the local community. A guitarist in local pop groups during the 1960s, he went on to run sports goods businesses for many years and in recent times devoted himself to charity fund-raising. During the summer he was selected to be one of the Olympic torch bearers in Cheltenham for his charitable works.
He joined the Board of Cheltenham Town in 1987 and was appointed chairman in 1990, a post he held for two years until Dennis Deacon bought the club towards the end of the Robins' first spell in the Conference.
Paul Godfrey, director and club secretary, said: "Dave was responsible for getting me involved with the club when I began helping out with the programme.
"He just had great enthusiasm for everything he did and that rubbed off on people. Dave was extremely proud of his home town and I know he considered it a great honour to serve as chairman. He also loved doing deals and I can remember when he sold Chris Burns to Portsmouth for £25,000, which was a big sum for the club in those days.
"After he left the Board he continued to be a very keen supporter and even this year helped us out by supplying equipment for the ground and training ground.
"On behalf of the football club I would like to pass on our heartfelt condolences to Dave's family and many friends. He was a big character in Cheltenham and will be very much missed.”