We have this week been informed of the sad passing of former club match secretary Tony Shaw. We send our very best wishes at this difficult time to his wife and son Greg.
Tony loved his football. For many years he officiated as a Combined Counties League referee. Then after hanging up his whistle in 1999, Tony took on the Guildford City match secretary role for both the first team and reserves. This was a role he kept until 2008 when he was made a vice-president in honour of the service, he had given the club.
Tony, although he professed to support Woking, was an ardent supporter of Guildford City. For many years after he gave up the secretarial role Tony was still a regular at the club watching matches at home and away. He also worked on home match days helping to host visiting officials and indeed match officials. He would entertain guests with his stories, and he enjoyed probing the referees post-match on their decision making that afternoon.
Colleagues at the club always thought Tony was on commission at P&O as he was always going on cruises and urging other people to do so as well. The same colleagues also fondly remember the regular occurrence of assisting Tony to find his hat that he had mislaid at some point in the afternoon.
Tony stopped coming to games some five or six years ago as the effects of dementia started to take their toll. Tony died on Friday 8 July. His funeral will take place at Woking Crematorium, St Johns on Monday 18 July at 4pm. Former friends and associates are welcome to attend.
