Arlesey Town have paid a warm and fulsome tribute to John Hughes senior, a club stalwart and much-loved man.

Read the Blues' Duncan Field as he honours a wonderful person who will be sorely missed by all that knew him.

.........

It is with a heavy heart that we announce the death of a long serving and wonderful club man, John Hughes senior.

Everyone who knew John will tell you what a friendly and kind man he was, willing to talk to everyone around the club and helping out when or wherever he could when needed.

Johns involvement with the club began in one way or another when his father Percy managed the colts teams in the 1950's who then eventually became vice chairman of the club in 1954.

For most of his working life, John worked at Meredews, a furniture manufacturer as a French polisher.

By 1970, John's son, also named John was playing for the successful Arlesey youth team and it was in the middle of the decade that John snr joined the committee and within a season becoming club secretary.

In the late 1970's John Hughes jnr had progressed to playing for the first team where he scored plenty of goals over the course of a few seasons and winning trophies for the club. John snr would always talk about these years with such fondness.

In John snr's later life, he was a member of the local shortmat bowls club but it was football that was always his passion.

It wasn't just Arlesey that was his love, John was also a passionate Luton Town supporter, always keenly wearing a Luton Town jumper or jacket down at the club and at times in conjunction with an Arlesey Town woolly hat keenly showing his love for both clubs.

Over all his years at the club, John was willing to cover any duty which needed doing, particularly helping to man the turnstiles and selling programmes.

It is without doubt a great loss to all who knew John, talked to him or ever had the pleasure to cross his path. John held so much respect from everyone at the club and within the village and Saturday afternoons will forever be emptier without him.

We will all miss him so much x

Duncan Field on behalf of Arlesey Town

Nub News send our condolences to John's family, friends and all who knew him.