Paul Harris: A Tribute

I feel quite nervous writing this tribute to Paul Harris as I want to ensure I I do justice to a really good man. ‘Pipeman’ as he was affectionately known was a gentle man and a gentleman. He had high standards and was very ‘’old school’’ but at the same time he did not live in the past and happily embraced modern thinking .

I first met Paul at Dunstable Town FC. I used to see him in the boardroom and always enjoyed talking to him and I really admired just how much he did for the football club. He was a typical non-league volunteer who sought no thanks for what he did but just got on with whatever needed doing. He served as safety officer, fixture secretary, programme editor, match reporter, gateman, boardroom hospitality officer, driver of the team minibus, part time groundsman, kit manager, laundry  man and general secretary. He was a one man committee and never bemoaned all the work he did. Driving the minibus to distant south west venues was surely beyond the call of duty but as Dunstable could not afford the cost of hiring a coach Paul stepped up.

He was best known for his match reports which were quite unlike the typical match reports that clubs produced. Paul would quote Shakespeare and make classical references and would often use words you needed to look up in a dictionary to understand. People would read his reports who had no interest in Dunstable Town FC but just loved his unique style. He could make a bad game seem much more interesting.

When I heard Paul had left Dunstable after he had a disagreement with other officials I was surprised but he told me it was because of his high principles. I phoned him to offer my sympathy and he appreciated my call. He would have been a great loss to non league football so I asked him to make a return to football at Hitchin. We kept in touch as he considered his options and I was delighted when he agreed to join us ahead of the 2018/19 season. The rest is now history. He took over as our match reporter retaining that unique Pipeman style and continued to delight his many fans. Paul also became a vital part of our match day team as he looked after opposition officials and match officials in the boardroom before the game, at half time and after the game. Paul proved the perfect host and was well liked by everybody.

With his infamous reports Paul always gave great details of the game and never missed the main incidents but he added humour and intellect to make them unique.  Paul was always reluctant to criticise players or officials and would always be scrupulously fair and unbiased. He had a real sense of duty and for an away game he would start his report on the coach and when he got home he often worked beyond midnight so he could get the report to the social media team as quickly as possible. He hated missing a game feeling he was letting the club down. His last two reports were produced despite him being in real pain and discomfort as his cruel illness intensified.  He looked so frail and poorly but typical of the man he somehow completed those two reports.

He asked me to stand in for him as match reporter and deep down I knew he would not be able to return to Top Field. He is an impossible act to follow and I would have been foolish to attempt to copy his style. I was very touched when he sent me a text congratulating me on my first report despite being in more pain and again it was typical for Paul to think of others despite his failing health.

No tribute to Paul would be complete without a couple of examples of his reports—

Stratford

I always feel not just inclined, but impelled to couch my report in dithyrambic imagery since we are going to the town of our greatest author, Shakespeare, whose statue we passed en route. Then someone reminded me that we were actually in Tiddington, and in the evening again. Even so, it is good to see the hosts make the most of the association with the Bard. We once went there in daylight and the referee called the game off about a quarter of an hour before the scheduled kick-off, which engendered some less than poetic language.

Redditch

To lose one home game against the second bottom club might seem a glitch, but to lose to the basement side in the next game smacks of carelessness and some grumblings among the fraternity are understandable but possibly not too helpful since the team needs to play through their difficulties – and to quote Colley Cibber’s interpolation in Richard the Third, ‘Conscience avaunt; Richard’s himself again.’ Well, after tonight it will take yet another game to be ourselves again.

I have certainly never seen the word ‘’dithyrambic’’ used in a football report nor have I seen a quote from Richard the Third but Pipeman was a one-off. The meaning of dithyrambic is as follows—‘’Dithyrambic describes something that is enthusiastically or passionately eloquent, often in a wildly enthusiastic and unrestrained way.’’—I guess like me you did not know that!

Paul was an excellent wordsmith and had a book of poems published as well as numerous short stories that he would enjoy discussing with me. His articles for the Hitchin programme were quite unique. Only occasionally did the articles cover football but were always thoughtful and covered a divers range of subjects

I had many long conversations with Paul at the many games we watched together and I really enjoyed his company. He had a great love of the classics and leant me a book by William Makepeace Thakery trying to convert me away from my usual crime fiction! He had great knowledge and I am sure he was a very good teacher. He loved his football and keenly looked out for Arsenal’s results. He told me how much he enjoyed his time at Hitchin. He felt so pleased that he made so many friends at Top Field and I will miss him so much.

He was a great family man and his partner Claire was also involved in boardroom hospitality. She did a remarkable job as his carer in his final weeks. She told me that in his last moments when he was gradually fading away she felt his hearing remained and she read my reports of the Aylesbury and Biggleswade Town games to him and I feel proud that he passed away hearing about his beloved Hitchin Town.

The number of other clubs, officials, ex players and supporters who paid tribute to Paul on social media was remarkable and showed the high regard he was held in. He was genuinely liked and respected by rivals as much as friends. I almost feel him looking over my shoulder as I write this tribute and I will do my best to live up to his standards.

This Saturday would have been Paul’s 76th birthday and I am sure he will be looking down on evets at the London Lions stadium. This tribute ends with a poem his partner Claire has chosen that he wrote in the late 1980’s called Sunflowers that covers the theme of loss.

RIP Pipeman.

Roy Izzard