All at Marine are greatly saddened by the passing earlier today of former President David Wotherspoon.
The club extends its deepest sympathies to wife Margaret, nephew Andrew and the family.
A minute’s applause will be held at the next home game and funeral details will be provided when available.
David, 84, followed in the footsteps of his father William who had a distinguished playing career with the club in the 1920s, and recalled a trip to New Brighton for an FA Cup tie at a very early age.
He was a stalwart of the club Committee in the 1970s, 80s and 90s where he was a key figure in the building of the clubroom facilities, which led to a huge increase in social membership and the finances to win three Cheshire League titles under Roly Howard, also editing the match programme for a number of years.
In later life he became President, a post which gave him great pride, after his father had held the honour in the 1960s.
An Oxford graduate and journalist by profession, David wrote the seminal book “The Mighty Mariners”, a masterpiece which charts the first century of the club’s illustrious history. In the 1997 foreword he wrote:
“Marine has depended entirely on the dedication, one might say, obsession, of people to keep it in existence. There are giants like Stan Berney, Fred Rawsthorne, Ernie Graham and in latter times, Tom Culshaw and Roly Howard. But the story of Marine is the story of hundreds of people, players and officials, who have taken this great club on a quite amazing journey through this century.”
That paragraph applies very much to David himself and it is a fitting epitaph that he too, will be remembered as a giant of the club he loved.
