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The Reverend Canon David Holt was conducting the service and he said he’d known Ian for a long time after he’d moved there in 1988 and had baptised two of his daughters as well as Ian himself. Apparently before Ian was allowed to take up his post as coach of the Saudi national team he had to produce a valid baptism certificate. He’d also employed one of Ian’s sons as church gardener for a year. He mentioned the triumphs and tragedies of Ian’s life but stressed that he was known throughout Bagshot for being a nice guy. At this a large man in front of me nodded vigorously.
The first hymn was ‘The Lord is My Shepherd’ and after that we had a number of tributes. This is an aspect of funerals that I like as it gives the chance for those close to the deceased to talk about what they meant to them which, to me, is much better than just a formula of hymns and prayers. First up was Tom Scott from Sunderland, who’d known Ian for forty-two years. He spoke of how Ian had been like a brother to him after the death of his own brother and how he’d always kept in touch throughout his many travels to far-flung corners of the world. As he approached the end of his delivery he started to get very emotional as he bade his friend goodbye, and who could blame him? Next came a recording of Boyzone singing ‘No Matter What’, a song that Ian had often sung down the phone to his future wife Glenda. He was very fond of singing, it seemed. After that a former colleague from Rotherham, Sheffield, Aberdeen and Chelsea – Graham Brown – made a speech and he spoke of all the great times they’d had together both in football and socializing. He told
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