Everyone at Leisure Leagues is shocked and saddened by the tragic death of Colin Taylor, the Managing Director of Oxford City FC.
Mr. Taylor was found dead at the club’s Marsh Lane Ground on Sunday morning by a member of the public and there have been extensive tributes to the long-serving club man with one of the more poignant describing him as: ” the heart and soul” of the club.
The club released a statement on Sunday morning and said: “It is with the deepest sadness that the directors of the club have to announce the sudden passing of managing director Colin Taylor. Our thoughts and prayers are with Colin’s family and friends at this time.”
Leisure Leagues would like to echo those sentiments.
We have been running leagues at the home of The City for the last few years and currently we have competitions on Sunday, Monday and Wednesday with nearly 40 teams playing across the three nights. We have dealt with Colin throughout that time and he will be much missed by our staff.
With the awful events of the weekend, the brand new season in the Oxford Sunday league did not start as planned, to give staff at the venue the chance to come to terms with their loss but it will kick off on this coming Sunday, 24th.
The other leagues carried on as normal and there is no doubt that seeing so many people from his community playing football on the wonderful facilities he was responsible for is the most fitting tribute there could be to Colin Taylor.
The Leisure Leagues CEO has met with Mr. Taylor on numerous occasions and added his uniquely personal thoughts.
“I met Colin Taylor on many occasions over the years, the last being in March of this year when he was excited about showing me around Oxford City’s new indoor training facilities.
“Over the years we had some disagreements. Colin was never backward at coming forward when it came to promoting the interests, or asking for something, be it financial or otherwise, on behalf of Oxford City football club. He was clearly totally committed to the club and it was, quite simply, his life. However, whatever disagreements we had, and however direct he was when asking for things, we never fell out. He was just too much of a gentleman for that. And he was loyal. Immensely so. When he gave his word, he kept it, not always something that is a widespread phenomenon in the football industry. But you didn’t have to sign contracts or agreements with Colin. When he said something, he did it, and he meant it. Occasionally he was a little forgetful and he would send me emails (usually in the middle of the night) asking if I could remind him what our last discussion had been about as he was so busy he simply couldn’t remember. I would tell him and he wouldn’t quibble. He trusted people and saw the good in people and in many ways his gentlemanly good manners appeared out of step with the business he was in.
“I once asked him why he always seemed to email me in the middle of the night, often at 3 or 4 or in the morning. I asked him if he ever slept. He just said to me, half joking, and I sensed half serious too, that “you can’t sleep doing this job, you know.” He just lived and breathed Oxford City. I asked him when he did sleep and he just said, half laughing, “I don’t!” Sadly, there seemed to be a ring of truth about this when he said it.
“The last time we spoke we were driving in his car in Oxford together and I asked him why he chose Oxford City over Oxford United. He told me that his father used to take him to see Oxford City games and it just got in the blood. He didn’t say too much about it because he really only wanted to talk about Oxford City and the next step forward.
“I don’t think I’ve ever met someone so committed to a cause. I’m not sure I’ve ever met a truer gentleman. We always say here that nobody is ever indispensable. I think, at Oxford City, Colin just might have been.”
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