Three Bridges Football Club rocked by death of vice president and club stalwart Paul Terry

Three Bridges Football Club have been rocked by the news that one of their Vice Presidents, Paul Terry, died at East Surrey Hospital on Friday morning (25th June).
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Paul originally came to the Jubilee Field in the mid 70’s when the then Chairman Doug Oliver persuaded him to take on the role of Commercial Manager.

He later moved on to Crawley Town in a similar role and subsequently became Chairman of Thomson Sports, who won virtually everything before them in the Crawley League before being promoted to Division Three of the Sussex County League. Even then, Paul went back to his Bridges roots as the joint Managers were former players Rick Fitzgerald and John Smith.

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Paul Terry (left) alongside Alf Blackler and Alan Ladd when Bridges won the League and Cup double eight years agoPaul Terry (left) alongside Alf Blackler and Alan Ladd when Bridges won the League and Cup double eight years ago
Paul Terry (left) alongside Alf Blackler and Alan Ladd when Bridges won the League and Cup double eight years ago

But as the 80’s became the 90’s, the relatively new Bridges Chairman Alan Bell persuaded Paul to return to the club and he was soon the Vice Chairman, being Bell’s right hand man for the best part of twenty years.

When Alan Bell retired from the Chairman’s position, it was Paul Terry who took over for two years, much of this time being difficult as the club had a lot of financial problems. Paul himself worked tirelessly performing all sorts of tasks and was also prominent in promoting Paul Faili and Keith George into the first team Manager positions.

Paul continued to perform wide ranging jobs from Clubhouse Manager to a number of Commercial activities. One of his biggest triumphs was the annual Fireworks display at the club, and this has been recognised locally as one of the very best in the County.

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He was asked to become a Vice President and still did lots of work behind the scenes, but he has had a number of health issues in the last couple of years.

He and his wife Mal were teenage sweethearts who first got together on 12th July 1971. They had three sons. Paul also became an important part of Crawley’s Darts competitions.