Tributes have been paid to a Nottinghamshire footballing legend whose blog championing non-League teams raised thousands of pounds for local charities. Malc Storer, who lived in Hucknall, started a blog alongside his friend Kev Goodman ahead of the 2007/8 football season.
Known as the 'On the Road' blog, it chartered Malc and Kev's trips to hundreds of games and raised money for organisations ranging from Aptcoo to Guide Dogs, with the latter charity being presented with a cheque for £1,500 after the 2021/22 season.
Malc Storer passed away following a short illness on Wednesday, January 4, aged 69. Tributes flooded in from clubs across Nottinghamshire following the sad news, but Kev Goodman says that messages of condolence were also received from much further afield.
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The former Eastwood Town goalkeeper Danny Bryant, now in the Caribbean, was among those sharing their support. Chris Storer, 38, Malc's son, said he feels as though Nottinghamshire has lost a celebrity.
He said: "Whenever you used to go and see him, all he did was blog, blog, blog and there would be notes and scraps of paper everywhere. We'd ring him and say 'do you fancy coming round for dinner Malc' and he'd say he was going to the football so it was just part of our lives but to hear what people have said, it does feel like a celebrity has gone but to me he's just my old man - it's insane."
Malc's love of football is said to have been sparked by watching a World Cup game as a youngster, which inspired him to go and watch a game at the City Ground. That game got him "hooked" on the sport and he eventually became a fully-fledged groundhopper, with he and Kev travelling to as many games at as many clubs as they could, though he did hold season tickets for teams including Mansfield Town and later Basford United.
Marc Williams, the Head of Media at Basford United, also said that he was amazed by the level of tributes that were paid following Malc's death. He said: "It was unbelievable how well respected he was when reflecting on all the messages and posts that we saw online.
"We knew he was well liked and loved across the footballing community, but reading those messages of condolence and of happy memories just went to show how far and wide he was respected. We were all shocked and extremely saddened to hear the news about Malc.
"Seldom do I gasp out loud at news but when I read Kev's post, I laid in bed and just gasped and became tearful. That was the kind of impact he had on me as someone who knew him through the footballing circuit for the last 15 years or so."
Basford United honoured Malc ahead of their game against Alvechurch on Saturday, January 14, with his friends and family being invited to the ground, a wreath being laid before kick-off and a minute's silence being held. Speaking about the support from the club, Chris Storer said: "I just want to thank Marc and Basford because I had never spoken to him before but straight away, Marc told me that he was there if I needed anything. It just felt like I've known him for such a long time."
People at Saturday's game were also able to donate to the Nottingham Hospitals Charity and their Robin Centre, located in the grounds of the City Hospital, which was the chosen charity for On the Road's 2022/23 season. Speaking about his friend of nearly 40 years, Kev Goodman said: ""He was always true to himself, true to everyone around him and just a really good chap. I was very fortunate to have a really good neighbour who became a really good friend.
"I just want to thank everyone who has been friends with us, supported us and welcomed us at the clubs. The support has been superb every season and there are so many people to thank that we've not been able to thank properly.
"He used to write his blog around my photos because I used to be the one behind the camera. I was a bit camera shy and not as good looking as Malc, but he would be in the pictures posing with everyone he could. If you look at the early blogs, there are some great write-ups and some great memories which we were talking about till the day he died."
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