I don't often post on message boards but I couldn't let Geoff Dunford's passing go without comment, I hope that the following words will be accepted in the spirit in which they are intended, it is long but heartfelt.
I first met Geoff Dunford in the summer of 1994 when Bristol Rovers had finally lost patience with Bristol City Council and helped to form the Bristol Party to fight local elections.
I played a minor part n the campaign but attended several meetings at which he was present and was struck by his clear thinking but also a desire not to be seen as a figure head.
The Bristol Party fizzled out during the summer of 1995 but our paths were to cross again in 1996 when he engineered Rovers move back to Bristol as tenants of Bristol Rugby Club.
Whilst Gasheads were delighted at the news, the local residents of Horfield were not so sure. With a nod from the Supporters Club and the Football Club, Paul Seaton, Robbie Sparks and I became embroiled in a propaganda war with people who were clearly anti- Rovers.
We went about our business always conscious that ultimately, we were going to be answerable to Geoff Dunford. It was becoming increasingly obvious to me that despite Dennis (his father), being the figurehead, it was Geoff who was the driving force.
The night before the first match at the Mem we were there to guard the ground against possible intruders, Geoff turned up and thanked us for our efforts which included sharing a drink with one of our arch enemies throughout the summer.
I asked Geoff later that evening if he could see a situation where Rovers would come to own the ground, the twinkle in his eye said it all really, above anything else here was a man who could spot a business opportunity and weakness when he saw it.
When Rovers stepped out onto the Mem the following afternoon Geoff shed a tear and thousands of us felt exactly the same way.
A few months later I became a member of the Bristol Rovers Supporters Club Committee and over the next few years my encounters with Geoff increased.
I always found him to be straight talking and almost anxious not to take the limelight, there were some moments where this was most frustrating but ultimately he was usually right.
By the turn of the century the Supporters Club was running much of the commercial operation of the Football Club, some of us who were relatively new to the organisation felt that change was necessary.
This sparked much debate between those who were content with the status quo and those of us who were drivers for change, then a further issue raised its head in the form of new supporters groups who wanted share ownership for fans.
A few months before this happened Phil Draper had proposed that the Supporters Club should have a representative on the Board. Geoff was receptive to the idea and invited Phil and I to discuss the possibility of the Supporters Club having an associate directorship.
With the benefit of hindsight I think he sensed what was coming and wanted to work with people with whom he was comfortable, little knowing that the Supporters Club would (for a brief time) fall out with him.
There followed a battle between those who wished to take their proposals forward, I kept Geoff briefed and typically his view of how things might pan out came to pass.
He attended the launch of the Gas Trust at the County Cricket Ground down the road, in my view doing all that was appropriate given his position at the time. The fact that it failed to ignite the interest of Rovers supporters was not down to a lack of backing from the Rovers board.
I became increasingly exasperated with the Supporters Club Committee and took a brief break in 2003 before standing for election to try to regain my place in February 2004. I was beaten by a young man in a contest decided by the committee itself.
Remarkably it was Geoff that came to my aid that night with a post on the then Fans Forum urging people to support me, I have little doubt that it was a catalyst for a sequence of events that led to me becoming Chair of the Supporters Club in September of that year.
We had a few conversations along the way in which he openly encouraged me to stand and scalded me when an opportunity presented itself in June of that year which I didn’t take.
All this might seem a trifle self-indulgent on my part but I think my dealings typified Geoff Dunford the man when it came to Bristol Rovers, always wanting to stay in the background and encourage those who he felt had the best interests of the club at heart.
In the Summer of 2006 there came a terrible split in the Board Room of Bristol Rovers and for the first time I fell out with Geoff. In my naivety I expected the good working relationship that we had enjoyed to transcend that.
I had done many deeply silly things at Geoff’s request perhaps chief amongst those was driving around Horfield one Saturday afternoon trying to find illegally parked cars when Rovers were away to prove that Rovers supporters were not the only ones who parked illegally! We even did it when Rovers were at home!
However fall out we did and I finished up resigning my position as Supporters Club Chairman which was deeply upsetting and having been so closely associated with his Board it is fair to say damaging to him as well.
It was to me, a difference of policy about how the Football Club should be run but it became a battle of personalities to the detriment of Bristol Rovers.
I found the whole thing very difficult because I didn't dislike Geoff at any stage and found some of the bitterness directed to him on the message boards most distasteful. However I did laugh when he sent me the dreaded "full stop" banning me from the official forum!
A year or so later we exchanged emails and made our peace, and after that it was always nice to bump into him or exchange views via the odd e-mail.
I was pleased that gradually Geoff seemed to mend some of the broken relationships and friendships that fractured during 2006 as ultimately it not only damaged him at the time but the football club he loved.
If he had one weakness it was that he appeared “not to do conflict”, maybe he didn’t want to upset people, but that hard-headedness as a business man meant that he kept his enemies at arms-length, in my experience others dealt with these issues on his behalf.
Had Geoff Dunford remained in control of Bristol Rovers as the majority or controlling shareholder, I do not believe that the club would have ever dropped out of the Football League, he simply wouldn’t have allowed it to happen.
It was awful to see him on that fateful day being hounded by angry people in the carpark who were blaming him for Rovers demise, I was proud to stand next to him for a few moments to allow others to get him to the safety of his car.
I am pleased that he was able to see Rovers rise from the ashes of that shambolic day and whenever I saw him in recent years he seemed content with the way things were moving.
Since my departure from the Supporters Club I have worked as a commentator for Bristol Hospital Broadcasting Services and Geoff was always immensely supportive to the service, sponsoring us for many years and intervening on a couple of occasions when we were in difficulty with the Football Club.
I also know that he helped individuals when they found themselves in the most difficult of circumstances and he did it without fanfare and I know how much it was appreciated.
The one thing that I want to emphasise more than anything else is that a myth seems to have grown up down the years that Dennis Dunford was the driving force behind the Twerton years and beyond, but from my perspective it was Geoff Dunford who did the donkey work.
Typically he did not seek the limelight but his legacy is clear, without him in 1986 Bristol Rovers would have folded and the glory years at Twerton would never have happened and neither would have the return to Bristol become a reality.
My thoughts are with Sharon, his sons and the rest of his family.
Rest in peace Geoff.
John Malyckyj
