Buster Footman

Knew the job he did for City, but didn't know much about him personally, but reading the tributes it seems he was a top guy and dedicated charity fund raiser and seems to have been quite a character.

Condolences to everybody on the red side of town.

Rest in peace Buster.

From the OTIB 1982ers forum:

In the same vein as Edgy Red above, I thought I would share my memories of Buster Footman - more specifically how he helped my younger brother.

My brother as an 11 year old was playing in a junior '7 a side' football tournament for Yatton Athletic (summer 1992), where he broke his leg after being badly tackled by a 16 year old. For some unknown reason, they used to lump all age groups in together and unfortunately suffered a bad break. For anyone who had a plaster cast as a child, these were completely different to the casts of today, and were heavy and cumbersome with no way of maintaining any movement.

Some eight weeks later, he had the cast removed the muscles in his leg had literally withered away, and he could barely stand or walk let alone run again. My parents at the time couldn't afford private physiotherapy, and I think in the early 1990s physiotherapy was quite a new thing for the NHS, so you were left to basically get on with it.

My Dad wrote to Bristol City, asking them if they could provide any advice on his rehabilitation, as he was really struggling. Remarkably, we received a phone call from Buster Footman, who invited my brother and Mum and Dad into the club so he could take a look the following Monday! So, to cut a long story short, Buster literally helped my brother to walk and run properly again over the course of a few months. I remember also going along as well, and remember Matt being up on one of the players benches alongside Russell Osman and Ray Atteveld, who were also receiving treatment! I also remember Russell Osman asking me to leave the medical room, not because he didn't want us there but because he was about to get an injection and didn't want to upset my Mum with any bad language!

Looking back at this, it seems absolutely remarkable that this occurred, what with the way football clubs seem to be run nowadays which often seem so far removed from the fan base. I remember finally that his last visit was on the lunchtime before a game, and he had my brother running up and down the side of the pitch alongside the players, as they were doing stretches before the turnstiles were open. I remember the game was against Charlton, and city won 2-1, October 1992.

Thank you Buster.