On Saturday before the Clapton CFC Men’s First Team’s FA Vase game, young players from Stephen Jenkins’ coaching session unveiled a tribute banner they’d made. He’d coached many of them for almost 5 years.

We also held a minute’s applause and a photo of Stephen has been placed on the Old Spotted Dog Ground Clubhouse wall.

Stephen’s dad sent this message to be passed on afterwards…

On behalf of myself, my wife Karen, Rhiannon and Mabli, family and friends, I would like to thank you for remembering and honouring Stephen. As a family it’s meant a lot to us to know that he was well thought of as a coach and club member at this community minded club, we know that the club meant an awful lot to Stephen, we are so grateful to you all. I’m sure Mabli will be playing football here soon. The banner is amazing, it’s captured Stephen’s enthusiasm and passion so well, the flag went with him to many sporting events. Diolch o galon, which in English means Thank You from the heart.

Before the game, Phil from Youth Training wrote more about our much missed coach…

​​Stephen came to us in January 2020, becoming one of the initial volunteers at our youth training sessions. He quickly became established as a reliable volunteer with buckets of enthusiasm and a desire to get involved. Before long, he took his first steps to becoming a qualified coach, completing the first 90% of the introduction course in record time.

However, he took so long to complete the final 10%, we told him if he didn’t complete it by the following week, he’d have to come to training in an England rugby top. He completed it that evening, and it wasn’t long before he became one of our first qualified coaches.

During the past few weeks, I’ve spent a lot of time reflecting on the time Stephen spent with us, finding myself scrolling through old Telegram messages. One message really stood out. When we asked coaches to give us a short statement on why they volunteered, Stephen was of course the first to respond: “My favourite memories as a kid was football and rugby training for my local sides back in Wales so being able to do the same hopefully gives the same experience to our teams. For me, CCFC Youth Training is about making football inclusive and accessible to everyone, no matter how much or little experience you have. It has been fantastic to see each and every child develop in their own way and I can’t wait to see how we grow as a group over the next few years.”

In the years that followed, Stephen played a vital part in how we grew. Once he completed his badges he took over the u9s team. This team led the way for the other youth teams we now have competing in various leagues around east London. Stephen took immense pride in seeing one child’s journey from participant to becoming  our youngest qualified coach. He was instrumental in this, through his mentoring and support. Stephen was loved by the kids he coached and his fellow volunteers and is greatly missed.

Saturday is a day to say thanks to all Stephen brought to the club. Before the game there will be a minute of applause, during which the kids from his session will unveil a banner they have made. We will also be hanging his picture in the clubhouse.

Friends are raising money for children’s charities in Stephen’s memory. You can see more and donate here.