Maltby Main have announced the passing of club president and legend Horace Henson.
The Premier Division side took to social media to pay tribute to Horace, known by his friends as Lol, saying: “He will be remembered here by many.
“He did so much and he was a true Main man. He will get his commemorative plaque on the bench.”
The following tribute will be printed in Maltby’s matchday programme for the league game at home to Thackley a week on Saturday (19th):
Horace was born in 1926 and lived all his life in Maltby. He, and his late brother, Albert, were two of the finest footballers ever to come from the village. He attended Crags Primary School, who, at the time, had no football team and then moved to Maltby Hall School at the age of 11.
Lol left school at 14 and went to work at Maltby Colliery. He played for the Maltby Youth team, which catered for boys up to the age of 18, and played on the Manor Field, where the swimming baths are today. When brother Albert left Maltby Youth to play for Wickersley, Lol, took over as captain and eventually joined Albert at Wickersley.
Lol, Albert, and older brother, John, were the only three brothers to sign together (on amateur forms) for Doncaster Rovers. Lol often reminded young players how the three brothers used to walk from Maltby to Belle Vue (a return distance of fourteen miles) to train with Rovers.
During the war, there were many representative matches played to raise money for the war effort and Lol and Albert were always selected, along with many professional footballers of the time, to play for the Rotherham team against teams from organisations such as the RAF and the Polish Airforce (who were based at Firbeck).
The brothers then played for Tickhill where their team won six cups and the Doncaster Senior League title.
Lol, along with his late brother Albert and the late Peter Kenny, was instrumental in resurrecting Maltby Main Football Club in the early 1970s and spent countless hours rebuilding and improving the ground for NCEL football. It was this work, rather than the team’s performance on the field, which gave the club their current Premier Division status.
Lol was club chairman from the early 1970s to 2000.
Maltby, and Maltby football, owes a big debt of gratitude to Lol for his many years of unpaid service – it’s the end of an era!