Caledonian Braves assistant boss Davie Winters says tragic coach Christopher Divers would have been proud of the first tournament held at the club in his name.
The Christopher Divers Football Tournament brought together more than 230 players and over 1000 people in total for the seven-a-side competition, raising in excess of £7000 for North Lanarkshire grassroots football, a cause that was close to his heart.
Divers, who was an integral part of the Braves’ youth set-up, tragically passed away in October 2021, aged 36, and Winters says it was an emotional day.
He said: “If he’s looking down from above and saw the tournament, he’d have been really proud of the turnout, where the money was going to, and thankfully the Braves won it, which we wanted to do from the start.
“We wanted to be the ones who won the tournament for him, and it was extra special that we managed to lift the wee trophy for him, being that it was the first year.
“It was a great day, we had great weather for it, and somebody mentioned that there were over 230 actual footballers, never mind the families that came along too. I think there was well over 1000 people participating, so it was really good.
“Chris was in love with football at all levels and it’s a great cause, so he would have been proud of that as well.
“I don’t think there were many people about our club who didn’t know who Chris Divers was, and he worked at Motherwell as well, so the whole of North Lanarkshire knew who he was.
“He was a big figure and he was a great guy to be about.”
Former Aberdeen, Dundee United and Hamilton Accies star Winters hopes the tournament is an annual event at Alliance Park.
He said: “I think it’s going to be an annual thing, a seven-a-side tournament every summer, to remember him but also to raise money for a cause that he would have been proud of.
“It was local teams, family members, businesses, friends of his, and we had some coaches and one or two first-team players playing in it, so it was pretty competitive throughout.”
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