A community stalwart who dedicated his life to grassroots football in Lanarkshire and beyond has been honoured at a youth football tournament established in his memory.
The inaugural John Mitchell Memorial Cup honours the life of long-standing Scottish Youth Football Association (SYFA) volunteer John Mitchell who sadly passed away from heart failure in August 2018, aged 88.
John spent a lifetime in football, excelling in a multitude of roles.
Remembering the local legend, John’s daughter Gail Dennett said: "He absolutely loved football throughout his life and enjoyed being part of it from the moment my brother Ross started playing for Kirktonholme Swifts.
"He made some lifelong friends through his voluntary work with the SAFA and SYFA. This trophy is a tribute to his memory and his commitment to encourage the next generation of players to enjoy the game."
Starting out as a player for Giffnock North in his younger days, he then became involved in running his son Ross' youth team, Kirktonholme Boys Club, and went on to become the secretary for the East Kilbride Boys' League.
His fantastic work with the league came to the attention of Scottish Amateur Football Association (SAFA) and he began serving on their Executive Committee until 1999. In 1997, he was awarded life membership of the SAFA for the tremendous work he did for the association over many years.
When the Scottish Youth Football Association (SYFA) was formed in 1999, John was appointed as a member of the Executive & Finance Committee and in 2000/01 season he served on the Appeals Committee, giving excellent service during his time on both groups.
When John retired from work, he started going into the SYFA office one day a week in order to help in any way he could.
John gave outstanding service to Scotland's youth football and was awarded life membership of the SYFA in recognition of this service.
This month the SYFA hosted the inaugural John Mitchell Memorial Cup at Toryglen Regional Football Centre.
The tie featured Kilwinning Rangers FC Madrid and Lochend Football Academy; the two runners up of this year’s 13s Scottish Cup semi finals. The match was a great success, with outstanding performances from both teams, the 4 – 4 final highlighting the end-to-end nature of the game.
Congratulations go to Kilwinning Rangers, who won the penalty shoot-out to lift the cup which was kindly donated to the SYFA by John's family.
Paying tribute this week, Mitch Agnew from the SYFA, said: "John has been missed every day by the staff at the Scottish Youth FA but the John Mitchell Memorial Cup will mean his name stays at the forefront of National finals for years to come."
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