Ann Craig Passes Away

Thats very sad to hear, a lovely lady,kind and friendly, I got to know her quite well  during our time at

Twerton  R.I.P. Ann

I always found both Mr and Mrs Craig very friendly and my memory of Ann was that she always seemed to be very well dressed and was a warm friendly lady with a smile on her face. I think people underestimate just how much unpaid work the Directors had to do to keep the club running in those days particularly as we didnt have much of an adminstration infrastructure and the Directors all had to pick up the slack. The club was considered an appalling credit risk at the time and Personal guarantees were given to the banks to enable us to get loans whenever we needed to borrow money for a signing such as Tilson and particularly Barry Hayles . If the club defaulted then the bank could hold any single Director responsible for the entire loan and literally their homes were on the line keeping Rovers going. Both Mr and Mrs Craig seemed softly spoken to me and their input underestimated by the general fanbase.

Some lovely tributes from members who knew Ann, personally I never met Ann or Ron, the latter seemed to be one of those quiet background figures , always around and ready to help without seeking the lime light, it seems Ann was cut from the same cloth and was a great servant to the club ,sure many a young Rovers player have fond memories and have reason to be grateful to Ann, as has Rovers as a club. condolences to family and friends.

Very sad news.

A great link between the board, staff, the community dept, supporters groups and players wives and girlfriends.

We used to hold the SC MotM in the bars after ever game, and on his debut the Italian on loan from Sheff Wed, Michelle Del Piedi won. The club obviously did not do sufficient due diligence as his stunningly beautiful wife was 8 months pregnant at the time and obviously he had other family related things on his mind other than playing for the Gas. Ann escorted her using pigeon Italian in front of the club house and nothing was too much trouble.

I remember when the SC volunteers were asked to get to the Mem to help remove a deluge of water off the pitch early one Sat morning v Swansea. It was a relegation battle and rumour was that two of their best players had failed fitness tests so we really wanted it on.

I believe Ron and Ann flew back into the country that morning and didn't go home first. Instead they went straight to the Mem and there are pictures of Ron in his smart clobber with short shirt and immaculate brogues, getting covered in mud, forking the pitch on a cold and wet morning amongst the SC rabble.

Ann was busy getting coffees and bacon butties organized for the volunteers.

Somehow the game went ahead (I remember a clever ploy by Ian Holtby directing the ref to exactly where to try and do the waterlogged pitch tests of the ball running smoothly and the ball actually bouncing.If he tried anywhere else it would have failed) and Hoggy smashed in a loose ball to give us a hard fought 1-0 win.

Pretty sure Ron and Ann won the 50/50 prizes quite frequently and always donated the money back with no fuss.

As mentioned in another post, I really don't think everyday fans knew what the Board and their families, club staff and volunteers had to do just to keep the club alive.