Whilst listening to this you may notice some common themes. My dad was a man of simple pleasures and his passions could be easily summed up with 3 ‘f’s’ - those being Family, Food and Football. I’d like to stress these are in no particular order as when questioned who he loved more, his beloved Nottingham Forest football club, or his own wife, he’d be able to expertly dodge having to provide any clear indication.

Steve was born in Nottingham in 1955 to his father James (or Jim) and mother, Monica and when he was 7 years old he was joined by his younger sister Heather. He lived in the village of Chilwell and having visited Nottingham countless times with my Dad he would often point out places from his youth. We would often drive past one of his previous schools, Alderman White School and Language College as it is known today. Every time we’d drive past, my dad would jest that the only language he learnt at that school was bad language.

Over the years he’s also shared memories of his past friends from his youth. One story I recall was on Christmas Day, his friend Gerald had just received a brand new pair of boxing gloves and wanted to try them out with my Dad. Steve agreed to play, but only on the condition that he had the right handed glove (his strong hand). After a swift single right hook to the jaw, Gerald was floored and the fight was over before it had begun. Even Christmas Day can’t prevent a trip to the doghouse.

From a very early age my Dad had a keen interest in football. He excelled at a young age through school and local teams and went on to captain one of the Nottingham Forest youth teams. He played with teammates such as Gary Birtles and Viv Anderson who both went on to play for England and also win the European Cup at senior level with Forest. Although my dad may have realised over time that his talents were perhaps not up to the same standard, he kept all of his football trophies and achievements with him all his life, they still have pride of place in our family home.

After leaving behind his football career he joined a local printing firm, and then went on to join the HMRC (or the Inland Revenue back in the day) in 1974. At this time, progression with the Inland Revenue would often mean relocating to a new city and this ultimately meant him moving to Leeds in 1982 and a few years later in 1986 he met my mother, Anne. His love for food meant he proposed over a loaf of bread in a Harrogate restaurant a few years later. 

My parents got married in June 1988 and this was shortly followed by the birth of my sister, Louise, on 14th February 1989. Some of you may wish to do the maths. The following year on 5th July 1990, I was born. My dad never had any trouble remembering either of his children’s birthdays. My sister, an easy one on Valentines Day. My birthday however was remembered for very different reasons. Put simply it was the day after Stuart Pearce missed a vital penalty against West Germany as England crashed out of the 1990 World Cup.

Meanwhile at HMRC in the late 80’s Steve had moved to Special Office and later qualified as an Inspector and spent many years investigating Small Businesses. In 2008 Steve joined the Fraud Unit and secured 2 more promotions becoming a Senior Tax Inspector having worked Complex Serious Fraud cases. By the time Steve retired in 2019, he had dedicated over 40 years of service to HMRC and always spoke highly of his many colleagues. He was a popular member of the team and always willing to help junior colleagues. According to himself, he was often one of the first in the office every day to begin work at 7:20AM. And whilst others may have been strolling into the office around 9AM - this was the time Steve would tuck into his lunchtime sandwiches every single day. 

For myself, I always found great amusement in sharing the details of what my Dad did for a living. When asked what he did by numerous Managing Directors of owner-run businesses that I’ve worked for, my answer (he’s a senior tax inspector) would often be met with a look of concern and absolutely no further questions.

As mentioned before, his love for football followed him his whole life. I remember him taking me to my first ever Forest game in 1996 when I was the tender age of 5. Unfortunately for me, 5 was also the number of goals Forest let in on the day to a strong Blackburn Rovers side including a young Alan Shearer. I don’t think I enjoyed it that much, however over the years my sister and myself have been to lots of games with my Dad both at the City Ground and various stadiums across England. 

The last game I went to with my Dad and sister was the Wembley Playoff Final in 2022 where a narrow victory over Huddersfield Town meant Forest were promoted to the Premier League for the first time in 23 years. It was a great day shared with him, my sister and circa 50 thousand other jubilant Forest fans. I remember saying to my partner, Susie, after the event, that I know that it will have been one of the best days of his life. I find comfort in knowing that he passed away with his team playing in the highest tier of English football (for now at least). He did (albeit reluntactly) attend a game with Louise last season against Brighton in which Forest won. Due to increasing demand for premier league tickets, he wasn’t too thrilled that he wasn’t in his usual spot amongst other small grumbles, but good to know his last game was a victory for his side.

Another passion of his was food. Not only did he take great pleasure in the eating, but he was an incredibly talented cook. He would always enjoy serving up some of his culinary delights whilst hosting friends and family. When it came to eating out, it was something he took seriously and would often scour the likes of TripAdvisor and other websites to ensure reviews were up to scratch. I’ve also never met anyone else that can choose exactly what they are eating off a menu up to 3 months before sitting down, this was particularly the case when he was on holiday. Anne, Sue and Charlie were often dragged around some European city looking for a restaurant he wanted to try, only to find it was closed on that day or had shut permanently several weeks earlier. There was lots of huffing and puffing from the 3 trailing behind him. I don’t think he’ll mind me saying spontaneity was not his thing.

Most of you will know he had a great fondness for a drop of the old grape juice. It would be an understatement to say he leaves my mum with a well stocked garage full of reds and whites from across the globe. He got as much pleasure out of choosing and ordering the wine as he did drinking it, we even received a delivery after he passed. It has been a challenge finding many pictures of Steve without a glass of wine in front of him. 

In keeping with the above, travel and holidays were what he most looked forward to and I’ve always been grateful for the places he’s taken Louise and myself over the years. As a family we’ve enjoyed holidays in the UK and abroad with Steve’s family in law (Peter, Tracy, Liam, Cormac, Niamh, Maria, Robert, Charlotte) just to name a few who have enjoyed his company. In more recent times, he’s enjoyed visiting the wine regions in New Zealand and South Africa with Anne, as well as the USA and many European destinations with close friends Sue and Charlie. There were plans for many more adventures that I’m sad he won’t be able to complete.

Steve leaves behind Anne, his wife of 35 years. Their favourite night of the week was Saturday when he would disappear into the garage, select 3 choice bottles of wine, and test each others skills doing a blind tasting before enjoying a home cooked meal together. This would shortly be followed by both falling asleep on the sofa 15 minutes into a film they spent forever choosing, and then taking pictures of the other one asleep and sharing on the family Whatsapp group. 

As well as being a wonderful husband and father to his own children, he caused great amusement amongst his nieces and nephews. When my younger cousins Cormac and Niamh were babies and they were sat in their high chairs waiting to be fed, Steve was trying to entertain them by teaching them to take their empty water cups and placing it on his head, whilst saying 'cup on head'. They immediately copied him as they thought it was amusing placing the empty cups on their own heads. At the next meal, when he wasn't present, they again applied what he had shown them, except this time it was a much stickier substance. For dinner that evening it was 'peas and gravy on head'. He was affectionately known as ‘uncle cup on head’ from this moment on.

I remember several years ago buying my Dad a FitBit watch for Christmas. I was worried giving a piece of wearable technology to a man in his 60s might have been a risk, but it would be fair to say he was mildly obsessed with it, especially in his retirement. Many with us today will have joined Steve with his love for walking, however if he didn't get his 13,000 steps in for the day, he could be found doing laps of the garden or marching up and down the stairs late at night. He took his health and wellbeing very seriously and it feels an huge injustice that he’s not with us anymore. We made sure he has his FitBit on today - sadly it will not record another step or another heartbeat.  

As I’ve grown older myself, I’ve received more comments that I’m perhaps turning into my father. For many of us, it’s our greatest fear and admittedly there are some things I’d prefer to avoid such as his slightly oversized nose. He was a kind, generous, hard-working family man, with a youthful sense of humour which I trust most of you will have got to witness first hand. If I can turn out to be half the man he was I’ll be happy.

Finally, for reasons I’ve never understood, my Dad would always claim that he had no friends. This was never for pity and was likely just another of his silly jokes - but as I look around the room today I can see that couldn’t have been further from the truth. As a family we’ve been overwhelmed with the support and response from people who have wished to attend today.

I’d like to thank everyone here who has joined us to celebrate Steve’s life today. We say goodbye to a husband, a father, an uncle, a brother and a wonderful friend to everybody here. We were each touched by his presence and we are better off for it. Please keep him in your thoughts - I know I will think about him every day.