I was devastated to learn over the weekend of the death of our Labour colleague Councillor Bill Holden. Bill was elected last July as Borough Councillor for St Mary’s ward in Clitheroe and served faithfully as part of the Labour Group in the short time he was a Councillor.

First and foremost my thoughts are with his children Jess, Fran, Joe and Sam. Bill lost his wife Jan about 18 months ago.

Putting into words who Bill was and how he featured in my own life for many years is both very easy but also incredibly difficult. I have many years of knowing Bill to help me write these words but putting them in the right order and with the eloquence this task deserves is far harder. I had privilege of knowing Bill for a long time in different ways.

I first knew Bill when he coached the under 15’s team for Clitheroe Wolves. In Cllr Michael Graveston’s own tribute he recalls how Bill told him that of all the jobs he ever had, managing the under 15’s and 16’s was the toughest and most stressful he ever had. I was his goalkeeper…

As a fourteen year old kid with dreams of being the next Brad Friedel or Peter Schmeichel, which were wildly incompatible with reality, Bill was my football coach. One can only imagine the patience needed by him to coach a team with me in goal, yet he dedicated time and energy to help me develop with extra training. He still occasionally called me by an old nickname when we served together on the Council and in Labour Party meetings.

A few years after Clitheroe Wolves I’d occasionally see Bill around town, usually in the supermarket and we’d always have a good chat. I was absolutely delighted when, one day I saw his name on the list of new members to the local Labour party. Bill worked hard for the cause, delivering leaflets in the cold and rain, he approached those sorts of tasks with a hardy resilience and, as I came to appreciate, a quiet but noticeable humour that I can’t properly describe.

When Bill decided to stand for Council last year, I read his application and was delighted to learn more about what drove Bill and his contributions to Clitheroe life to that point. He was born in Hyndburn but lived for forty years in Clitheroe and raised his family. He wanted others to enjoy the same benefits that he and his family had from living in Clitheroe. To that end Bill served as the Chair of the Friends of Pendle School, was activities co-ordinator for the Clitheroe Chernobyl Group and of course manager for Clitheroe Wolves u15& 16 team. Bill was a Clitheroe man through and through and sought out ways to serve the community.

Bill loved football. He’d go and see any team, Blackburn Rovers, Accrington Stanley and perhaps quite curiously, Stockport County. It wasn’t a particular team that he followed but the game itself. I saw him at the East Lancs Derby in January and I think we’d challenged each other to another game of chess that day.

I’ll challenge anybody to a game of chess and Bill was a willing opponent, we’d play the occasional game against each other. I think he’d managed one win against me, and I won the rest. It was never about keeping score though.

Bill’s passing has come as a massive shock to us. There were brilliant ideas that Bill was floating to us in our group. We intend to pursue and campaign on those brilliant ideas and it’s cruel and infuriating that Bill’s contribution to our cause and this Council has been cut so short. It’s my belief though that Bill wouldn’t have thought of it like that.

There are three ways that I will remember Bill: as my coach, as my comrade, as my friend.