Kent football is in mourning this Bank Holiday weekend with the desperately sad news that former Kent FA President Colin Boswell has passed away after a short battle with cancer.

KSN’s chief football writer Mike Green pays tribute to the man some considered to be “Mr Football” here in Kent…

“Colin Boswell was a one of a kind and they definitely broke the mould when they made him – he was a stickler for applying rules and regulations and “ruled” local football in a hard but extremely fair manner, but by god, he has been the fall back for so many people down the years and has helped hundreds if not thousands with various footballing matters down the years.”

“He was a former Football League official and often gleefully regaled stories of his time officiating around the country before becoming one of the most well-respected administrators that local football has ever had before, or for that matter since.”

“Indeed, my first memory of Colin was him as a referee officiating a game that I played in whilst at secondary school where he didn’t leave the centre circle.”

“It was only years later that he admitted to me that the reason was that he’d packed the wrong shorts in his bag – his son’s rather than his own – something incidentally he later blamed on his wife Shelia, although I never really believed it!”

“He was secretary of the Medway Area Sunday Football League (before its’ sponsorship by the Kent Messenger) for four decades and was also president of the Rochester & District Football League. Colin also started the Kent Youth League thirty-nine years ago in 1981 with eight teams – this season, the League had 197 teams and over 3,500 players.”

“Some may not have always agreed with his decisions, but he earned the respect of everyone for what he achieved for the benefit of youth football in this county, and his knowledge and experience of what it takes to stay at the top.”

“It took a lot of courage to make some very brave decisions, and it took that same courage to embrace the changing world of communications, to embrace modern technology, and it took great skill and patience to build a team that helped achieve those ambitions.”

“Colin ticked all those boxes and more and will be sadly missed by everyone who knew him in Kent football and beyond…”

“All connected with KSN send our condolences to Shelia and the rest of the family. A great man who will be solely missed by a lot of people and a man I was privileged to have called a friend… RIP Mr Boswell”