SUFFOLK FA Honorary Life Member Peter Vardon has passed away at the age of 86.

Peter, who lived in Hadleigh, was a former county chair and a long- serving Suffolk FA Council Member.

He had recently been diagnosed with dementia and had been living at Waterfield House care home in Hadleigh since July last year, where he passed away peacefully surrounded by his family early on Thursday.

Peter, who was born in Birmingham, had been involved in Suffolk football since 1954 after moving to the county.

He joined local club Bildeston Rangers after leaving school at the age of 16 and he continued to play beyond his 39th birthday.

He was never cautioned during his 23 years with the club, where he became a committee member and later treasurer.

The enthusiasm of a friend led to him taking up the whistle and he refereed in the Ipswich & District League, which later became the Suffolk & Ipswich League.

By then he had moved to Hadleigh and, because of his proximity and shortage of referees, he was frequently asked to officiate Hadleigh United’s matches. This led to the club asking him to become their fixture secretary.

He joined the SIL committee and became Hadleigh United club chairman as well as the club’s representative on the Suffolk FA Council.

He served on various committees, in particular the Disciplinary Committee, and became Chairman of the West Suffolk Disciplinary Committee.

In 1993 he became county chairman, following in the footsteps of Alan Burrows of Westerfield United.

Peter recalled: “My period of chairmanship opened doors with entry to committees and gave me a thorough understanding of some areas where matters were not always open. My greatest interests were the Disciplinary area and County Cups management.”

Peter was presented with an FA 50-Year Service Award at the Suffolk FA Annual General Meeting in July 2018. He is pictured above with the award.

He leaves a wife, Pam, with whom he had five daughters, Hilly, Vivien, Nicky, Kati (Fred) and Peta along with nine grandchildren and eight great grandchildren.

The funeral will be held on Wednesday, March 20th at 11.45am at Ipswich Cemetery.

Suffolk FA Chair Phil Lawler said: “I was so sorry to hear of the passing of our colleague, Life Member and former Chair of Suffolk FA.

“Peter gave a life of service to grassroots football in the county in a number of roles within the local game. Peter was a committed member of Council who always contributed to the debate on issues of the day

“He will be missed by so many in our local game. Our thoughts are with Peter’s family at this difficult time.”

Suffolk FA Chief Executive Richard Neal added: “Suffolk football has lost another titan of the local game.

“We will be asking County Cup matches being played up to Sunday, March 17th to hold a minute’s silence in remembrance.”